- The addition of Marvin Bagley III was coupled with an admission from Pistons GM Troy Weaver that he made a mistake while building the roster, The Athletic’s James Edwards III notes. Detroit has been sorely lacking in an athletic big to give the rotation a different look than Isaiah Stewart and Kelly Olynyk while providing a lob threat for guards Cade Cunningham and Killian Hayes. In Edwards’ estimation, it was worth a roll of the dice to bring in Bagley this season, even at the expense of two second-round picks, because he’s the best player in the Kings-Pistons portion of the four-team trade and Detroit got even younger.
- The Bulls were among the teams interested in trading for Knicks big man Mitchell Robinson prior to the deadline, Marc Berman of the New York Post reports. The Bulls viewed Robinson as a defensive center to back up offensively-skilled Nikola Vucevic for an extended playoff run, Berman adds. The Pistons were also among the teams who inquired about Robinson.
Several NBA teams typically end up with newly-opened roster spots following the trade deadline. This happens for a variety of reasons. Some teams make two-for-one or three-for-one trades; some acquire players in cap-related deals and immediately cut them; others buy out or release players they weren’t able to move at the deadline.
Whatever the reason may be, there are plenty of available roster spots around the NBA, and it’s a good bet that most of them will be filled before the end of the regular season. Contending teams will want to fortify their depth for the playoffs, while lottery-bound clubs will take fliers on prospects willing to accept multiyear deals that aren’t fully guaranteed beyond this season.
Here, with the help of our roster counts page, is a look at the teams that have open roster spots as of February 14:
Teams with open 15-man roster spots:
- Atlanta Hawks
- Boston Celtics (3)
- Charlotte Hornets
- Denver Nuggets *
- Detroit Pistons
- Houston Rockets
- Miami Heat (2)
- Milwaukee Bucks (3) *
- Minnesota Timberwolves
- New Orleans Pelicans
- Orlando Magic
- Philadelphia 76ers
- Toronto Raptors
- Utah Jazz
- Washington Wizards
* The Nuggets (DeMarcus Cousins) and Bucks (Greg Monroe) each have a player on a 10-day contract. We’re counting those roster spots as “open” because Cousins’ and Monroe’s deals will expire this week.
If we count the Nuggets, exactly half of the NBA’s 30 teams have at least one 15-man roster spot available. Twelve of those clubs have a single open roster spot, while the Celtics, Heat, and Bucks have multiple openings.
Since teams are only permitted to dip below 14 players on standard contracts for up to two weeks at a time, Boston, Miami, and Milwaukee will all have to get back to that league-mandated minimum before the end of the month.
The other teams on this list aren’t under immediate pressure to add a 15th man, and some may hold off for a little while for financial reasons — or just to wait to see who else becomes available on the buyout market in the next couple weeks.
Some of these clubs – including the Heat with Caleb Martin, the Pelicans with Jose Alvarado, and the Raptors with Justin Champagnie – might use their open roster spot to promote a player on a two-way contract who has earned regular minutes.
Teams with open two-way spots:
- Boston Celtics
- Dallas Mavericks
- Oklahoma City Thunder
- Phoenix Suns
- Utah Jazz
The Celtics (Sam Hauser) and Thunder (Aaron Wiggins) have each promoted a two-way player to the 15-man roster since the trade deadline. The other three teams on this list released a two-way player in January, creating an opening.
In the past, teams haven’t been able to sign players to two-way contracts after January 15, but that restriction doesn’t exist this season, so I expect we’ll see some – if not all – of these teams fill their open two-way slots sooner or later.
Marvin Bagley III has a chance to redefine his career with the Pistons and he wants to start by getting rid of the reputation that he’s not a good teammate. Meeting with the media today for the first time since he was acquired from the Kings in a four-team trade, Bagley dismissed any concerns that he won’t do what’s best for the team, tweets James L. Edwards III of The Athletic.
“I’ve heard a lot of people say that I’m not a team guy, that I don’t do well with my teammates,” Bagley said. “People talk about defense. If you ask any guy I’ve played with, they won’t have one bad thing to say.”
Bagley said he was awakened by his agent on Thursday with news that a deal might be close. He welcomes the opportunity after three and a half seasons in Sacramento, saying he could “breathe and have fun playing basketball” (Twitter link from Omari Sankofa II of The Detroit Free Press).
Because Bagley didn’t reach an extension agreement with the Kings last offseason, he is headed for free agency this summer. His qualifying offer will be worth $7.2MM if he doesn’t meet the starter criteria or $14.8MM if he does, but general manager Troy Weaver told reporters the amount of the QO wasn’t a consideration in the trade. “The reason we got him in was to take a look at the human being and see how he can assimilate with the group,” Weaver said (Twitter link via Sankofa).
