A veteran NBA observer said something prescient recently about the furor surrounding buyout candidates in the 10 days or so between the trade deadline and the March 1 deadline for players to be free agents in order to be eligible to be on playoff rosters.
“Never,” they said, “are 15th roster spots so paid attention to than the last week of October and the last week of February.”
It was a wise sentiment for the simple reason that those players wouldn’t be bought out if they were major contributors on their current teams.
That being said, a few interesting names did change uniforms in recent days. Here’s a breakdown of each of them, and the potential impact they could have on their new teams:
Glen Davis, power forward (bought out by Magic, signed with Clippers)
Davis’ situation is indicative of the new reality for the trade and buyout period for teams under the new – and much more restrictive financially¬ – collective bargaining agreement. Davis was signed with Orlando through next season at a decent salary of just over $6 million. But after the Magic were unable to find a taker for him before the trade deadline, they chose to buy him out to open up playing time for their many young big men, including Andrew Nicholson and Kyle O’Quinn.
That left Davis, the best player of this bunch to hit the open market, with plenty of teams interested in his services. But, in the end, he wound up deciding to reunite with his old coach from Boston, Doc Rivers, by signing with the Clippers. It’s a significant move for Los Angeles, as while Davis has his flaws – he takes far too many mid-range jumpers, and isn’t exactly a stopper at the rim – he does give them a legitimate third rotation big with plenty of playoff experience to play behind Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan, and who can play with both of them.
Danny Granger, small forward (bought out by Sixers, signed with Clippers)
Granger agreed to sign with the Clippers Friday, leading to many people saying Los Angeles ended up with the top two players available from the buyout period. Granger has been a terrific player during his career, including averaging over 25 points per game and making an All-Star team during his time with the Pacers.
That isn’t the players the Clippers are getting, however. After missing virtually all of last season because of knee issues, Granger has looked like a shell of his former self this season, averaging just over eight points per game and eventually being shipped out by Indiana right before the deadline passed, going to Philadelphia in exchange for Evan Turner and Lavoy Allen before working out a buyout with the 76ers a few days later.
Granger will be able to spot up and knock down some 3-pointers for Los Angeles, helping with their spacing, but expecting him to suddenly become a significant contributor again with a new team for the first time ever in his career is a long shot.
Caron Butler, small forward (bought out by Bucks, signed with Thunder)
The Wisconsin native was widely expected to be bought out by the league-worst Bucks before the March 1 deadline, and agreed to sign with the Western Conference leading Thunder Friday. The news came as a bit of a surprise, as Butler was expected by most to sign with the Heat, with whom he began his career. He remains close friends with Dwyane Wade.
However, like Granger, Butler’s best days are behind him. He is shooting under 40 percent for the season (though he is hitting 36 percent of his 3-pointers), and can’t be relied on to play heavy minutes.
But on a Thunder team that could use some extra shooting, having another reliable veteran who is a good locker room presence and can knock down a corner 3-pointer isn’t the worst thing.
Beno Udrih, PG (bought out by Knicks, claimed by Grizzlies off waivers)
For whatever reason, Udrih never appeared to get much of a fair shake in New York, constantly being blamed by Mike Woodson for the mistakes of others (Woodson oddly chastising Udrih for passing J.R. Smith the ball when Smith took an unnecessary 3-pointer that wound up costing the Knicks a game in Houston in January comes to mind), and was an obvious buyout candidate after he wasn’t dealt before the deadline.
He was the rare buyout candidate who didn’t even make it through waivers, however, as the Grizzlies swooped in and snagged him off of them before he could clear and be subject to a bidding war.
It was a smart move for Memphis, which could desperately use another good shooter to help space the floor. The Grizzlies could employ some two point guard lineups with Udrih playing alongside Mike Conley, and could use their stout team defense to help make up for Udrih’s defensive deficiencies.
Jimmer Fredette (bought out by Kings, expected to sign with Bulls)
The cult of Jimmer never quite translated from BYU to the NBA, or at least it hasn’t so far, with Fredette a sure goner from Sacramento once the Kings declined to pick up his fourth year option, and he was bought out after they were unable to move him by the deadline.
Still, it’s easy to make a case that the reason Fredette hasn’t had a significant NBA career so far is because of the impossible levels of turnover and chaos that have existed in Sacramento since he was drafted in 2011.
That being said, the rumors of him being close to signing with the Bulls are very intriguing. Chicago incredibly keeps marching toward the playoffs, despite losing Derrick Rose for a second straight season and dealing Luol Deng for a pick back in January.
But the Bulls are lacking in shooting, and scoring in general, and Fredette is shooting an absurd 49 percent from behind the arc. It could be easy to seeing him slipping into the role Nate Robinson played for Chicago last year, with a little more scoring and a little less explosiveness.
Fredette has had the east remarkable NBA career of all of the above players by a good margin, name recognition aside, but could wind up having the biggest impact on this season.
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Some talk has come up recently about the possibility of the NBA at some point adding a four-point line. ESPN broached the idea in an interview with Rod Thorn and Kiki Vandeweghe – the NBA’s president and vice president of basketball operations, respectively.
Count this space as one that is against the idea of adding an extra line on the court and completely changing the way the game is played. The 3-point line was met with some similar arguments when it was introduced, but there was something to be said for it being a natural progression to add a 3-point line to a game that otherwise only had two-point shots and free throws.
But if you add a 4-point line, it feels like it’s a gimmick to try and attract attention and boost scoring even more than it already is in this current era, where defensive rules have been relaxed to make the game as free-flowing as possible.
The game is as fun to watch as it has been in decades, and there’s already plenty of 3-pointers being launched. There doesn’t seem to be a need to gimmick up the game further with an extra line on the floor.
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Having gotten a chance to watch the Nuggets in person Thursday night, there is plenty going wrong in Denver this season. Now, it’s easy to write off a large chunk of the performance the Nuggets put forth against the Nets because of the absences of several players – Ty Lawson, Danilo Gallinari, Wilson Chandler, JaVale McGee, Darrell Arthur and Nate Robinson – who were out with injuries.
But there are still plenty of questions surrounding Brian Shaw’s squad, regardless of injuries. Denver seems set to have a top five or six pick, at minimum, in this year’s draft, and Lawson is a player you would have to consider as a potential building block alongside whoever that pick turns out to be.
But, other than those two, it seems as if everyone on the Nuggets roster either could or should be moved if possible. Although Denver had plenty of success under George Karl the past few years, this is the exact situation the teams going through total rebuilding scenarios want to avoid: being in the dreaded middle, where the Nuggets have a lot of players on multi-year, multi-million contracts but no real path to contention or rebuilding, at least without making several moves.
Denver should be one of the more fascinating teams to watch this summer, as general manager Tim Connelly will enter his first full offseason at the helm with plenty of big decisions to make.