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NBA Teams With Open Roster Spots

March 30th, 2021 at 8:40am CST by Luke Adams

A total of 46 players were traded on deadline day last Thursday, and more have been waived and signed since then, resulting in major roster upheaval around the NBA.

With the dust settling a little, it’s worth checking in on which teams across the league now have open roster spots, and which clubs will need to fill at least one of those openings soon in order to meet the minimum roster requirements.

Let’s dive in…

Teams with two open spots on their 15-man rosters:

Golden State Warriors
Los Angeles Clippers
Miami Heat
New Orleans Pelicans
New York Knicks
Portland Trail Blazers
Toronto Raptors

The NBA allows team to carry fewer than 14 players on standard (or 10-day) contracts for up to two weeks at a time. So these clubs are allowed to have just 13 for now, but will soon need to add a 14th, either with a 10-day signing or a rest-of-season addition.

The Warriors, Heat, Trail Blazers, and Raptors all dipped below 14 players on deadline day (March 25), so they’ll all have until next Thursday (April 8) to get back up to the required roster minimum. The Knicks will have even longer, since they just waived Terrance Ferguson and Vincent Poirier on Sunday — they’ll have to add a 14th man by April 11.

The Pelicans and Clippers, meanwhile, reduced their roster counts to 13 players on March 20 and March 22, respectively, so they’ll need to make their moves sooner. New Orleans will have to add a player by this weekend at the latest, while the Clippers will do so by next Monday.

The Pels are right up against the luxury tax line, so they’ll likely sign someone to a 10-day contract. The Clippers have enough breathing room below their hard cap to complete a rest-of-season signing if they so choose.

Teams with one open spot on their 15-man rosters:

Cleveland Cavaliers
Indiana Pacers
Los Angeles Lakers
Memphis Grizzlies
Milwaukee Bucks
Minnesota Timberwolves
Orlando Magic

A report last Thursday indicated that the Pacers were signing Oshae Brissett, but they still have completed that 10-day deal, so they have an open roster spot for now. The Bucks technically have two open roster spots as of this writing, but are expected to sign Jeff Teague to fill one of them as soon as today.

The Lakers, Grizzlies, Timberwolves, and Magic all have 14 players on standard, rest-of-season contracts, with no obligation to fill their 15th spots anytime soon. The Cavaliers currently have 14th man Quinn Cook on a 10-day contract. When his deal expires on Wednesday night, the team will dip to 13 players and will have two weeks to re-add a 14th.

Teams with open two-way contract slots:

Minnesota Timberwolves
Oklahoma City Thunder
Phoenix Suns
Portland Trail Blazers

The Thunder opened up one of their two-way slots when they promoted Moses Brown to the standard roster over the weekend. I’d expect them and the Timberwolves to be more interested in filling their open two-way spots than the Suns and Trail Blazers. Oklahoma City and Minnesota are lottery teams and could benefit from a look at one more young player, while Phoenix and Portland are playoff clubs that have shown no desire to add a second two-way player all season long.

Also worth mentioning:

Brooklyn Nets
Detroit Pistons
San Antonio Spurs

The Nets, Spurs, and Pistons currently have full 15-man rosters, but won’t for much longer, as all three teams have players on 10-day contracts. Alize Johnson‘s deal with Brooklyn runs through Wednesday, while Cameron Reynolds‘ with San Antonio runs through Sunday and Tyler Cook‘s with Detroit expires after next Tuesday.

Note: Our full roster count breakdown can be found right here.

Southeast Notes: Heat, Beal, Gafford, Hornets, Hunter

March 29th, 2021 at 12:19pm CST by Luke Adams

While the Heat didn’t make a deal for Kyle Lowry at last week’s trade deadline, their acquisition of Victor Oladipo and their salary cap situation put them in a good spot, says Kevin O’Connor of The Ringer. As O’Connor explains, Miami will get a shot to evaluate Oladipo for the rest of the season before deciding whether or not to re-sign him. If they opt to let Oladipo go, the Heat are in position to open up enough cap room to make a serious run at Lowry.

Of course, Pat Riley and the Heat may prefer to go after a higher caliber of star than the 35-year-old Lowry. But it doesn’t look right now as if there will be many available this offseason, O’Connor notes. That could change if Wizards guard Bradley Beal, who shut down trade speculation all season, eventually reconsiders his stance.

As O’Connor writes, Beal still might be the most realistic target for teams seeking a superstar, since he’ll be on an expiring contract in 2021/22. Sources tell The Ringer that Beal’s decision to remain in D.C. for at least the rest of this season was motivated in part by wanting to get through the worst of the coronavirus pandemic before making any life-altering decisions.

