The Hornets are a Western Conference team in the bottom of the standings. They’re not contending any time soon, and they’re not even in Miami’s conference. So they’re not necessarily thinking to themselves “we can’t waive Kamen because the Heat might sign him!”

Under normal circumstances, they’d be looking out for themselves first and foremost, and doing a buy out is one option that could help them if no decent trade offers come along.

Now, since Dictator Stern currently runs that team, maybe he WOULD consider the possible implications of releasing Kamen into the free agency (Miami or some other big market team signing him) and opt not to do that. I certainly wouldn’t put it past Stern, given how he’s meddled with that team’s dealings in the past.