The two most popular picks to win the NBA title are at opposite ends of the spectrum when it comes to the number of players they return from last season. The new-look Cavs only have five players left over from last year’s lottery team, as the return of LeBron James sparked a cascade of movement for GM David Griffin and his staff. The Spurs, who might have touched off that movement when they beat LeBron’s Heat in the Finals last year and made him think harder about leaving for Cleveland, only switched out a single player in the offseason. First-round pick Kyle Anderson is the lone newcomer in San Antonio, having taken the place of Damion James.
Not surprisingly, the eight most stable rosters from the end of 2013/14 to the beginning of 2014/15 are all teams that made the postseason last year. The Pacers brought back 11 players, but the departure of Lance Stephenson and Paul George‘s injury mean more change than simple math would suggest.
The Mavs are near the bottom of this list, though they technically began the season with one more returnee from last year before dropping Gal Mekel to add J.J. Barea. If Mekel were counted, it would pull Dallas even with the Sixers, who have seven players back, including Nerlens Noel. He’s on the list even though he didn’t play a single game last year, since he was nonetheless on the roster. Even Grant Jerrett, who signed so late last season that the Thunder never found an opportunity to put him in the game, counts for the purposes of this register. Jerrett has still yet to make his official NBA debut as he recovers from injury, like so many in Oklahoma City.
Here’s the complete list of the teams that exhibited the most roster stability over the past offseason. They appear in descending order of the volume of returnees, and each returning player is listed.
Spurs (14): Jeff Ayres, Aron Baynes, Marco Belinelli, Matt Bonner, Austin Daye, Boris Diaw, Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili, Danny Green, Cory Joseph, Kawhi Leonard, Patty Mills, Tony Parker, Tiago Splitter
Trail Blazers (13): LaMarcus Aldridge, Will Barton, Nicolas Batum, Victor Claver, Allen Crabbe, Joel Freeland, Meyers Leonard, Damian Lillard, Robin Lopez, Wesley Matthews, C.J. McCollum, Thomas Robinson, Dorell Wright
Hawks (12): Pero Antic, Elton Brand, DeMarre Carroll, Al Horford, John Jenkins, Kyle Korver, Shelvin Mack, Paul Millsap, Mike Muscala, Dennis Schröder, Mike Scott, Jeff Teague
Grizzlies (11): Tony Allen, Nick Calathes, Mike Conley, Marc Gasol, Kosta Koufos, Courtney Lee, Jon Leuer, Quincy Pondexter, Tayshaun Prince, Zach Randolph, Beno Udrih
Pacers (11): Lavoy Allen, Chris Copeland, Paul George, Roy Hibbert, George Hill, Solomon Hill, Ian Mahinmi, Luis Scola, Donald Sloan, C.J. Watson, David West
Thunder (11): Steven Adams, Nick Collison, Kevin Durant, Serge Ibaka, Reggie Jackson, Grant Jerrett, Perry Jones III, Jeremy Lamb, Kendrick Perkins, Andre Roberson, Russell Westbrook
Warriors (11): Harrison Barnes, Andrew Bogut, Stephen Curry, Festus Ezeli, Draymond Green, Andre Iguodala, Ognjen Kuzmic, David Lee, Nemanja Nedovic, Marreese Speights, Klay Thompson
