For those that are not up to scratch on their history, mercenaries are soldiers that are paid for their allegiance. The key factor in this scenario is that these soldiers had no vested stake in the strategic outcomes of the war. They weren’t fighting to protect their families, or to gain resources for their people, or even for the pride of their country. They were fighting for their reputation and to improve their position in life.

Many players can provide short-term veteran talent to bolster a teams rotation down the stretch, even if contending teams have determined that they are not the right fit for their current roster. As for the players motivation, it would be parallel to those historical mercenaries, finances and reputation. Playing out the remaining year of their contract becomes an exercise in reviving their value on the open market.

In the event teams are sitting near the bottom of the standings, traditionally they would look to use whatever cap space they have on absorbing player contracts to save other teams on their waived salary in exchange for draft capital. In essence, they would be salary dump destinations. This trend is especially pronounced since taking in more salary than you trade out now hard caps teams at the first aprons. Teams with cap space that are vying for the top pick would take on a contract or two that were included as trade matching salary in a 3-team deal so that both of the other teams were sending out more salary than they were taking in.

These players were often not included in the deal because they were not productive, but because their salary was needed to make the trade math work and, possibly, because their contract was overvalued. However, if the players are still productive the receiving teams might not waive the players anymore, especially if the player is on a short term contract. These players might be worth a few more wins that will boost them out of the bottom 3 relegation zone.

Now look at the motivation for those players. Either way, they will be getting their guaranteed salary. If the team gives them the option to either play out the year on a team that could give them lots of minutes and usage or try to find a spot on a minimum contract to sit at the end of the bench, they might be willing to take the opportunity to boost their upcoming free agency stock rather than sign a minimum on a contender without many opportunities.

Cam Johnson

Julius Randle

Jarace Walker

Andrew Wiggins (Giannis Trade?)

Caris LeVert

Chicago Bulls

Memphis Grizzlies

Sacramento Kings