NBA Rumors: 5 Best Players Amnesty Clause Will Put on Free-Agent Market

One of the truly exciting things about this season is the influx of impact players that are going to be made available through the amnesty clause. For those that don't know, the amnesty clause is a clause that will allow players to buy out "bad" contracts.

Based on ESPN, this mean "75 percent of a player's contract value will not count against the salary cap when shed via amnesty."

There are some potentially exciting players who could be made available through the amnesty clause. Now, obviously, these aren't going to be mega-stars, but they are very good players.

Additionally, they will probably be available for significantly less than their former contracts. Here are the five best players that will be added to the market. 

Mehmet Okur

There is some question as to whether Okur will be released, but I believe he will. It makes the most sense for the Jazz, who are stacked with big men and they have no benefit to paying the oft-injured Turk.

Okur is a center who can shoot the three, which is a nice thing to have on a team that is looking for finishing pieces. Okur has hit .377 from three over the course of his career. He also scores 38 percent of his points inside the paint. That's enough to make him a threat inside and outside. 

One potentially intriguing destination for Okur would be Miami, who could use some help at center. They could probably pick him up for the MLE (mid-level exception).

While he's not as good defensively as the young Joel Anthony, he provides a lot more offense, and the matchup problem could open up the lane more for Dwyane Wade and LeBron James.  

Rip Hamilton

After last season's debacle in Detroit, there is probably more than one kind of amnesty that Hamilton could use. The Mutiny on the Pistons was a travesty that all players involved would probably like to forget.

Hamilton doesn't have a lot of history of that kind of behavior going before that, and it's possible that it was an anomaly. Rip Hamilton is an all-around shooting guard that does everything well but nothing great. 

He can shoot the three, averaging 1.3 per 36 minutes last year. He scored 18.7 points per 36. He puts the ball on the floor, as 22 percent of his field goals were unassisted last year.

He gets to the line, averaging over 4 FTA per 36. He is also a solid defensive player. Hamilton could potentially end up on the Bulls. 

Rashard Lewis

The man who is most likely to have the amnesty clause named for him is Rashard Lewis. Lewis is slated to make $22 million this year. That's a lot of money for a guy who scored less than 12 points per game last year. 

Lewis is probably best served being moved back to the three. He's simply not a good enough rebounder to play the four. Given the right fit, Lewis could still be an impact player, though nothing like the $22 million player he was projected to be. 

Lewis has an average of 16.4 points per game over the course of his career, but that sum is 13.0 points per game over the last two years. 

One potential landing spot for Lewis could be San Antonio, who will be likely to buy out the best person not on this list, Richard Jefferson. Lewis would be a slight improvement on both sides of the ball over the disappointing Jefferson. 

Brandon Roy

What Brandon Roy really needs is a chance to start, and sadly for both Portland and Roy, that's not going to happen there. Roy showed flashes of his former self last year in the postseason when given a chance, but his contract is just too big to justify keeping him around at this price. 

A year ago, Roy was potentially an MVP-type player, but his knees have taken a clobbering, and that's effected his game. The question around Roy is whether he can get back to even 80 percent of his former self. 

In 2009, he scored 20.8 points, and averaged 4.5 assists and 4.2 boards per 36 minutes. In 2010 those numbers fell to 15.7, 3.5 and 3.3 respectively. If he can get back his former self, he could turn a contender into a champ or an also-ran into a contender. The Bulls are an intriguing landing spot for Roy. 

Baron Davis

Baron Davis is all about motivation. When he's motivated, he plays well; when he's not, he doesn't. His time with the Clippers saw his image take a major hit, as he got "chubby" and that slowed him down a lot. 

However, he also started to turn things around as Blake Griffin got going and his game progressed. His per 36 minutes are surprisingly good over the course of the year last year, scoring 16.4 points, 8.5 assists and 3.4 boards. 

That's not too shabby. Now, I'm probably going to get shot by some people for suggesting this but maybe the Knicks should abandon the whole Chris Paul idea and set their sights on Davis, who can give them a lot at a fraction of the price? B-Diddy, STAT and Melo together would be an intriguing trio in its own right.