Deng’s agent and the team reached an agreement for a buyout under the waive and stretch provision, according to a person familiar with the discussions who wasn’t authorized to speak publicly. That allows a team to renegotiate the structure of a player’s salary, waive that player, and then spread his salary over several years to create more cap space. The 33-year-old will become a free agent once he clears waivers.
Deng, who only played in one game last season, has two years left on a four-year, $72-million contract he signed in 2016. That summer, then-general manager Mitch Kupchak also signed Timofey Mozgov to a four-year deal worth $64 million early in free agency.