Los Angeles Lakers: 5 potential buyout targets after NBA trade deadline

The NBA trade deadline has come and gone and the Los Angeles Lakers look exactly the same as they did before February 10. The Lakers did not make a single trade at the deadline despite being the most disappointing team in the entire league.

While some fans might be disappointed that the Lakers did not make a trade at the deadline it is actually for the best that the team did not make a move. There was nothing organic there for the Lakers and instead of forcing it they did the right thing of simply staying put and turning the attention to the buyout market.

There are several potential buyout targets for the Los Angeles Lakers after the NBA trade deadline.

While some buyout players could be predicted before the season, the NBA trade deadline really helps lay out a roadmap for who could be available for contending teams. Certain players with decently-high salaries get traded to bad teams, who will be more interested in simply buying them out to save a few bucks.

Other players were already on bad teams and did not get any trade offers at the deadline. With the chance to get an asset passing, it is better to buy these players out to save the money rather than continue paying them for nothing.

There are a few examples of each of these buyout types in this article. While they are not huge names, like Blake Griffin, there are still some decent buyout options to consider. Let’s dive into five.