NBA buyout guide: Who are the best players likely to reach midseason free agency, and where will they go?
As a general rule in the NBA, the buyout market is only as good as the trade deadline that preceded it. While it's hardly unheard of for teams to waive veterans they've kept all season, it's not exactly the norm. Even if a losing team has a veteran on an expiring contract, they typically choose to keep that player if he's a locker room fit, and when they are, such players aren't always eager to leave in the middle of the season anyway. No, the best buyout candidates are almost always forced onto the market through trades. These are players that may have been genuine contributors on their prior teams, but were traded as salary ballast in a bigger deal to a franchise that doesn't need them. When that happens, the player offers to forego a portion of his salary -- often whatever amount he'll make on a prorated minimum deal with somebody else -- in exchange for the right to find a new team...