There’s more from Detroit:
- Weaver also had a message for fans who were hoping for a big deal at the deadline and may be getting frustrated with losing as the team tries to rebuild, Sankofa adds (Twitter link). “The process is to build a sustainable winner, and that takes time,” Weaver said. “I’m sure everyone would like us to fast-track it. You only have one shot at this thing, and in our restoring process, we don’t want to skip any steps. We don’t want to shortcut anything.”
- Jerami Grant was among the most sought-after players on the market, but Detroit opted to hold onto its leading scorer. Grant was informed of that decision well before the deadline, according to Rod Beard of the Detroit News (Twitter link).“I’m a Piston,” Grant said. “It’s what I want to do.”
- Cade Cunningham is still trying to get comfortable after missing five games with a hip pointer, Sankofa writes in a full story. Cunningham was able to return Friday, but he’s on a minutes restriction and is still dealing with pain in the hip. “Certain movements cause some discomfort, more than anything,” he said. “But I’m just trying to work through it, get back right and get better.”
The Raptors considered a series of potential trade scenarios before they agreed to send Goran Dragic and a draft pick to San Antonio for Thaddeus Young, writes Michael Grange of Sportsnet.ca.
According to Grange, Toronto had hoped the Hawks would make Bogdan Bogdanovic available, viewing the veteran wing as someone who could help the team in both the short- and long-term. However, Atlanta didn’t budge on Bogdanovic, forcing the Raptors to look elsewhere.
The Raptors inquired on Pistons forward Jerami Grant and Kings forward Harrison Barnes, sources tell Grange, but the price tags for those players were high. As previously reported, there were also discussions about a three-team deal that would’ve sent Talen Horton-Tucker and Nerlens Noel to Toronto, but Grange suggests those talks never gained serious traction.
Here are a few more leftover rumors on trades that didn’t get made on deadline day:
- The Rockets never made real progress on a John Wall trade with the Lakers, who were unwilling to attach a first-round pick to Russell Westbrook, but a few days before the deadline, Houston got much closer to moving Wall to another team, a source tells Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle. That proposed deal ultimately fell through, per Feigen, who doesn’t specify which team the Rockets were talking to.
- During a TV appearance, ESPN’s Brian Windhorst (video link) said one concept that “could have been discussed” by the Rockets and Lakers before the deadline, “depending on who you believe,” was a swap of Westbrook, Horton-Tucker, and draft capital for Wall and Christian Wood. It doesn’t sound like those talks, if they even occurred, advanced at all.
- After agreeing to acquire center Jalen Smith from Phoenix, the Pacers explored flipping him to a new team, according to Jake Fischer of Bleacher Report (Twitter link). Fischer says the Nuggets were among the clubs in the mix for Smith, but Indiana didn’t find a deal it liked and ended up hanging onto the third-year big man.
- The Knicks didn’t make a deal on deadline day, but it wasn’t for lack of trying. Sources tell Steve Popper of Newsday that the club was willing to move just about anyone on its roster, but had trouble finding trade partners for many of its top trade candidates, including Kemba Walker and Noel. According to Popper, his sources suggested there was a “universal lack of interest in the Knicks’ talent and contracts.”
7:14pm: The four-team deal is official, according to a Kings press release.
A press release from the Clippers notes that L.A. also received the draft rights to Vanja Marinkovic from Sacramento in the deal, sending the draft rights to David Michineau to the Kings. The cash going to Milwaukee in the trade comes from the Clippers.
As we previously relayed, the Kings waived Jahmi’us Ramsey and Robert Woodard to complete the move.
10:47am: The Kings are trading former No. 2 overall pick Marvin Bagley III to the Pistons, sources tell Shams Charania and Sam Amick of The Athletic (Twitter link). According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link), that move will be part of a four-team trade that sends Bucks wing Donte DiVincenzo to Sacramento.
The Clippers will be the fourth club involved in the deal, as Charania reports (via Twitter) that big man Serge Ibaka is headed to Milwaukee. Los Angeles is acquiring swingman Rodney Hood and forward Semi Ojeleye from the Bucks, tweets Andrew Greif of The Los Angeles Times.
Sacramento is receiving Pistons forwards Josh Jackson and Trey Lyles along with DiVincenzo, per Charania (via Twitter), while Detroit is also sending out multiple second-round picks, according to Wojnarowski (Twitter link).
