The trade deadline is one of the pivotal moments in each NBA season. Teams change course, wave the white flag on the season, and even gamble their futures during this time. Immediately after the deadline, the buyout market usually heats up. The buyout market is open all year (ends March 1st), but contending teams want to make their final efforts to sharpen their roster after the deadline.
Buyouts occur when a player and organization are not on the same page, and both sides benefit from cutting said player (but paying a portion or the remainder of their contract). Say a player is a veteran with gas left in the tank but plays on youthful group focused on the future. Both parties may decide to part ways because they have different goals. The organization wants a better draft pick, but the veteran still intends to compete for a Larry O'Brien. Buyouts must be mutual agreements from the player and organization. Teams save money, and players can go to a more desirable location; buyouts are a win-win.
The Heat sit near the top of the East standings and kept most of their makeup from a season ago. They're havoc-wreckers defensively, gritty and careful with the ball.
But they are also a poor-scoring team. The Heat will always make it challenging for opponents to generate easy shots, but they sometimes need help scoring themselves. They rank 21st offensively and in the bottom half of the league in many offensive stats (PPG, eFG%, FG%).
The buyout market will become more of a realistic option a while from now, but we will still look at some names that may help the Heat fill their scoring void should they become available.
Here are three potential buyout candidates that could help the Miami Heat this season.
1. Alec Burks
You can never have enough shooting in today's NBA landscape. Detroit Pistons sharpshooter Alec Burks is in the last year of his deal and is owed $10 million. He's been on a heater this season, shooting 43% on a career-high 6.6 3-point attempts.
The Pistons are a young, developing team with a solid core. Cade Cunningham, Jalen Duren, and Jaden Ivey all look to have promising careers, but it's not their time yet. Burks is 32 years old and is shooting the basketball better than ever (with poor spacing). He may want to avoid sitting around for a rebuild.
Maybe he has enough value that Detroit can trade him to get something back. But if he is bought out, he'd he'd fit in. We need more designated shooters to keep the spacing up to par and to bring the offensive efficiency to respectable levels.