# The Buyout Market Is Dead and Teams Are Scrambling
The NBA's buyout deadline passed Thursday with a whimper. Just three players of note hit the market—Andre Drummond, Danilo Gallinari, and Lonnie Walker IV—and all three signed within 48 hours. Drummond went to Miami for veteran minimum money. Gallinari chose Dallas over four other contenders. Walker landed in Phoenix on a 10-day.
That's it. That's the haul.
Compare that to last April when 11 rotation-caliber players got bought out. Or 2024 when Gordon Hayward, Evan Fournier, and Bismack Biyombo all became available in the same week. This year? Teams held onto their veterans, even the bad ones sitting at the end of benches.
Why? Money got tight. The second apron penalties finally have teeth, and front offices would rather eat salary than help a competitor for free.
## Charlotte's Bizarre Rotation Gamble
The Hornets waived veteran forward PJ Washington on Monday—wait, wrong Washington. They waived TJ Warren, the 33-year-old they signed last summer for $4.2 million. He'd played in just 19 games, averaging 4.1 points in 11 minutes per contest.
Here's the thing: Charlotte isn't tanking anymore. They're 36-38, fighting for the play-in, and they just cut a guy who could've given them 15 minutes of competent wing defense. Instead, coach Charles Lee is running rookie Jarace Beauchamp 28 minutes a night. Beauchamp's shooting 38% from the field and getting torched on switches.
Real talk: this makes zero sense unless the front office told Lee to prioritize development over wins. Which would be fine if they'd communicated that to fans who just watched LaMelo Ball drop 47 points in a loss to Atlanta because nobody else could guard Trae Young in crunch time.
Warren cleared waivers Wednesday. The Lakers claimed him Friday morning. He'll back up Rui Hachimura and probably play 12-15 minutes in the playoffs. Charlotte gets nothing except a slightly smaller luxury tax bill.
## Milwaukee's Giannis Insurance Policy
The Bucks made the week's smartest move and nobody noticed. They claimed Jalen Smith off waivers from Indiana on Tuesday after the Pacers cut him to create a roster spot for their Drummond pursuit (which failed).
Smith is 25, shoots 37% from three, and can play the five in small-ball lineups. He averaged 8.2 points and 5.1 rebounds in 18 minutes for Indiana this season. Not spectacular, but here's what matters: Giannis Antetokounmpo has missed 14 games since February with knee soreness. Brook Lopez is 38 and playing 28 minutes a night instead of his usual 32.
Milwaukee's frontcourt depth chart behind those two was Bobby Portis and then... nobody. Portis can't protect the rim. He's a power forward playing center out of necessity, and it shows—the Bucks allow 118.3 points per 100 possessions when he's at the five without Giannis on the floor.
Smith gives them a legitimate backup center who can switch on defense and space the floor. He won't start, but in a playoff series against Boston or New York, having a third big who can play 15-20 minutes might be the difference between the second round and the conference finals.
Doc Rivers called it a "depth move" in his press conference. Translation: we're terrified Giannis's knee won't hold up for four rounds.
## Denver's Quiet Rotation Shift
The Nuggets haven't made any roster moves, but Michael Malone changed his rotation two weeks ago and it's working. Christian Braun is now starting at shooting guard over Kentavious Caldwell-Pope. KCP comes off the bench with the second unit.
The numbers are staggering. Denver's starting lineup with Braun has a +14.2 net rating in 127 minutes since the change. That same lineup with KCP was +6.8 before the switch. Braun's averaging 11.4 points on 48/41/83 shooting splits as a starter. He's 23, athletic, and doesn't need the ball in his hands to be effective.
KCP is 33 and clearly lost a step. His three-point percentage dropped from 42% last season to 36% this year. He's still a plus defender, but Malone realized he's more valuable playing 24 minutes against second units than 32 minutes against starters.
Look, this is how championship teams stay championship teams. They make uncomfortable decisions before they become desperate ones. KCP took the demotion professionally—he's a pro—but you know it stings. He started 82 games last season and was a key piece of their 2023 title run.
Braun's emergence also gives Denver flexibility if they want to move KCP's $15 million expiring contract this summer. They won't, because Nikola Jokic likes him and that matters more than anything. But they could.
## The Clippers' Medical Mystery
LA placed Kawhi Leonard on the injury report Friday with "right knee load management" for Sunday's game against Sacramento. He's missed 22 games this season with various knee issues. The Clippers are 14-8 in those games, which sounds fine until you realize they're 28-22 when he plays.
They need him healthy for the playoffs. Obviously. But here's the controversial take: they might be better off shutting him down for the final two weeks of the regular season and accepting a lower seed.
The Clippers are currently sixth in the West at 42-32. If they fall to seventh or eighth, they'd have to win two play-in games to make the playoffs. That's two extra games of wear on Kawhi's knee before the first round even starts. Is home court in round one worth that risk?
Ty Lue won't do it. He's too competitive, and the front office would never approve tanking games with a healthy roster. But if Kawhi's knee is genuinely bothering him—and the load management suggests it is—the smart move is rest now, sacrifice seeding, and hope he's 100% for a potential first-round matchup against whoever.
They won't. They'll play him 32 minutes a night, secure the five seed, and he'll be hobbling by the conference semifinals. Book it.