Woj (via Twitter) breaks the deal down as follows:
- Kings acquire DiVincenzo, Jackson, and Lyles.
- Pistons acquire Bagley.
- Clippers acquire Hood and Ojeleye.
- Bucks acquire Ibaka, two second-round picks, and cash.
The Kings continue to reshape their roster after acquiring Domantas Sabonis, Justin Holiday, and Jeremy Lamb in a trade with the Pacers Tuesday. DiVincenzo ($4.7MM this season) is eligible for restricted free agency in 2022 if Sacramento chooses to give him a qualifying offer, while Jackson ($3MM) is on an expiring deal. Lyles, however, earns $2.5MM this season and has a club option for next season at $2.6MM, giving the Kings some added flexibility.
DiVincenzo has been a solid defender, rebounder, and has a knack for being in the right place at the right time. He’s had a slow start to this season after recovering from ankle surgery and then entering the health and safety protocols, but he’s a young, controllable asset who likely won’t be too expensive going forward. Sacramento tried to acquire him prior to last season in the botched sign-and-trade that would have sent Bogdan Bogdanovic to the Bucks, but the deal was nullified due to “gun-jumping.” The Bucks ended up forfeiting a second-rounder in the process.
The Kings had reportedly been shopping Bagley for well over a year, as he was drafted by the previous front office regime and was publicly unhappy with the franchise. As a three-for-one trade, the Kings will have to waive two players, unless they make subsequent moves prior to the deal becoming official.
The Pistons are taking a gamble on Bagley, a good athlete who failed to develop in his time in Sacramento. Still just 22, Bagley could have untapped upside and figures to see more minutes on a rebuilding Pistons team. Like DiVincenzo, Bagley will be a restricted free agent in 2022. He’s earning $11.3MM in the final year of his rookie contract this season.
James Edwards III of The Athletic (Twitter link) reports that the Pistons will be sending Sacramento’s 2024 second-round pick and either Cleveland’s or Golden State’s 2023 second-rounder (whichever is less favorable) to the Bucks.
For the Clippers, it’s a cost-cutting move that will save them approximately $30MM in luxury tax payments, per ESPN’s Bobby Marks (via Twitter). In order for the deal to work, Ibaka will need to amend a portion of his 15% trade bonus, Marks tweets, which Los Angeles will be responsible for.
Greif reports (Twitter link) that the Clips have been interested in Hood and Ojeleye in the past. Both players are on veteran minimum deals that expire this summer. Moving Ibaka gives more clarity to a crowded center rotation featuring Ivica Zubac, Isaiah Hartenstein, and newly-acquired Robert Covington (in small-ball looks).
By adding Ibaka’s $9.7MM contract and sending out three players, the defending champion Bucks will have three open roster spots (not including Greg Monroe, who’s on a 10-day deal) and add $6MM towards the luxury tax, Marks tweets. The cash they’re receiving will help offset the additional luxury tax payment. The Bucks had been searching for a center for a few months due to Brook Lopez‘s back injury; their starting center has suited for just one game this season.
Ibaka is having a down year after undergoing back surgery himself last summer, but he’s a smart, proven veteran who can space the floor and protect the paint when healthy. The two-second round picks will be key assets for a Bucks team that could be facing the repeater tax for multiple seasons as they contend for more titles.
Rory Maher contributed to this story.
Jerami Grant‘s name was mentioned frequently heading into the trade deadline, but he remains with the Pistons and both sides are comfortable with the arrangement, tweets Shams Charania of The Athletic.
Detroit took calls on Grant all the way up to the deadline, but didn’t get an offer it considered worthwhile, according to James L. Edwards III of The Athletic. The Trail Blazers showed the most interest this week, sources tell Edwards, but weren’t willing to meet the Pistons’ asking price, which was reportedly at least two first-round picks or one or more players who fit the team’s young core.
The Pistons weren’t actively shopping Grant, but they received a lot of interest leading up to the deadline, Edwards adds. Sources tell him that the team likes having him and he enjoys being in Detroit. He will be eligible for a four-year, $112MM extension during the offseason, and Edwards believes that will be considered after the Pistons see what they get in the draft.
The Pacers, Wizards, Lakers, Jazz, Kings, Bulls and Timberwolves were among the other teams mentioned in trade rumors regarding Grant, who recently returned from a thumb injury. He has appeared in 29 games this season, averaging 19.1 points, 4.5 rebounds and 2.5 assists per night.
Grant is in the second season of a three-year contract he signed with Detroit during the 2020 offseason. He will make $20.955MM next season before heading into free agency in 2023 if he and the team can’t agree on an extension.
