NBA buyout market 2023: Russel...

Every year, we persuade ourselves that this time will be different because the names on the NBA's buyout market are always greater than their effect. Remember this when a former MVP joins a contender in the near future.

Last season's top buyouts were Goran Dragic and DeAndre Jordan. The former did not win a playoff game, and the latter came off the bench for a total of 30 garbage minutes in two postseason defeats. Jevon Carter, who the Brooklyn Nets inexplicably released at the trade deadline last season, was more significant, and the Milwaukee Bucks should have played him more than 11.5 minutes per game.

Russell Westbrook, Utah Jazz

As soon as news broke of the three-team trade that sent Westbrook to the Jazz, the league’s 2017 MVP was linked in multiple reports to the Los Angeles Clippers, who jettisoned veteran point guards John Wall and Reggie Jackson at the deadline. Westbrook’s troubled history with fans in Utah — and the team’s pivot to rebuilding for the rest of this season — almost certainly precludes him from ever playing for the Jazz.

John Wall, Houston Rockets

The Rockets bought out most of the $47.4 million left on the 32-year-old Wall’s expiring contract this past June, and now that he has returned in a trade from the Clippers, the franchise he called "trash" intends to reach an agreement on the remaining $6.5 million on his deal, Houston general manager Rafael Stone said.

Wall is a five-time All-Star who played a total of 72 games in four seasons prior to his debut for the Clippers this season. That he has retained some of the athleticism that made him great is a testament to his perseverance in returning from career-threatening knee and Achilles injuries. 

Reggie Jackson, Charlotte Hornets

Jackson has had a turbulent career. He was traded at age 24 by a contender frustrated with his insistence on an expanded role, and he was bought out five years later by a tanking team frustrated with his performance in that expanded role. Jackson had carved out a complementary role in the last three years with the Clippers, even serving as their second-leading scorer in the 2021 Western Conference finals.

The Clippers’ willingness to trade him for reserve Hornets center Mason Plumlee at the deadline, leaving a hole at the point guard position, tells us what we need to know about how they regarded his current play.

Will Barton, Washington Wizards

Barton averaged 14 points per game over eight seasons with the Nuggets, who traded him and Monte Morris to the Wizards this past summer for Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Ish Smith. Barton has struggled in his first season with Washington, shooting 38.7% from the floor, and recently fell out of the rotation. The Wizards and Barton are already working toward a buyout, according to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski.

Despite his struggles, Barton is a 6-foot-6 wing with experience filling a variety of roles on a contender for the past several years. Expect a number of playoff teams to register interest in his services, especially a contender like the Suns, who just dealt much of their wing depth in their trade acquisition of Kevin Durant.

Terrence Ross, Orlando Magic

Ross has been rumored in trades for as long as we can remember, and yet he has been a member of the Magic for so long that he has become one of the organization's most beloved figures. Orlando may have more interest in retaining his veteran leadership on a young roster, but the 31-year-old has been languishing on a perennial lottery team, and the $54 million contract he signed in 2019 is coming to an end in June.

Patrick Beverley, Orlando Magic

Beverley talks a big game, and he can talk his way out of one, too, but he has started playoff games each of the last four seasons. It is more than a concern that, at 34 years old, his player efficiency rating has fallen to 8.4 — 190th out of 192 players who qualified in Basketball Reference's database — and a Lakers team desperate for warm bodies around LeBron James and Anthony Davis traded Beverley for a reserve center.

The Magic are negotiating a buyout agreement on Beverley's $13 million expiring contract, according to The Athletic's Shams Charania, and there will no doubt be interest in the former All-Defensive guard as a bench contributor. There are conflicting reports about whether the Minnesota Timberwolves will be among those interested in a reunion with Beverley, whose intensity helped rally a young team to the playoffs last season.

Danny Green, Houston Rockets

It is difficult to tell how prepared Green is to contribute to a playoff rotation. He tore two ligaments in his left knee as a member of the Philadelphia 76ers during the playoffs this past May and returned at the start of this month, playing only 43 total minutes for the Memphis Grizzlies before they traded him at the deadline.