The Wizards‘ recent buyout agreements with guards Marcus Smart and Blake Wesley have reduced the team’s salary by more than $8MM.
As Keith Smith of Spotrac tweets, Smart gave up $6.8MM of his $21.59MM salary as part of his buyout with Washington, while Wesley forfeited roughly $1.38MM of his $4.73MM salary. In total, the two players now count toward the Wizards’ cap for $18,134,313 instead of $26,313,184.
Smart is set to sign a two-year, $10.5MM deal with the Lakers once he clears waivers. It’s unclear where Wesley will land next, but he likely wouldn’t have given up a portion of his salary unless he was confident about having another opportunity lined up.
[UPDATE: Trail Blazers, Blake Wesley Agree To One-Year Deal]
The Wizards won’t technically create any cap room as a result of the moves, since they’re still operating as an over-the-cap team. But their salary for cap purposes is now down to approximately $153.8MM, which is more than $34MM below the luxury tax line ($187.9MM). They also have nearly $39MM in flexibility below the first tax apron ($195.95MM) after accounting for Khris Middleton‘s $3.22MM in unlikely incentives.
The cap savings created by the Smart and Wesley buyouts will put the Wizards in an even better position to become a facilitator in trades during the rest of the 2025 offseason and into the 2025/26 regular season.
Clubs around the NBA who are looking to shed salary or who need a third team to take on a contract to make a trade work will likely make the Wizards’ front office one of their first calls. Washington would presumably be willing to accommodate that sort of deal if sweeteners such as draft assets or a promising young prospect are attached.
The Wizards still have their full non-taxpayer mid-level exception ($14.1MM), along with two trade exceptions worth $13.45MM and $9.9MM. While they wouldn’t be able to combine those exceptions to acquire a player earning more than $14.1MM, they could use all three separately to trade for players whose salaries fit within the limits.