NBA Trade Speculation: 12 Dead Weight Players That Need to Be Jettisoned

Nothing is worse as a fan than looking at your favorite team's roster and seeing a guy at the end of the bench who simply does few things that help the team.

Unfortunately, there are far too many of them in the league today with contracts that will keep them employed for at least a few more seasons.

So what can you do? Hopefully you can get some other team to take them off your hands.

Here are 12 guys who ought to get moved as soon as possible.

Desagana Diop

One of those guys who got drafted and I automatically went, “Huh?” Diop went from a “raw talent” to a big body that you just throw into the game and hope he does something productive.

Unfortunately, now he can’t even do that as he is likely going to miss plenty of games this season due to injuries. At $6.9 million this season, that’s a lot of dead weight.

Kosta Koufos

Are we ready to give up on Kosta Koufos? After hearing such nice things about him coming out of Ohio State, it appears he is nothing but your typical stiff.

He averaged about eight minutes a game this season for George Karl after being benched for two seasons by Jerry Sloan. If two of the best coaches in the game don’t like you, who will?

Charlie Bell

After a very up-and-down career (mostly down), Charlie Bell is not going out gracefully. He had far and away his worst season since becoming a regular in the league, struggling to get time on the Warriors.

After shooting only 28 percent from the field, I don’t blame the Warriors for keeping him on the bench.

Brian Cook

Brian Cook has never been as multi-dimensional of a player as some would have hoped. Frankly, he likes to shoot and if you aren’t having him do that, he tends to check out.

On a team that could really use all the talent it can get, Cook was buried on the Clippers bench.

Johan Petro

Johan Petro was another foreign big-man bust. When are scouts going to become wary of these guys? Clearly something doesn’t translate (pun intended).

Struggling to make it in the Nets rotation speaks volumes as to how ineffective Petro has been in the league.

Royal Ivey

Royal Ivey has been in the league seven years. In that time, he’s managed to hang around and somehow land a gig on one of the best team’s in the league with the Thunder.

However, with such a talented team, there is simply no room for ineffective players such as Ivey. They already have a defensive specialist in Thabo Sefolosha leaving Ivey completely irrelevant.

Jason Maxiell

Jason Maxiell has seen better days than the production he had last season. On a team that could use quality players, Maxiell just hasn’t been able to demonstrate any reason to keep him on the court.

He’s spent his first six years with the Pistons, but perhaps it’s time they move him.

Renaldo Balkman

Another poor move by Isaiah Thomas when he picked up Mr. Balkman in the 2006 draft, just one pick ahead of Rajon Rondo.

Well, after a stint with the Denver Nuggets in which he did very little to impress, he’s now back with the Knicks, though fans rarely saw him on the court.

Josh Childress

For a while, many considered Josh Childress to be a great asset. Unfortunately, it seems as though Childress left his game overseas as he struggled to make an impact this season for the Suns.

It’s hard to call him a dead weight, but when you consider just how little run he got this season, it isn’t too far from the truth.

Joey Graham

I almost put both Graham brothers on this slideshow, but figured that one was enough. Mr. Graham has never been the most talented player on his team, but he used to do enough to warrant his spot on the bench.

Nowadays on a struggling Cavs team, I’m not so sure.

Matt Caroll

The Bobcats just can’t seem to get enough of Matt Carroll. I’m not quite sure why, seeing as how he’s 30 and only averaged about 10 minutes a game last season.

As a team in rebuilding mode, they should look to get rid of guys like Carroll who just take up space.

Semih Erden

Why is Erden dead weight? While he seems to fare well in Turkey, Mr. Erden was dealt from the Celtics to the Cavs, one of the worst teams in the league whose center (Varejão) was out for most of the season.

So what happened? Erden played all of three games while battling injuries. Not a good start to any career.