2:22pm: The Raptors have issued a press release officially announcing the trade.
10:51am: The Raptors and Spurs have agreed to a trade that will send forward Thaddeus Young to Toronto in exchange for point guard Goran Dragic, reports Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).
According to Charania (via Twitter), big man Drew Eubanks and the Pistons’ 2022 second-round pick are also headed to Toronto in the deal, with the Raptors sending San Antonio their 2022 first-round pick (top-14 protected). That pick would be top-13 protected in 2023 if it doesn’t change hands this season, and would turn into two future second-rounders if it doesn’t convey in ’23.
The Raptors had been shopping Dragic and draft capital for much of the season as they looked to acquire a player who could step into their rotation. Dragic, who was part of the return in the Kyle Lowry sign-and-trade last summer, appeared in just five games with Toronto before leaving the team for personal reasons.
In Young, Toronto gets a tough, playoff-tested veteran who – like Dragic – was a throw-in for salary-matching purposes in an offseason sign-and-trade, having been sent from Chicago to San Antonio in the DeMar DeRozan deal. Young had a nice year in Chicago in 2020/21, averaging 12.1 PPG, 6.2 RPG, and 4.3 APG in 68 games (24.3 MPG), but wasn’t part of the Spurs’ plans and hasn’t played much this season.
Eubanks, 25, could also compete for minutes in Toronto after spending the first four years of his NBA career in San Antonio. He has averaged 4.7 PPG and 4.0 RPG in 49 games (12.1 MPG) this season.
[UPDATE: Raptors to waive Eubanks]
Young has an expiring $14.2MM contract, while Eubanks is earning the minimum this season, with a non-guaranteed minimum salary for 2022/23 before he becomes eligible for free agency. The Raptors will create some extra breathing room below the luxury tax line by swapping Dragic’s $19.4MM expiring deal for those two players.
Meanwhile, the Spurs – who have historically been quiet at the trade deadline – have now completed three in-season deals in 2021/22. Their goal in this deal was to continue stockpiling draft assets, so Dragic almost certainly won’t remain on the roster.
ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (via Twitter) reports that Dragic and the Spurs are expected to negotiate a buyout, with the Mavericks, Bucks, Bulls, and Clippers among his potential suitors. Dallas is believed to be the frontrunner, according to Michael Grange of Sportsnet.ca and Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports (Twitter links).
The Raptors have an opening on their 15-man roster, so they won’t have to waive a player to officially finalize the trade. They’ll also create a trade exception worth the difference between Dragic’s and Young’s salaries ($5.25MM).
The Mavericks have made Dwight Powell available, but they remain uninterested in moving Jalen Brunson or Dorian Finney-Smith, reports Matt Moore of ActionNetwork.com. If those two players are off the table, Dallas may have a hard time finding a deal that significantly upgrades its roster.
According to Moore, Tim Hardaway Jr., who is out indefinitely due to a foot injury, is the player the Mavericks have shopped most aggressively. Hardaway was having a down year prior to his injury and is on a sizable long-term contract ($53.7MM for three years after this season), so his value will be limited.
Still, Moore notes that Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle is a big fan of Hardaway, whom he coached in Dallas. Moore has also heard that the Wizards and Mavericks discussed a deal involving Hardaway and Spencer Dinwiddie, though a source tells Moore that the two sides didn’t make much progress.
Here are a few more trade rumors from around the NBA:
- The Magic have been willing to discuss center Robin Lopez, but are apparently asking for a first-round pick, according to Moore. I’d be surprised if a team is willing to meet that price.
- The Hawks may have a quiet deadline, with John Collins appearing increasingly unlikely to be dealt, but they remain on the lookout for a backup point guard, Moore reports.
- Within his trade-rumor roundup, Moore also says the Wizards have been willing to discuss anyone besides Bradley Beal or Kyle Kuzma, and adds that Pistons guard Cory Joseph is “gettable.” Moore has received mixed intel on whether Detroit is interested in moving Kelly Olynyk.
- Pacers center Myles Turner appears less likely to be dealt now that the team has moved Domantas Sabonis, but the Knicks continue to pursue Turner, a league source tells Marc Berman of The New York Post. The big man is dealing with a foot injury that may sideline him until at least March.
- With Harrison Barnes looking like a good bet to stay with the Kings through the deadline, Richaun Holmes and Marvin Bagley III are the Sacramento players most often identified by rival teams as candidates to be moved in the next few hours, says Sam Amick of The Athletic.
Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard tells Casey Holdahl of Blazers.com that he and longtime teammate CJ McCollum had talked for years about the possibility that they may eventually end up playing on different teams. However, that didn’t necessarily cushion the blow when Lillard learned that McCollum was being traded to New Orleans.
“As a friend and a teammate, I love CJ, that’s like a real friend of mine, not just my teammate,” Lillard said. “… It is what it is, we both knew that this point would be coming. But that don’t make it no easier to deal with. I think that’s where I am now. Me and him literally talked about it happening, the possibility of it and it was likely and stuff like that, and I still woke up this morning like, sad. It’s actually done. When I’m seeing ‘CJ to the Pelicans’ and stuff like that, it’s like damn, ain’t no coming back from this, this is it. It ain’t gonna be no every day, pull up to the house, dinner on the road, all that stuff. It’s done, he’s on a new team.
“As much as I understood it and he understood it and we kind of have always communicated in a transparent way, it don’t make it any easier to deal with or to look at. Like man, is it really over? Is the run really over? And that’s where we are.”
While McCollum’s time as a Trail Blazer has come to an end, the team reportedly has no plans to move Lillard and hopes to reshape the roster around him. For his part, Portland’s star point guard sounds like he’s on board with that plan.
“For me, my heart is Portland Trail Blazer,” Lillard said, per Holdahl. “I want to win it. I know that I have a plan that’s going to put me on my best level when I come back to play. And I want our team to fit that.
“I’m a huge fan of Chauncey Billups. I love Chauncey, we’ve got a great relationship and I think he’ll continue to grow into the head coach that he wants to be. And I’m a Joe Cronin fan. In his position I think it takes being bold and doing bold things, doing what you see fit and standing on it. He’s told me that our plan is to build a winning team, not to rebuild. Because we had a prior relationship to him becoming GM, I trust his word.”
Here’s more on the Blazers:
- Echoing Adrian Wojnarowski’s reporting, Chris Mannix of SI.com says the Trail Blazers may shift from selling to buying before Thursday’s deadline, using their newly-acquired assets to add pieces that could help them win as soon as next season. Mannix, like other reporters, has heard that Pistons forward Jerami Grant is a possible trade target for Portland.
- The Trail Blazers will receive the Pelicans‘ first-round pick in 2022 if it lands between No. 5 and No. 14. However, if it ends up in the top four or outside of the lottery, New Orleans will instead owe Portland the Bucks’ 2025 first-round pick (top-four protected), tweets Christian Clark of NOLA.com.
- Jason Quick of The Athletic takes a look at the Blazers’ decision to finally move McCollum, suggesting that the move represented the team finally coming to grips with an uncomfortable truth.
There are rival executives around the NBA who believe the Pacers will trade Malcolm Brogdon this offseason following their acquisition of Tyrese Haliburton, according to Michael Scotto of HoopsHype. Brogdon isn’t eligible to be traded this season due to the contract extension he signed in the fall, but could be moved in the summer
The Pacers shouldn’t feel any urgency to deal Brogdon, since he and Haliburton are both solid ball-handlers, defenders, and shooters who could complement one another in the backcourt. But the presence of Haliburton certainly will give Indiana more options if the team wants to try to use Brogdon in a trade to address another area of the roster.
According to Scotto, the Pacers are also open to flipping newly-acquired shooting guard Buddy Hield prior to Thursday’s trade deadline. Hield’s $23MM cap hit and the $40MM he’s owed for the two seasons after this one will probably make it tricky for the club to get much of value for him, especially since he has had a down year — his .368 3PT% is the worst mark of his career.
Here’s more on the Pacers:
- Veteran forwards T.J. Warren and Torrey Craig are among the other players the Pacers have made available in advance of Thursday’s trade deadline, league sources tell Scotto. Warren, who will be an unrestricted free agent this offseason, hasn’t played since December 2020 due to a foot injury, so teams may be reluctant to take a flier on him.
- Myles Turner is expected to remain with the Pacers beyond the deadline, a source with knowledge of the team’s thinking tells Chris Mannix of SI.com. Mannix and Steve Bulpett of Heavy.com have both heard that the Pistons and Pacers discussed a swap centered around Turner and Jerami Grant, but Bulpett says Indiana rejected it. According to Bulpett, the Bucks have also shown some interest in Turner to fill the Brook Lopez role on their roster, with Lopez’s availability for the rest of the season up in the air.
- The Pacers have some interest in Sixers wing Furkan Korkmaz, believing that he could benefit from a change of scenery, sources tell Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer. A career 37.7% three-point shooter entering this season, Korkmaz has made just 28.7% of his attempts from beyond the arc in 2021/22.