Beal has repeatedly pledged his loyalty to Washington, so even after the pandemic – and with his free agency nearing – he still may not want to be dealt. But teams are continuing to monitor that situation. According to O’Connor, the Heat, Celtics, Knicks, and Pelicans are among the teams interested in pursuing Beal, with the Raptors also looming as a possible sleeper.

Here’s more from around the NBA’s Southeast:

Daniel Gafford had a strong Wizards debut on Saturday, racking up 13 points, five rebounds, and three blocks in just 14 minutes, impressing his teammates and head coach Scott Brooks. “He had just a fantastic game. It was a great first game for him,” Brooks said, per Chase Hughes of NBC Sports Washington. “We’re going to keep working with him. He’s definitely a keeper. He has a chance to be good for a lot of years with his skill set.”
Hornets president of basketball operations Mitch Kupchak said on Friday that his team will monitor the buyout market, though he acknowledged that the top players to shake loose may not have Charlotte atop their wish lists, writes Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer. Kupchak also conceded that the team will need to address its center position this offseason at the latest. “Since Cody (Zeller) and Biz (Bismack Biyombo) are both going to be free agents, that would be an area of concern going forward,” Kupchak said. “This summer they’re going to have options and we may or may not have options. That is, and was, a focus (of trade talks).”
Hawks forward De’Andre Hunter is dealing with some swelling in his surgically repaired knee. While GM Travis Schlenk downplayed the issue, a medical expert who spoke to Chris Kirschner of The Athletic believes it could be something Hunter has to deal with for the rest of the season.

Spurs Sign Gorgui Dieng, Waive Marquese Chriss

March 29th, 2021 at 10:10am CST by Arthur Hill

MARCH 29: The Spurs have made it official with Dieng, announcing in a press release that they’ve signed him to a new contract.

MARCH 28: Free agent center Gorgui Dieng will sign with the Spurs once he clears waivers, tweets Marc Stein of The New York Times. The Knicks, Suns, Clippers, Sixers, Raptors, Heat and Nets also reached out to Dieng, sources tell Stein (Twitter link).

San Antonio doesn’t have an open roster spot, so Marquese Chriss will be waived to make room for Dieng, as Shams Charania of The Athletic first reported (via Twitter). Chriss, who is out for the year with a broken right fibula, was acquired from the Warriors on Thursday. His $1.8MM contract expires at the end of the season.

The Spurs have officially released Chriss, Marc Stein of The New York Times tweets.

The Grizzlies waived Dieng on Friday after failing to find a taker for him by the trade deadline. His $17.3MM contract limited the options for Memphis on the trade market.

Dieng has played in just 22 games this season and was averaging 7.9 points and 4.5 rebounds per night. He had fallen behind Xavier Tillman in the rotation and didn’t appear to have a future with the Grizzlies.

Dieng will officially clear waivers at 5pm today. The 31-year-old will provide another veteran front court option for San Antonio, which reached a buyout agreement with LaMarcus Aldridge on Thursday.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Hood Looking To Prove Mettle For Raptors; Raptors Seeking New Big Man

March 28th, 2021 at 4:03pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

New Raptors shooting guard Rodney Hood is hoping to revive his career with Toronto, as Steven Loung of Sportsnet details. Hood has struggled to establish consistency since returning from a torn left Achilles tendon in December.

“Yeah, it’s been tough this year just trying to work my way back and get healthier,” Hood said as he took stock of his addition to the Raptors. “Obviously this is another stepping stone to get traded but I feel myself getting healthier, I feel like towards the end of the season I’ll be a little more back to myself but I’ve got to take time and that’s been the frustrating part about it, but I’m excited about where I’m headed.”

The Raptors have a $10.8MM team option on Hood, and while it seems likely to be turned down, his performance in Tampa down the home stretch of the season could make the team think twice.

Toronto head coach Nick Nurse noted that the Raptors are hoping to add a big through the buyout market, tweets Michael Grange of Sportsnet. Though LaMarcus Aldridge, Andre Drummond and Gorgui Dieng are already off the board, Kelly Olynyk and Khem Birch could be intriguing options if their teams part with them.

Cavs Talked To Mavs, Raptors About Drummond Trade

March 28th, 2021 at 2:33pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Before ultimately agreeing to a buyout with veteran center Andre Drummond, the Cavaliers talked to the Mavericks and Raptors about potential trades for the former two-time All-Star’s expiring $28.7MM contract, according to Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com. The Cavs were ultimately unable to find a deal that made sense.

