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Former San Antonio Spurs guard Joshua Primo has been suspended four games without pay for "conduct detrimental to the league," the NBA announced today.
Primo was waived by the Spurs on Oct. 31, 2022, following an NBA investigation into his inappropiate behavior.
"The league conducted its own investigation and consulted with relevant experts. Following that process, the league found that Primo engaged in inappropriate and offensive behavior by exposing himself to women," the NBA's statement reads.
"Primo maintains that his conduct was not intentional, and the league did not find evidence that he engaged in any sexual or other misconduct apart from these brief exposures. Nevertheless, this behavior does not conform to league standards and warrants discipline."
Shortly after the NBA announced Primo's suspension, ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski <a href="https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/38520462/former-spurs-guard-joshua-primo-suspended-4-games-conduct" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> that the Los Angeles Clippers are signing Primo to a two-way contract.
This comes after "a former Spurs sports psychologist had sued the team and Primo over the player's actions, and the complaint was settled out of court," Wojnarowski <a href="https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/38520462/former-spurs-guard-joshua-primo-suspended-4-games-conduct" target="_blank" rel="noopener">notes</a>.
&ldquo;It is our hope that, in the long run, this decision will serve the best interest of both the organization and Joshua,&rdquo; Spurs CEO RC Buford said in a statement at the time of his release.
"I know that you all are surprised by today's announcement. I've been seeking help to deal with previous trauma I suffered and will now take this time to focus on my mental-health treatment more fully," Primo said in <a href="https://twitter.com/wojespn/status/1586180446873743362?s=46&amp;t=M_FDB3xXdVyQQAV0FGbg9Q" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a statement</a> to ESPN at the time. "I hope to be able to discuss these issues in the future so I can help others who have suffered in a similar way. I appreciate privacy at this time."
During the 2022-23 season, Primo averaged 7.0 points, 4.5 assists, 3.3 rebounds and 0.5 blocks in 23.3 minutes per game. As a rookie, he appeared in 50 games (including 16 starts), averaging 5.8 points, 2.3 rebounds and 1.6 assists in 19.3 minutes per game.
Primo was the No. 12 overall pick in the 2021 NBA Draft and the youngest player in his class.

The Clippers signed Joshua Primo to a two-way deal shortly after the NBA suspended him four games for "exposing himself to women."

