{"id":123523,"date":"2025-02-13T06:00:49","date_gmt":"2025-02-13T11:00:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=123523"},"modified":"2025-02-13T05:00:31","modified_gmt":"2025-02-13T10:00:31","slug":"best-nba-buyout-free-agent-candidates-for-contenders","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/02\/13\/best-nba-buyout-free-agent-candidates-for-contenders\/","title":{"rendered":"Top 5 Best NBA Buyout\/Free Agent Candidates For Contenders"},"content":{"rendered":"

The NBA trade deadline<\/a> has been over for a week now, and we can continue to watch many new players in new uniforms. What a wild ride it was! It seems like the stage has officially been set for an exciting end to the season, but there are still a few moves that could have an impact on the 2025 NBA playoffs. Let\u2019s take a look at the five best NBA buyout and free agent candidates that realistically may be available and can help contenders round out their roster.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Top 5 Best NBA Buyout\/Free Agent Candidates For Contenders<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Five: Cam Reddish<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Cam Reddish<\/a> has been an intriguing acquisition target throughout his career. His size and shooting at the wing position are sought after by any playoff team. That being said, he has never really lived up to the hype. For his career, he only shoots 32.2% from three, and this year with the Lakers, he has only shot 28.9%. That being said, he has played in 31 games while averaging 18.1 minutes for a solid playoff team. He could be worth a flyer. While still rostered by the Lakers, he has missed recent games due to personal reasons. This has come after a trade to the Hornets involving him was rescinded.<\/span><\/p>\n

Four: Josh Richardson<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Josh Richardson<\/a> was recently waived by the Jazz after being traded from the Heat in the Jimmy Butler<\/a> trade. Richardson has only played in eight games this season for the Heat, but he did play 43 games last year, averaging 25.7 minutes per game and shooting nearly 35% from the three-point line. He is known for being a solid defender and could bring some three-and-D guard depth to a team in need. Richardson has been dealing with injuries this season but could return for the final stretch. If he is healthy, he could be one of the best NBA free agent candidates.<\/span><\/p>\n

Three: Mo Bamba<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Stretch big, anyone? Mo Bamba<\/a> brings size and shooting at the back-up center spot. These are two skills that multiple contenders may need. Bamba has played in 28 games for the Clippers this season, averaging 4.6 points and 4.3 rebounds in 12.6 minutes per game. His shooting numbers have been down this season at only 30% from three, but for his career, he is 35.7% from three. He is also only 26 years old. He could be a solid midseason NBA free agent target.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Two: Reggie Jackson<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Reggie Jackson<\/a> still has some gas left in the tank. Last season, he averaged over 10 points a game while playing in all 82 games for a title-contending Denver Nuggets team. For a 34-year-old point guard that is pretty darn impressive, making him one of the best NBA buyout options for contenders. This year, he has been used in a significantly reduced role for the 76ers. So, why wouldn\u2019t a team that needs a backup ball-handler take a look at Jackson? He was recently waived by the Wizards and should be picked up by a team needing a veteran leader at the backup point guard spot.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

One: Marcus Smart<\/strong><\/h3>\n

This one isn\u2019t as clear-cut. The Wizards acquired Marcus Smart<\/a> in a trade from the Grizzlies, and he is probably the least likely player on the list to be available for a buyout\/free agent signing. That being said, his place on a rebuilding Wizards team just doesn\u2019t make sense. Smart himself said as much in a <\/span>recent interview<\/span><\/a>. If Smart becomes available, he will instantly move to the top of many contenders’ best NBA buyout candidates list. Smart isn\u2019t the DPOY he once was, but he still has the defensive chops and playmaking ability that could help any team. He\u2019s also shown that he can contribute to a deep playoff run on contending teams. Being he is signed for next season as well, a buyout is very likely for this season though.<\/span><\/p>\n

Photo credit: \u00a9 Kiyoshi Mio-Imagn Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The NBA trade deadline has been over for a week now, and we can continue to watch many new players in new uniforms. What a wild ride it was! It seems like the stage has officially been set for an exciting end to the season, but there are still a few moves that could have […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5284,"featured_media":123532,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1608,26,32,16,62,13,24,18],"tags":[1683,142,254,428,1573,170],"class_list":["post-123523","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-basketball","category-lakers","category-grizzlies","category-heat","category-nba","category-76ers","category-jazz","category-wizards","tag-cam-reddish","tag-jimmy-butler","tag-josh-richardson","tag-marcus-smart","tag-mo-bamba","tag-reggie-jackson"],"modified_by":"Kenny Kluska","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/123523","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5284"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=123523"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/123523\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":123535,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/123523\/revisions\/123535"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/123532"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=123523"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=123523"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=123523"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}