Sixers Notes: Hill, Rivers, Embiid, Reed

March 28th, 2021 at 8:58am CST by Arthur Hill

The Sixers weren’t able to land Kyle Lowry at the trade deadline, but they upgraded their backcourt with the deal that brought George Hill from the Thunder, write Rich Hofmann and Derek Bodner of The Athletic. Philadelphia continued to pursue Lowry even after the Hill trade was complete, according to the authors, but the Raptors weren’t willing to lower their asking price before the deadline arrived.

Hill brings plenty of playoff experience, Hofmann and Bodner point out, and he gives the Sixers another ballhandler and shooter off the bench as well as a capable perimeter defender. He also provides a lot more salary flexibility than Lowry, who will be in line for a sizable contract in free agency. Hill is set to make $10.47MM next season, but only $1.275MM of that is guaranteed. He hasn’t played since having surgery on his right thumb in late January, but president of basketball operations Daryl Morey expects him to be ready soon.

“What I’m trying to do is maximize our chance of winning the title over that (three-to-five year) window, with more weight for this year. So if there’s a move that ups our odds a little bit more this year, but really hurts our odds in the future, then that doesn’t make sense,” Morey said in explaining why he passed on Lowry. “If it’s a move that ups our odds a decent amount, but doesn’t affect our future odds, then that’s a move that looks pretty interesting. And so, I think this move very materially increased our championship odds, and also kept our ones in the future preserved at a very high level. ”

There’s more this morning from Philadelphia:

Saturday marked coach Doc Rivers‘ first trip back to Staples Center to face the Clippers, notes Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer. Rivers spent seven years with the franchise and helped guide it through the Donald Sterling controversy in 2014. “I think the franchise was on the brink, if you know what I’m saying,” Rivers said, “not only how we dealt with it. But more that we responded by playing well enough to win a (playoff) series that I thought for the franchise was a must-win series because of what we were going through.”
Joel Embiid is making progress in recovering from the bone bruise on his left knee, Bodner tweets. Embiid, who hasn’t played since March 12, has resumed on-court basketball activities and is working on his conditioning.
Bodner also offers details (via Twitter) on Paul Reed‘s contract, which was converted to a standard deal this week. The G League Most Valuable Player signed a three-year agreement, but only the rest of this season is guaranteed. Philadelphia used a portion of its mid-level exception to add a third year to the minimum-salary deal.

Raptors Notes: Lowry, Ujiri, Bembry, Watson

March 26th, 2021 at 1:15pm CST by Luke Adams

During the hours leading up to Thursday’s trade deadline, Michael Grange of Sportsnet.ca tweeted that the Sixers and Raptors appeared to be “at the one-yard line” in their discussions on a Kyle Lowry trade. Obviously, those talks didn’t make it into the end zone and Lowry ended up staying put. But Sam Amick of The Athletic hears that Toronto did feel at one point as if a deal with Philadelphia was close.

According to Amick, the deal would have included Danny Green, who would’ve been re-routed to a third team. It’s a safe bet that at least one of Tyrese Maxey and Matisse Thybulle would have been part of the package too. However, the draft compensation involved in the proposed trade was the obstacle that held things up, a source tells Amick.

Following up today on the Lowry discussions, Grange says (via Twitter) that the Sixers knew Miami was Lowry’s preferred landing spot, so they had to view him as a possible rental. That limited what they were willing to offer beyond Maxey, Grange adds. The Lakers were in a similar boat with Talen Horton-Tucker, writes Josh Lewenberg of TSN.ca, while the Heat were unwilling to offer Tyler Herro for a player they could theoretically sign in free agency this summer.

Here’s more on the Raptors:

While the Raptors didn’t trade Lowry at the deadline, it’s hard to shake the sense that more drastic changes could be coming as soon as this offseason, Grange writes for Sportsnet.ca. While Lowry could sign a new contract with Toronto, it seems just as likely that he could head elsewhere, possibly in a sign-and-trade deal.
Like Lowry, Raptors president of basketball operations Masai Ujiri is also on an expiring contract, and while he spoke glowingly about the franchise on Thursday, he gave no indication that an in-season extension is around the corner. “We’ll visit this at the end of the season at some point,” Ujiri said of his contract with Toronto, per Grange.
During his media session on Thursday, Ujiri addressed the idea that the Raptors’ asking price for Lowry was too high: “I was surprised (the offers) weren’t better because, to be honest, I’ve viewed him as somebody that can go out and put a stamp on what you can do this year. … I’ve lived it, I’ve seen it… I know what the guy does. I know who he is. And that’s the truth. So, yeah, we’re going to (be) skewed in some kind of way and I’m biased in many ways with the players we have and I hope I’m pardoned that if I valued him too much, but that’s what I believe in today.”
Raptors reserves DeAndre’ Bembry and Paul Watson have entered the NBA’s health and safety protocols and won’t play on Friday night, tweets Josh Lewenberg of TSN.ca.