Clippers sign Joshua Primo on two-way deal after NBA suspends him 4 games

Nearly two weeks into the 2022-23 NBA season, there have been plenty of surprises.
The Portland Trail Blazers (5-1), Utah Jazz (5-2) and San Antonio Spurs (4-2) have gotten off to hot starts, while the Brooklyn Nets (1-5) and Miami Heat (2-5) have struggled early on.
There have been some shockers from a fantasy-basketball standpoint too. To help us break down the early fantasy returns, I reached out to <a href="https://twitter.com/MikeSGallagher" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Michael Gallagher</a> of <a href="http://establishtherun.com/nba/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Establish the Run</a>, who&rsquo;s one of the top fantasy-basketball analysts in the business.
Gallagher shared his early surprises, must-adds, sell-highs, buy-lows and more!
It&rsquo;s still early, but which players have surprised you so far?
Michael Gallagher: &ldquo;Ja Morant. There was so much buzz on him improving his jumper to cut out some of the noise, and so far he&rsquo;s caught fire from the perimeter and from the line. I had a fade on him, and it&rsquo;s looking quite bad.
&ldquo;Andrew Wiggins has looked even better than postseason Wiggins. Earlier in his career, he was just a points-only guy, but the championship run of filling up the stat sheet has carried over.
&ldquo;Jaden McDaniels was a guy I was high on every year, but it just didn&rsquo;t seem like he could put it together with his constant foul trouble and lack of usage. This year, he went to P3 to work on his jumper, and it&rsquo;s translated to better shooting numbers.&rdquo;
Who are some players that should be owned in significantly more leagues?
Gallagher: &ldquo;It makes no sense that Trey Murphy III is only on 61% of Yahoo rosters. Sure, he&rsquo;s getting a nice boost from no Brandon Ingram and no Zion Williamson, but the coaching staff and players have been talking him up like crazy. I want to bet on this offense, and Murphy is a cheap way to do that.
&ldquo;Joshua Primo isn&rsquo;t on the Spurs anymore, so Josh Richardson is going to find plenty of minutes as long as he&rsquo;s on the roster (there&rsquo;s been some buzz about a possible trade). Devin Vassell will return at some point to take the upside case off him, but he should still produce. Keep an eye on Blake Wesley too.
&ldquo;Deni Avdija had a quiet game on Friday, but he&rsquo;s expected to pick up some extra ball-handling while Delon Wright (hamstring) is out.&rdquo;
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Are there any players that you are trying to buy-low or sell-high on?&nbsp;
Gallagher: &ldquo;Evan Mobley is off to a bit of a slow start, but he&rsquo;s just popped on the defensive end. Coach JB Bickerstaff had mentioned that he&rsquo;s still in preseason mode after he missed time in the preseason due to an ankle injury, so I would expect him to trend up quickly.
&ldquo;Jamal Murray is off to an extremely slow start, which is certainly expected given all the time off. ACL injuries aren&rsquo;t as debilitating these days, and it shouldn&rsquo;t be too long before he&rsquo;s starting to trend up.
&ldquo;Brook Lopez is absolutely rolling to start the year with his 4.0 blocks per game in four games. There&rsquo;s an outside chance he leads the league in blocks (I have a 150:1 ticket that he does!), but his injury history has been extensive [so he&rsquo;s a potential sell-high].
&ldquo;Jonas Valanciunas has also run very hot to start the year, but Zion Williamson&rsquo;s injury is really boosting him. We saw him lose closing duties earlier this year, and that&rsquo;ll happen more often as Willie Green gets his options back.&rdquo;
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Who are some players to keep an eye on as this season progresses that could become a decent add down the road?
Gallagher: &ldquo;Jalen Williams is out after suffering an eye injury in his NBA debut, but the role was so good in the preseason. He played 1-through-4, and we&rsquo;ve already seen Mark Daigneault go to a small-ball four in Aaron Wiggins. Williams can do it all on the stat sheet, so I would want him on my team ASAP.
&ldquo;Not enough people are buying Jeremy Sochan. He&rsquo;s not going to score much, but the Spurs are going to use him as one of their defensive staples. The playing time should be there all year, and they&rsquo;re even letting him shoot three-pointers.
&ldquo;Markelle Fultz is still in a boot, but the Magic are getting nothing out of their point guards right now &ndash; partly because nobody is healthy at guard, but the fit with Cole Anthony and Jalen Suggs has been weird (although it&rsquo;s not a big sample, of course).&rdquo;
What are your thoughts on this rookie class and what they have shown thus far?
Gallagher: &ldquo;Paolo Banchero is just unfair. He was 2:1 for ROY, and now he&rsquo;s close to -200. His offensive game is on another level.
&ldquo;Bennedict Mathurin can score with the best of &lsquo;em. He gets to the basket at will, and the minutes have been climbing. We should see the Pacers thin out their roster, and it won&rsquo;t be long before coach Rick Carlisle is turning him into the clear No. 2 option behind Tyrese Haliburton. Plus, Haliburton is dropping dimes like crazy to possibly boost him even more.&rdquo;
Be sure to check out <a href="https://establishtherun.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Establish the Run</a> for the most in-depth fantasy analysis.

Fantasy-basketball expert Michael Gallagher shares his must-adds, buy-lows, sell-highs, early surprises and more.

