Troy Murphy's contract has been bought out by the Golden State Warriors, reports Tim Kawakami of the San Jose Mercury News. March 1 is the deadline for players currently under contract to be waived by their teams and be eligible to appear in the playoffs for another franchise. Murphy was traded to Golden State by the New Jersey Nets a day before the NBA trade deadline last week; the Warriors won't make the playoffs, and Murphy would like to sign with a contender for the stretch run.
Troy Murphy Buyout By Warriors Reportedly Done; Celtics, Heat In The Hunt
Kawakami reports that the Warriors did stipulate that Murphy could only sign with an Eastern Conference team, meaning that despite Golden State's record, the team did not want to help any Western teams pushing for the playoffs. Kawakami reports that Murphy is being chased by not only the favored Boston Celtics, but also the Miami Heat.
Boston has been tied to Murphy since two deadline moves left the Celtics with a couple of roster spots. The Celtics dealt Luke Harangody and Semih Erden to the Cavaliers for a second-round pick, and sent injured Marquis Daniels to the Kings for a smile and a thank you. That cleared three roster spots for potential buy-out additions, and in addition cut a few bucks off of Boston's hefty luxury tax bill.
The Heat have been stockpiling minimum-salaried big men since July, so adding Murphy -- a deep-shooting, heavy-rebounding type -- would be par for the course. Miami needs shooting more than does Boston, but the trade of Kendrick Perkins to Oklahoma City, continued injury trouble for Shaquille O'Neal and Jermaine O'Neal and the trade of Erden and Harangody have left the Celtics a bit thin up front.
Kawakami has a great run-down of reasons as to why teams like Golden State execute buy-out agreements like this.
See More:
