Zach Buckley@@ZachBuckleyNBA
Featured Columnist IVFebruary 7, 2025
- Juan Ocampo/NBAE via Getty Images
- The 2025 NBA trade deadline came and went Thursday afternoon.
- Teams still aren’t out of chances to upgrade their rosters.
- Sure, the blockbuster deals are in the rearview, but there are still some potential contributors or at least depth pieces looming in—or soon to enter—the buyout market. We’re breaking down the latest buyout buzz here.
- Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE via Getty Images
- In terms of name recognition, the buyout market won’t get a more notable addition than this. Ben Simmons, the top pick of the 2016 draft and a three-time All-Star, is “working on a buyout agreement” with the Brooklyn Nets, per ESPN’s Shams Charania.
- The Los Angeles Clippers and Cleveland Cavaliers are reportedly among his “potential landing spots.” ESPN’s Brian Windhorst mentioned the Houston Rockets as another possibility.
- This highlights just how far down Simmons’ career trajectory has traveled at this point, with injury issues sapping his availability and a lack of offensive aggression plaguing his production. He averaged better than 14 points per contest each of his first four NBA seasons, but since sitting out the 2021-22 campaign, his scoring average hasn’t even been half of that.
- When he’s healthy, he is still a versatile defender and impressive passer for his size (6’10”, 240 lbs). Buyout additions rarely impact postseason participants in any notable way, but there’s a universe in which he’s one of the exceptions.
- Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE via Getty Images
- The rebuilding Washington Wizards were among the league’s busiest sellers at the deadline, as they shipped some of their top veteran talent out of town.
- It doesn’t sound like that’s part of their post-deadline plan, though. Per The Athletic’s David Aldridge, the Wizards are hanging onto Malcolm Brogdon and newcomers Khris Middleton and Marcus Smart, believing they “will be good mentors for their young guards and wings.”
- If the vets are on board with the plan—Middleton and Smart were just suiting up for championship contenders in Milwaukee and Memphis, respectively—then it could work. Collectively, that trio has a ton of experience and wisdom to pass on to young building blocks like Alex Sarr and Bilal Couliably.
- This report will still go down as a bummer for buyout market-watchers. Brogdon, Smart and Middleton might all be on the decline, but they still presumably have another to offer to crack a team’s playoff rotation. Middleton, in particular, would’ve held far-ranging appeal, as he was potentially rounding into form having scored 20-plus points in three of his final four games for the Bucks.
- Alex Goodlett/Getty Images
- Jalen Hood-Schifino was the No. 17 pick of the 2023 draft. He might soon be looking for work.
- He wound up with the Utah Jazz as part of the Luka Dončić-Anthony Davis blockbuster, but Hood-Schifino’s stay in Salt Lake City will apparently be a short one. Per Andy Larsen of the Salt Lake Tribune, the Jazz plan on waiving Hood-Schifino, as well as Josh Richardson, who was sent out by the Miami Heat as part of the five-team trade that landed Jimmy Butler in Golden State.
- Richardson’s subtraction is not surprising and honestly not very relevant if he can’t put his injury issues behind him. The 31-year-old, who obviously didn’t fit Utah’s rebuilding timeline, has made just eight appearances this season while fighting heel inflammation. He also missed the latter portion of last season after undergoing shoulder surgery.
- Hood-Schifino has played even less this season (two appearances), as he was never able to find minutes on the present-focused Lakers. Still, he might be a name worth watching, particularly for future focused teams with roster spots to fill. He initially caught scouts’ attention for his size as a playmaker (6’6″, 215 lbs) and defensive versatility. It’s hard to imagine all hope is already abandoned for the 21-year-old.