Fantasy basketball advice: Must-adds, sell-highs, buy-lows and more

A female former San Antonio Spurs employee has alleged that now-former Spurs guard Josh Primo exposed himself in her presence, a person with knowledge of the matter said Saturday night.
The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because no details had been revealed publicly by the Spurs, Primo or the accuser.
Attorney Tony Buzbee confirmed to AP that he has been hired by &ldquo;a former contractor&rdquo; with the Spurs. He is the attorney who represented 24 women who sued Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson, then of the Houston Texans, accusing him of sexual assault or harassment.
Watson is serving an 11-game unpaid suspension and was fined $5 million by the NFL.
Primo was waived by the Spurs on Friday in a surprising move, given that the 19-year-old was considered to be an important part of the team&rsquo;s future. ESPN, citing sources, reported Saturday that the Spurs parted ways with Primo after &ldquo;multiple alleged instances of him exposing himself to women.&rdquo; The San Antonio Express-News also confirmed that the Spurs&rsquo; decision followed multiple allegations made against Primo.
There are no active court cases against Primo in Bexar County, Texas, according to online records.
On Friday, Primo released a statement to ESPN saying that he has &ldquo;been seeking help to deal with previous trauma I suffered and will now take this time to focus on my mental health treatment more fully. I hope to be able to discuss these issues in the future so I can help others who have suffered in a similar way. I appreciate privacy at this time.&rdquo;
The Spurs took Primo with the No. 12 pick in the 2021 NBA draft after he spent one year of college at Alabama.
Primo averaged 5.8 points, 2.3 rebounds and 1.6 assists in his rookie season with the Spurs, and 7.0 points, 4.5 assists and 3.3 rebounds in four games with the Spurs this season.
The team had even recently picked up his third-year option, a largely procedural move that locked in a $4.3 million salary for next season and showed that he was expected to remain in the Spurs' plans. He was making $4.1 million this season.
&ldquo;It is our hope that, in the long run, this decision will serve the best interest of both the organization and Joshua,&rdquo; Spurs CEO R.C. Buford said when the team waived Primo on Friday. Spurs coach Gregg Popovich did not add details, referring reporters to Buford&rsquo;s statement and saying &ldquo;we&rsquo;re going to stick by what we told you.&rdquo;

A female former San Antonio Spurs employee has alleged that now-former Spurs guard Josh Primo exposed himself in her presence.

Spurs waived Primo after he allegedly exposed himself to staffer

The San Antonio Spurs stunned the basketball world on Friday evening when they announced that they have waived Josh Primo. Primo was the No. 12 overall pick in the 2021 NBA Draft, and he was the youngest player in his class.&nbsp;
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&ldquo;It is our hope that, in the long run, this decision will serve the best interest of both the organization and Joshua,&rdquo; Spurs CEO RC Buford said in a statement.
Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich refused to comment. The 19-year-old seemed to be a key part of San Antonio's long-term plan, which has many NBA executives wondering why he was abruptly waived.
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"I'm sure there is more to the story," one NBA general manager told BasketballNews. "They just picked up his option too."
As the GM mentioned, the Spurs just picked up Primo's third-year team option two weeks ago, making their decision to cut him even more odd.
Primo issued the <a href="https://twitter.com/wojespn/status/1586180446873743362?s=46&amp;t=M_FDB3xXdVyQQAV0FGbg9Q" target="_blank" rel="noopener">following statement</a> to ESPN: "I know that you all are surprised by today's announcement. I've been seeking help to deal with previous trauma I suffered and will now take this time to focus on my mental-health treatment more fully. I hope to be able to discuss these issues in the future so I can help others who have suffered in a similar way. I appreciate privacy at this time."
This season, Primo was averaging 7.0 points, 4.5 assists, 3.3 rebounds and 0.5 blocks in 23.3 minutes per game. Last season, he appeared in 50 games (including 16 starts), averaging 5.8 points, 2.3 rebounds and 1.6 assists in 19.3 minutes per game.
Primo has a ton of potential; after all, there's a reason he was a lottery pick just one year ago. He could be claimed by an NBA team, but the Spurs' decision to waive him will surely scare some teams away. Executives will need to do their homework and try to uncover more details about this strange situation.&nbsp;

On Friday evening, the San Antonio Spurs stunned the basketball world by waiving 19-year-old prospect Josh Primo.

