I don’t understand the NBA buyout. Why would you buyout a player when he will just sign for a contender? Why would you help another team to win a title? Why not just keep that player for a year and sit him down if you don’t want him to play him.
Say your a rebuilding team and there is a G league player you'd like to sign or another journeyman on the market. Supposed your a coach and your star guard comes up and said. "We gotta talk about Cameron. He's a clubhouse ulcer." All sorts of reasons.
While this is true the player usually doesn't agree to give up more than 5 to 10% of their salary. In most cases that doesn't provide the team with much more of an incentive. I think the just wanting to move on from the player (they could become a locker-room cancer if kept) is the bigger issue most times. Or they just want to play someone over them but without giving the other player a chance to pout or become that locker-room cancer.
if the player is a problem, and you want them off the team, maybe you are considering waiving them. In this case, the team holds a little leverage (they can "keep them for the year and sit them down"), so they then ask the player to take less than the full balance of his contract in order to get off the team and try to get into a better situation. This saves them money IRL and off the salary cap. Sometimes a player is acquired in a trade simply to balance salaries, and the team acquiring said player has no intention of playing them, or maybe didnt want them in the first place. Many players are added into trades just to make the trade rules jive. These players are often waived or bought out for the simple reason that they were just throw ins to get the deal done, arent going to get any playing time, and it is mutually beneficial to make negotiate a deal that placates both sides. front offices tend to play nice with the agents and the players. If a player, especially a player who thinks they deserve a bigger role, is unhappy, many teams will bite the bullet and waive them or negotiate a buyout in order to foster goodwill with the player (in essence all players) and the agent, in order to keep good relationships. A contract can many times become a burden, but it is a sunk cost. the ability for a team to recoup some of that cost by negotiating a buyout of less than his full guarantee is just good business, if the front office does not have that player in its plans for the present or future. sometimes players are waived for a roster spot. like greg oden. i think he kept all of his money though.