Longest-Tenured Players By NBA Team

It hasn’t even been nine months since we last checked in on the NBA’s longest-tenured players by team. Since then though, there has been some major roster turnover around the league. Of the NBA’s 30 teams, 12 have bid farewell to their longest-tenured player since last December.

That list includes Patty Mills, who left San Antonio for Brooklyn after being with the Spurs for over nine years. Nikola Vucevic and James Harden had been in Orlando and Houston, respectively, since 2012 until they were traded earlier this year. And Kyle Lowry left Toronto for Miami this summer after nine seasons with the Raptors.

Of course, some of the teams with a new longest-tenured player didn’t exactly lose a franchise legend. Blake Griffin, for instance, was the longest-tenured Piston until he was bought out this year. And no Thunder player had been in Oklahoma City longer than Hamidou Diallo before he was traded in March.

Here are the NBA’s current longest-tenured players by team:

(Note: This is a snapshot as of August 2021 and won’t be updated throughout the season.)

1. Miami Heat: Udonis Haslem (free agent), August 2003
2. Golden State Warriors: Stephen Curry (draft), June 2009
3. Washington Wizards: Bradley Beal (draft), June 2012
4. Portland Trail Blazers: Damian Lillard (draft), June 2012
5. Milwaukee Bucks: Giannis Antetokounmpo (draft), June 2013
6. Utah Jazz: Rudy Gobert (draft trade), June 2013
7. Philadelphia 76ers: Joel Embiid (draft), June 2014
8. Boston Celtics: Marcus Smart (draft), June 2014
9. Denver Nuggets: Nikola Jokic (draft), June 2014
10. Cleveland Cavaliers: Kevin Love (trade), August 2014
11. Dallas Mavericks: Dwight Powell (trade), December 2014
12. Minnesota Timberwolves: Karl-Anthony Towns (draft), June 2015
13. Indiana Pacers: Myles Turner (draft), June 2015
14. Phoenix Suns: Devin Booker (draft), June 2015
15. Toronto Raptors: Pascal Siakam (draft), June 2016
16. San Antonio Spurs: Dejounte Murray (draft), June 2016
17. Houston Rockets: Eric Gordon (free agent), July 2016
18. Brooklyn Nets: Joe Harris (free agent), July 2016
19. Orlando Magic: Terrence Ross (trade), February 2017
20. Sacramento Kings: Buddy Hield (trade), February 2017
21. Atlanta Hawks: John Collins (draft), June 2017
22. Chicago Bulls: Zach LaVine (draft trade), June 2017
    • Note: Lauri Markkanen was acquired by the Bulls in the same trade as LaVine and would share the title of Chicago’s longest-tenured player if he re-signs with the team.
23. Memphis Grizzlies: Dillon Brooks (draft trade), June 2017
24. New York Knicks: Kevin Knox (draft) / Mitchell Robinson (draft), June 2018
    • Note: Knox (No. 9 pick) and Robinson (No. 36) were drafted by the Knicks on the same night.
25. Charlotte Hornets: Miles Bridges (draft trade), June 2018
26. Los Angeles Lakers: LeBron James (free agent), July 2018
27. New Orleans Pelicans: Zion Williamson (draft), June 2019
28. Los Angeles Clippers: Ivica Zubac (trade), February 2019
29. Detroit Pistons: Sekou Doumbouya (draft), June 2019
30. Oklahoma City Thunder: Darius Bazley (trade) / Luguentz Dort (free agent), July 2019
    • Bazley and Dort officially joined the Thunder on the same day (July 6, 2019). The team reached agreements on draft night (June 20) to acquire Bazley and sign Dort.