San Antonio Spurs stunningly waive 19-year-old Josh Primo

Nikola Jokic is about to start his chase toward something that hasn&rsquo;t been done in nearly 40 years.
A player winning back-to-back NBA MVP awards is rare, something that&rsquo;s happened only 13 times in league history. And having done that last season, Jokic &mdash; the cornerstone of the Denver Nuggets &mdash; is now trying for something even more unusual: winning it three years in a row.
The only players who have pulled off that feat are Bill Russell (1961, 1962, 1963), Wilt Chamberlain (1966, 1967, 1968) and Larry Bird (1984, 1985, 1986).
The Nuggets aren't keeping that fact a secret from Jokic.
&ldquo;No, I challenged him,&rdquo; said Nuggets coach Michael Malone, who flew to Serbia last summer to surprise Jokic with his second straight award.
Jokic is obviously among the favorites. Until this past season, there had never been a stretch of four consecutive international MVPs in the NBA. Jokic changed that, winning each of the last two awards after Milwaukee&rsquo;s Giannis Antetokounmpo (Greece) won in 2019 and 2020.
And right now, it would seem almost likely that the MVP streak for non-U.S.-born players goes to five in a row, with Jokic, Antetokounmpo, Dallas&rsquo; Luka Doncic (Slovenia) and Philadelphia's Joel Embiid among the favorites. Embiid was born in Cameroon and holds French and now U.S. citizenship.
<a href="https://sportsbook.fanduel.com/navigation/nba?tab=player-awards">FanDuel Sportsbook</a> says Doncic is the favorite, just ahead of Embiid and Antetokounmpo. Jokic is fourth in terms of lowest odds, tied with Brooklyn&rsquo;s Kevin Durant and just ahead of Memphis&rsquo; Ja Morant, Boston&rsquo;s Jayson Tatum and Golden State&rsquo;s Stephen Curry.
POP STUFF
San Antonio&rsquo;s Gregg Popovich has faced 163 different coaches so far in his legendary career. That list should reach at least 166 this season, with him slated to oppose Los Angeles Lakers coach Darvin Ham, interim Boston coach Joe Mazzulla and former Spurs assistant Will Hardy &mdash; now the coach in Utah &mdash; all for the first time.
There have been 322 coaches in NBA history, not including Popovich, who have coached at least 10 games. Popovich, the NBA&rsquo;s all-time wins leader, has faced more than half of them &mdash; 50.3%, or 162.
Popovich turns 74 on Jan. 28, and he's the oldest active head coach in the NBA.
It's no secret that Popovich enjoys talking about and, of course, sipping fine wine. But six of the players on San Antonio's season-opening roster probably won't have much to say about that topic; Jordan Hall is 20 and the Spurs have five other players &mdash; Joshua Primo, Blake Wesley, Dominick Barlow, Malaki Branham and Jeremy Sochan &mdash; who are still 19 as this season begins.
The Spurs' group of 19-year-olds, incidentally, are five of the NBA's 17 youngest players who made rosters or got two-way deals to start the season.
SPO WATCH
Miami&rsquo;s Erik Spoelstra &mdash; whose tenure with the Heat is the second-longest of any current coach in his current job, behind only San Antonio&rsquo;s Gregg Popovich &mdash; should move into the top 20 on the NBA&rsquo;s all-time wins list this season.
Spoelstra starts the season with 660 wins, behind No. 22 Mike Fratello (667), No. 21 Mike D&rsquo;Antoni (672) and No. 20 Red Holzman (696). No. 19 John MacLeod (707) is within legitimate reach for Spoelstra this season as well.
Philadelphia&rsquo;s Doc Rivers enters the year No. 9 on the list with 1,043 wins, which is 55 behind No. 8 Larry Brown. Indiana&rsquo;s Rick Carlisle has 861 wins, three back of No. 14 Jack Ramsay.
FIT TO BE TIED
For only the second time in the last 23 seasons, the Western Conference didn&rsquo;t win the season-long series against teams from the Eastern Conference.
In the regular season, the East went 226-224 against the West &mdash; bolstered by a 3-0 record on the final day with Chicago topping Minnesota, Boston rolling past Memphis and Atlanta defeating Houston.
Throw in Golden State&rsquo;s 4-2 mark against Boston in the NBA Finals, and the final games-won tally for the full season was West 228, East 228.
The only other time since 1998-99 that the East won the regular season series vs. the West was 2008-09, going 231-219. In the other 21 regular seasons over that span, before last year, the West had gone 5,149-3,910 vs. the East &mdash; a .568 winning percentage.
AGE GAME
The youngest player in the league entering this season is Detroit&rsquo;s Jalen Duren, who was born Nov. 18, 2003.
