Cavs Lead With 16 Free Agent Signings

The Cavaliers have drawn plenty of attention the past few months for a free agent they haven’t signed, but even though Tristan Thompson lingers in free agency, Cleveland has taken care of more free agent business than any other team in the league during the 2015 offseason. They signed 16 free agents, three more than the Spurs, the team that recorded the next most free agent signings. The Cavs just made their latest signing this weekend, replacing Michael Dunigan with Dionte Christmas on the camp roster.

It might be easy to presume a direct correlation between free agent activity and success, given the teams at the very top and bottom of the list below. The Cavs and Spurs are strong bets to win their respective conferences this season, while the Jazz, Timberwolves and Sixers are nowhere near the title picture. The presence of the Warriors and Thunder on the bottom half of the list and the Kings and Nets close to the top debunk that theory, however. It has more to do with the fact that the Cavs had only four players signed for 2015/16 when they ended last season, while the Jazz had 13. Cleveland simply had more jobs to hand out.

Still, other factors are at play, since free agent signings don’t encompass draft picks, draft-and-stash signings, trades or waiver claims. The Trail Blazers made significant changes to their roster, but they did much of their work via trade instead of free agency. The Rockets had 10 players under contract on July 1st, but they still wound up making 11 free agent signings.

Here’s a look at the number of free agent signings for each team. Click the team’s name to see the names of each of their signees via our 2015 Free Agent Tracker.

1. Cavaliers, 16
   
2. Mavericks, 13
3. Spurs, 13
4. Kings, 12
5. Knicks, 12
6. Nets, 12
7. Pelicans, 12
8. Rockets, 11
9. Clippers, 10
10. Grizzlies, 10
11. Suns, 10
12. Heat, 9
13. Pacers, 9
14. Raptors, 9
15. Bulls, 8
16. Hawks, 8
17. Magic, 8
18. Wizards, 8
19. Bucks, 7
20. Celtics, 7
21. Hornets, 7
22. Lakers, 7
23. Nuggets, 7
24. Warriors, 7
25. Pistons, 6
26. Thunder, 6
27. Trail Blazers, 6
28. 76ers, 5
29. Timberwolves, 5
30. Jazz, 4