Brooklyn Nets: 3 potential buyout candidates to pursue

2. Trevor Ariza

Oklahoma City is currently burying Trevor Ariza on the bench. The career journeyman has not found a home since he was a pivotal part of the Houston Rockets teams that gave the dynastic Golden State Warriors their biggest challenge throughout the Kevin Durant years in the Bay.

Coincidentally enough, James Harden was the top guy on that team. Ariza has always played his best basketball as a utility role player on a team buoyed by an MVP-level star, winning a  championship in 2009 alongside Kobe Bryant.

In Brooklyn, he’d be joining three such athletes at that elite offensive level. With former Rockets coach Mike D’Antoni spear-heading the offensive schemes in Brooklyn, Ariza would be right at home flinging 3s and using his length to harass opposing offenses in lineups alongside Harden, Durant, and Irving.

It’s unclear what Oklahoma City plans on doing with Ariza’s deal at this point. A trade for him straight up wouldn’t make much sense for the Nets. DeAndre Jordan and Joe Harris are the only players with salaries that can be used to land the 35-year-old…and seeing those two get traded for Ariza is less likely than Brooklyn having the Barclays Center at full capacity during any point in the 2020-21 season.

Instead, waiting for him to be bought out is Brooklyn’s best bet to add veteran depth on a budget.