Yes, that means he wasn&rsquo;t born yet when some current players were already in the league. LeBron James and Udonis Haslem both played their 11th career games on the day Duren was born.
That isn&rsquo;t the only age quirk this season.
The 42-year-old Haslem is older than five current head coaches &mdash; New Orleans&rsquo; Willie Green, Memphis&rsquo; Taylor Jenkins, Oklahoma City&rsquo;s Mark Daigneault, Utah&rsquo;s Will Hardy and Boston interim coach Joe Mazzulla. Golden State&rsquo;s Andre Iguodala is older than than the last four names on that list; James is older than the last three.
There are 19 players currently on rosters who are older than Hardy (including Jazz players Rudy Gay and Mike Conley) and 23 players older than Mazzulla (including Boston forward Al Horford).
ODDS ARE
Oklahoma City has been favored in five games over the last two seasons. That&rsquo;s the fewest games in a two-year span by any team over the last decade; Philadelphia was favored in a combined six games over the 2015-16 and 2016-17 seasons.
That said, the Thunder were a great bet last season. They covered in 63% of their games, just behind Memphis (64%) for the best such rate in the NBA. The worst was Portland, which covered 38% of the time.
This much is certain: The team that was favored in more games than anyone else last season won&rsquo;t have that same distinction this year.
Last year, the Utah Jazz were favored in 73 of the 82 regular-season games, ahead of Phoenix (70), Milwaukee (66), Golden State (62), Boston (61) and Miami (59). With Donovan Mitchell now in Cleveland and Rudy Gobert now in Minnesota, the Jazz won&rsquo;t be favored anywhere near that often this season.
LEBRON CLIMBING
LeBron James isn&rsquo;t just on target to become the NBA&rsquo;s all-time scoring leader this season; he&rsquo;s 1,325 points behind Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and at his average career scoring pace would need about 49 games to move into the No. 1 spot.
He&rsquo;s also set to keep moving up a bunch of other lists, including:
&mdash; Assists: James is seventh right now with 10,045, behind No. 6 Magic Johnson (10,141), No. 5 Mark Jackson (10,334) and No. 4 Steve Nash (10,335). That would put him behind only John Stockton (15,806), Jason Kidd (12,091) and Chris Paul (10,977 entering this season).
&mdash; Games: James has been in 1,366, currently 14th-most all-time. He needs to appear in 27 games to pass Tim Duncan (1,392) for 10th on the NBA career list, and could potentially catch Kevin Willis (1,424) for eighth.
&mdash; 3-pointers: James is 11th in NBA history with 2,140, three behind Portland&rsquo;s Damian Lillard and the retired Paul Pierce, who enter this year tied for ninth.
&mdash; Seasons: James is entering Year 20. He&rsquo;ll be the ninth player to appear in 20 seasons.
SPEAKING OF 20
Miami&rsquo;s Udonis Haslem will be the 10th player to appear in 20 seasons, assuming that LeBron James gets into a game before Haslem does.
Haslem is one of only three players to spend 20 years with one team, joining Dallas&rsquo; Dirk Nowitzki (21) and the Lakers&rsquo; Kobe Bryant (20).
If Carmelo Anthony, who is unsigned, gets into a game this season, that'll mark Year 20 for the former Syracuse great as well.
REMEMBERING RUSSELL
All players will wear Basketball Hall of Famer Bill Russell's No. 6 on the right shoulder of their jerseys this season, commemorating the life of the 11-time NBA champion with the Boston Celtics and civil rights activist who died this summer.
Also, all courts in the NBA will have a &ldquo;6" on the sideline near the scorer's table. And no player who isn't already wearing No. 6 will be allowed to wear it ever again; Russell is the first to have his number retired across the entire league.
Among those still wearing the No. 6 jersey because they were wearing them previously: LeBron James, Washington's Kristaps Porzingis and Chicago's Alex Caruso &mdash; who wanted to change numbers as a tribute to Russell this season, but said he had his request denied.
POINTS MARK
The NBA is 26,324 points away from reaching 14 million all-time.
A record 291,912 points were scored last season, including playoffs. There have been years where more points were scored on average per game &mdash; 16 of them, actually. NBA games saw an average of 220.6 points last season, 16 points per game less than the record of 236.6 set in 1961-62.
At last year's pace, the 14 millionth point would be scored roughly 120 games into this season. or sometime in early November.

