The Los Angeles Lakers are going to be a popular destination for midseason buyouts.
The Los Angeles Lakers are the defending NBA Champions and are still the favorites to win the title in 2021. Because of that, mixed with getting to play with LeBron James and the bright lights of LA, the Lakers are naturally going to be a favored destination for any players who are bought out this season.
And the Lakers may want to add some of these players to the roster. Sometimes these players play a minimal role outside of adding depth (like Dion Waiters) and other times they become legitimate assets in the team’s playoff rotation (like Markieff Morris).
With most of the league having 10 games under their belt, we are starting to get an idea of how year-end standings may shape out. Of course, a lot can change as 85% of the season still needs to be played, but we have a decent idea on who is going to be the bottom dwellers.
These teams have certain players on their rosters that are prime candidates to get bought out. These are players who are in the last year of their contract and either would not get a tangible trade return or simply won’t be moved for contract reasons. In the case of these buyouts, these teams save some money and do the agent a favor for (hopefully) a future return.
This market is going to evolve as the season goes on and nobody is going to get bought out this soon. However, now that we have some basketball under our belt, there are new names that we are monitoring for when the time comes.
Disclaimer: Trevor Ariza is not included in this article. We have already discussed the possibility of Ariza, who has not played yet this season, joining the Los Angeles Lakers.