Jazz Acquire Matt Thomas From Raptors

March 26th, 2021 at 10:06am CST by Dana Gauruder

MARCH 26: The trade is official, according to a press release from the Raptors.

MARCH 25: The Raptors are trading guard Matt Thomas to the Jazz for a future second-round pick, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski tweets. The pick will be the Warriors’ 2021 second-rounder that was owed to Utah, Blake Murphy of The Athletic tweets.

Thomas provides the Jazz with another shooter off the bench. Thomas, 26, made his NBA debut last season, appearing in 41 games and averaging 4.9 PPG in 10.7 MPG. He’s appeared in 26 games this season, averaging 2.7 PPG in 7.4 MPG. However, the 6’4” Thomas has knocked down 45.7% of his 3-point attempts over the last two seasons.

Thomas is making approximately $1.52MM. The Jazz will have to decide by the start of free agency whether to guarantee his $1.78MM salary next season.

Utah will use a $3,542,060 traded player exception to absorb Thomas’ salary, ESPN’s Bobby Marks tweets. The Jazz had an open roster spot.

Toronto will generate a $1.5MM TPE through this transaction. The Raptors also open up a roster spot, which they may need if they deal Kyle Lowry by the trade deadline.

Atlantic Notes: KD, Bryant, Raptors, Lowry

March 25th, 2021 at 9:46pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Nets All-Star Kevin Durant did not travel with Brooklyn for the club’s three-game road trip, according to Malika Andrews of ESPN. Head coach Steve Nash shed some light on the team’s decision to keep Durant home. The two-time Finals MVP has been unavailable for the club since February 12 with a left hamstring strain.

“We just felt like it didn’t benefit him to travel across the country while he is trying to get that critical last part of his rehab done,” Nash said of the Nets’ star forward. “If this was the playoffs, there’s a chance he’d be back very soon, but there’s no point in taking a big risk with him when the most important thing is to get him back for the remainder of the season.”

There’s more out of the Atlantic Division:

Knicks associate head coach Johnnie Bryant, a former Utes player and Jazz assistant coach, is still in the hunt to become the new University of Utah head coach, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN tweets.
The Raptors made some significant changes at the trade deadline, but they didn’t move the player everyone was perhaps most expecting to be dealt. Blake Murphy of The Athletic takes stock of where Toronto stands in terms of its draft assets and salary cap space going forward.
The Sixers opted not to trade for point guard Kyle Lowry, an unrestricted free agent this summer, apparently due to an ample asking price from the Raptors, as Rich Hoffman and Derek Bodner of The Athletic detail. The Raptors reportedly wanted a package centered around young players Matisse Thybulle and Tyrese Maxey, two future first-round draft picks, with veterans Danny Green and Mike Scott added to match Lowry’s incoming salary in a move.

Raptors Trade Terence Davis To Kings

March 25th, 2021 at 9:30pm CST by Dana Gauruder

9:30pm: The Davis deal is official, per an official Kings press release.

“Terence is a talented young player that adds depth and scoring ability to our backcourt,” GM Monte McNair said. “We are excited to see what he brings to Sacramento.”

1:55pm: The Kings and Raptors have agreed to a trade that will send second-year guard Terence Davis to Sacramento in exchange for a future second-round pick, reports ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link). The second-rounder will be the Grizzlies’ second-rounder that was owed to the Kings in this year’s draft, Blake Murphy of The Athletic tweets.

Sacramento will need to clear a roster spot for Davis. It must do the same in its reported 2-for-1 deal with Miami that will send Nemanja Bjelica to the Heat for Maurice Harkless and Chris Silva.

The undrafted Davis, who played college ball at Ole Miss, made a surprisingly strong debut for the Raptors last season. He averaged 7.5 PPG, 3.3 RPG and 1.6 APG in 16.8 MPG while appearing in 72 regular-season contests. He has been less effective this season in 34 appearances, averaging 6.9 PPG, 1.9 RPG and 1.1 APG in 14.5 MPG.

The Kings can make him a restricted free agent this offseason by extending a qualifying offer of $2.06MM. They can evaluate how Davis fits into their future plans over the next two months.

Davis had a tumultuous offseason in which he was arrested in New York and had domestic assault charges filed against him. A handful of the seven charges against Davis were dismissed. The judge in the case technically granted an “adjournment in contemplation of dismissal” for criminal mischief and endangering the welfare of a child, which means those charges will also be dropped as long as the he doesn’t run afoul of the law again for the next year.