The AP highlights important milestones, numbers and records in the NBA that could be achieved in the 2022-23 season.

NBA 2022-23: 10 things to know about the upcoming season

DETROIT (AP) &mdash; Ja Morant had 31 points and eight rebounds as the Memphis Grizzlies closed out their preseason with a 126-111 victory over the Detroit Pistons on Thursday night.
Desmond Bane went 1 for 7 from 3-point range and finished with 16 points for Memphis. Brandon Clarke also scored 16 points while playing extended minutes after starting center Stephen Adams left with a sore neck.
Saddiq Bey led the Pistons with 17 points and eight rebounds. Isaiah Stewart had 16 points and nine rebounds, and Cade Cunningham had 15 points and six assists. Kevin Knox II finished with 13 points as Detroit went winless in four preseason games.
The Pistons played without center Marvin Bagley III, who suffered a sprained MCL in the first minute of Tuesday&rsquo;s loss to Oklahoma City. Bagley is expected to miss two to three weeks. Stewart started at center.
Both teams went with their usual starters in their final preseason game and stayed close to expected rotations through the first three quarters.
The Grizzlies used their backcourt duo of Morant and Bane for an offensive burst in the first half, while Stewart kept the Pistons close. Morant scored 15 points in the third as Memphis built its lead before Grizzlies coach Taylor Jenkins went to his reserves with three minutes left in the period and finished out the game.
Memphis rookies David Roddy and Jake LaRavia scored 12 and 10 points, respectively. Pistons rookie Jaden Ivey, the fifth overall pick in the draft, had seven points, going 3 of 11 from the field, including missing all four of his 3-points attempts.
Adams was injured in a scrum under the Memphis basket and went straight to the locker room just before halftime. He didn't return.
Memphis finished the preseason 3-2 and opens the season next Wednesday, hosting the New York Knicks. Detroit also opens the regular season on Wednesday, playing at home against the Orlando Magic.
THUNDER 118, SPURS 112
In San Antonio, rookie Jalen Williams, the 12th overall draft pick from Santa Clara, had 19 points and Josh Giddey added 18 and six assists as Oklahoma City pulled away at the end to beat the Spurs.
Tre Mann finished with 17 points for Oklahoma City. Jaylin Williams, the 34th pick out of Arkansas, grabbed 11 rebounds.
Joshua Primo, a first-round pick in the 2021 draft, had 23 points to lead San Antonio, converting 8 of 12 shots. Keldon Johnson added 19 points and Devin Vassell had 18.
San Antonio's Jakob Poeltl made all four of his shots and finished with eight points, 10 rebounds and five assists.
The game was tight throughout the second half after the teams went into halftime tied at 62. From there, neither team managed to stretch its advantage to double digits.
The game was tied at 110 with 3:24 left, but San Antonio managed only two points the rest of the way.
The Spurs open the season at home on Wednesday against the Charlotte Hornets. The Thunder start regular-season play the same night on the road in Minnesota against the Timberwolves.

Ja Morant had 31 points and 8 rebounds as the Grizzlies closed out their preseason with a 126-111 victory over the Pistons.

Ja Morant nets 31, leads Grizzlies to win in preseason finale

Blake Hairston breaks down the top NBA Draft prospects to keep an eye on from the Southeastern Conference.