Wizards (11): Bradley Beal, Drew Gooden, Marcin Gortat, Andre Miller, Nene, Otto Porter, Glen Rice Jr., Kevin Seraphin, Garrett Temple, John Wall, Martell Webster
Nuggets (10): Darrell Arthur, Wilson Chandler, Kenneth Faried, Randy Foye, Danilo Gallinari, J.J. Hickson, Ty Lawson, JaVale McGee, Timofey Mozgov, Nate Robinson
Pelicans (10): Alexis Ajinca, Ryan Anderson, Luke Babbitt, Anthony Davis, Tyreke Evans, Eric Gordon, Jrue Holiday, Darius Miller, Austin Rivers, Jeff Withey
Raptors (10): DeMar DeRozan, Landry Fields, Tyler Hansbrough, Chuck Hayes, Amir Johnson, Kyle Lowry, Patrick Patterson, Terrence Ross, Jonas Valanciunas, Greivis Vasquez
Suns (10): Eric Bledsoe, Goran Dragic, Archie Goodwin, Gerald Green, Alex Len, Marcus Morris, Markieff Morris, Miles Plumlee, Shavlik Randolph, P.J. Tucker
Bucks (9): Giannis Antetokounmpo, John Henson, Ersan Ilyasova, Brandon Knight, O.J. Mayo, Khris Middleton, Zaza Pachulia, Larry Sanders, Nate Wolters
Celtics (9): Brandon Bass, Avery Bradley, Vitor Faverani, Jeff Green, Kelly Olynyk, Phil Pressey, Rajon Rondo, Jared Sullinger, Gerald Wallace
Clippers (9): Matt Barnes, Reggie Bullock, Jamal Crawford, Glen Davis, Blake Griffin, DeAndre Jordan, Chris Paul, J.J. Redick, Hedo Turkoglu
Hornets (9): Bismack Biyombo, Gerald Henderson, Al Jefferson, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, Gary Neal, Jannero Pargo, Jeff Taylor, Kemba Walker, Cody Zeller
Nets (9): Alan Anderson, Kevin Garnett, Jorge Gutierrez, Joe Johnson, Andrei Kirilenko, Brook Lopez, Mason Plumlee, Mirza Teletovic, Deron Williams
Pistons (9): Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Gigi Datome, Andre Drummond, Brandon Jennings, Jonas Jerebko, Tony Mitchell, Greg Monroe, Kyle Singler, Josh Smith
Timberwolves (9): Corey Brewer, Chase Budinger, Gorgui Dieng, Robbie Hummel, Kevin Martin, Shabazz Muhammad, Nikola Pekovic, Ricky Rubio, Ronny Turiaf
Bulls (8): Jimmy Butler, Mike Dunleavy, Taj Gibson, Kirk Hinrich, Nazr Mohammed, Joakim Noah, Derrick Rose, Tony Snell
Jazz (8): Trey Burke, Alec Burks, Ian Clark, Jeremy Evans, Derrick Favors, Rudy Gobert, Gordon Hayward, Enes Kanter
Kings (8): DeMarcus Cousins, Reggie Evans, Rudy Gay, Carl Landry, Ray McCallum, Ben McLemore, Jason Thompson, Derrick Williams
Knicks (8): Cole Aldrich, Carmelo Anthony, Andrea Bargnani, Tim Hardaway Jr., Pablo Prigioni, Iman Shumpert, J.R. Smith, Amar’e Stoudemire
Lakers (8): Kobe Bryant, Xavier Henry, Jordan Hill, Wesley Johnson, Ryan Kelly, Steve Nash, Robert Sacre, Nick Young
Rockets (8): Patrick Beverley, Isaiah Canaan, Troy Daniels, Francisco Garcia, James Harden, Dwight Howard, Terrence Jones, Donatas Motiejunas
Heat (7): Chris Andersen, Chris Bosh, Mario Chalmers, Norris Cole, Justin Hamilton, Udonis Haslem, Dwyane Wade
Magic (7): Dewayne Dedmon, Maurice Harkless, Tobias Harris, Andrew Nicholson, Kyle O’Quinn, Victor Oladipo, Nikola Vucevic
Sixers (7): Michael Carter-Williams, Brandon Davies, Nerlens Noel, Jason Richardson, Henry Sims, Hollis Thompson, Tony Wroten
Mavericks (6): Jae Crowder, Monta Ellis, Devin Harris, Ricky Ledo, Dirk Nowitzki, Brandan Wright
Cavaliers (5): Matthew Dellavedova, Kyrie Irving, Tristan Thompson, Anderson Varejao, Dion Waiters