2021 NBA Draft: Analyzing the SEC's top prospects

While the NBA&rsquo;s trade deadline is one of the busiest days of the year, there are plenty of names that are talked about, but ultimately don&rsquo;t end up being traded. That doesn&rsquo;t mean that the player movement is done for the year. In fact, this year may see bigger names bought out and signed than you see them traded.
The buyout market often brings more hope than it does productivity. The last player to receive a buyout and then play over 100 minutes in the playoffs for a team that won a championship was Peja Stojakovic for the Dallas Mavericks all the way back in 2011. More often than not, this type of move isn&rsquo;t made for a difference-maker. But this is as abnormal of a season as we&rsquo;ve seen in the NBA, so this very well may be the year that things change.
Below are some of the players that could end up in the buyout market after the dust settles.
Andre Drummond, Center - Cleveland Cavaliers
The Cavaliers have been shopping Drummond ever since the team jumped in and acquired Jarett Allen from Brooklyn as part of the James Harden deal. The issue with shopping Drummond on the trade market was that few teams had the ability to <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/nba-trade-deadline-rumors-houston-rockets-orlando-magic-victor-oladipo-aaron-gordon-evan-fournier-andre-drummond" target="_blank" rel="noopener">absorb his cap hit of nearly $30 million</a>. He hasn&rsquo;t played for Cleveland since the beginning of February and will be recieving a buyout. Signs seem to indicate him heading to the Los Angeles Lakers, although the Boston Celtics and Dallas Mavericks also may have interest.
LaMarcus Aldridge, Power Forward - San Antonio Spurs
The Spurs very rarely make trades during the season, and despite publicly announcing earlier this month that the organization had agreed to part ways with Aldridge, no team traded for him and he will be bought out by the Spurs. While Aldridge isn&rsquo;t the player he once was, he still is a player that can help a winning team make a push in the playoffs. His numbers this year are the lowest since his rookie year in the NBA, but never underestimate what a change of scenery can do for a player with a desire to win. The Miami Heat and Phoenix Suns are two teams to watch here, and it&rsquo;s worth noting he did take meetings with both franchises prior to signing with the Spurs in 2015.
Austin Rivers, Guard - New York Knicks
When the New York Knicks traded for Derrick Rose earlier this season, it made Austin Rivers a very expendable player -- and one who likely won&rsquo;t finish the season in New York. If he&rsquo;s bought out, he&rsquo;s capable of providing a scoring punch off the bench for a team that needs it. The Milwaukee Bucks could be a relatively intriguing fit. Rivers was dealt to the Thunder as part of a trade that saw George Hill end up in Philadelphia, but still could be bought out.
Hassan Whiteside, Center - Sacramento Kings
Ever since signing a max deal with the Heat a few years back, Whiteside has been a bit of an afterthought in the NBA. Now, he&rsquo;s in Sacramento and not seeing the floor too often. He&rsquo;s played in 27 games off the bench for the Kings, averaging just 14.7 minutes per game. Maybe he can be an end of the bench &ldquo;break glass in case of emergency&rdquo; big man on a team that has a roster spot available.
Gorgui Dieng, Center - Memphis Grizzlies
Dieng isn&rsquo;t going to change the equation for a team that&rsquo;s vying for a championship, but he can add a bit of frontcourt depth to a team that needs it. Dieng isn&rsquo;t very mobile, but has a reliable jumper and can protect the rim at a passable level. He&rsquo;s also a good fit in almost any locker room.
Ben McLemore, Guard - Houston Rockets
The Rockets parting ways with McLemore could mean that a contender adds a depth piece in their backcourt. While McLemore hasn&rsquo;t had a great year in Houston this is a situation that could change with a new change of scenery, or serve as an insurance policy for a team with higher-end guards.
Jeff Teague, Guard - Orlando Magic
Teague was part of the trade that sent Evan Fournier to the Boston Celtics on Thursday, and was told that he will be waived and hit the open market, according to <a href="https://twitter.com/JoshuaBRobbins/status/1375168932802404354?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Athletic</a>. Teague hasn't been very effective this season in Boston, and didn't have a great year last year between Minnesota and Atlanta. It could, however, make some sense for him to head back to the Hawks after Rajon Rondo was traded away for Lou Williams. He could provide veteran leadership to the franchise that was home to his best days.&nbsp;
Otto Porter Jr., Forward - Orlando Magic
Like Teague, the Magic acquired Porter Jr. on Thursday. Porter Jr. was sent to Orlando with Wendell Carter Jr. and a pair of first-round picks for Nikola Vucevic. It's not a certainty that Porter Jr. is bought out by Orlando, but if he is there will be interest on the open market for him. He could be a wing defender off the bench for a team like Boston, Milwaukee, or Golden State if it does happen, though.&nbsp;
Jabari Parker, Forward - Sacramento Kings
Parker hasn't lived up to the expectations that come along with being the No. 2 overall pick, as he once was. He's been on the Kings this season but has played in just three games and will be released, according to <a href="https://twitter.com/mr_jasonjones/status/1375175829081059328?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Athletic</a>. It's tough to envision Parker making an impact on a contender right now, but he could be the ultimate buy low lottery ticket for a team should he be able to stay healthy and earn playing time.&nbsp;
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Danny Cunningham dives into who could hit the buyout market after this year's NBA trade deadline and where those players could land.

Joshua