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Much has been made of the 13 teams that have new head coaches, but precious little notice has been paid to the fact that there are 13 teams with a new most highly paid player. Trades and free agency have rendered 11 of those teams with a new name as their greatest player personnel investment, while the other two clubs demonstrate the variance in which contracts are structured.

The most highly paid players on the Hawks, Sixers and Jazz left via free agency to claim those titles on other teams. The Rockets are the only other club that brought in its new highest earner via free agency, though that doesn’t count the Bucks, who signed O.J. Mayo and traded for Caron Butler, each of whom will earn a team-high $8MM this year. Two other teams brought in their current most highly paid player via trade.

Six teams have new top earners who were on the roster last season. That includes the Suns and Kings, who are the clubs who reveal the aforementioned dexterity of contracts. Goran Dragic‘s four-year deal with the Suns pays him $7.5MM for each season, but Marcin Gortat‘s includes raises. Gortat’s raises caught and passed Dragic’s flat salaries this year.  Marcus Thornton‘s raise helped him claim the top spot in Sacramento, where he surpasses John Salmons, whose contract includes salary declines instead of raises.

In-season trades will surely add more teams to this list, though one club appears most poised for a change. Hedo Turkoglu remains atop the Magic payroll, but the team is trying to unload his deal via trade. If the Magic don’t find any takers, they’ll likely waive him before his $12MM contract, which is only $6MM guaranteed, becomes fully guaranteed on January 10th.

The Magic are also still paying the amnestied Gilbert Arenas, who would have claimed the top spot had he and the team not agreed to spread his payments out over two additional years. In any case, this list excludes amnestied players who either aren’t on the roster now or, in the case of the 2012/13 salaries listed, weren’t on the roster last season.

• Hawks: 2012/13, Josh Smith ($13.2MM) — 2013/14, Al Horford ($12MM)
• Celtics: 2012/13, Paul Pierce ($16,790,345) — 2013/14, Kris Humphries ($12MM)
• Bobcats: 2012/13, Ben Gordon ($12.4MM) — 2013/14, Al Jefferson (13.5MM)
• Cavaliers: 2012/13, Anderson Varejao ($8,368,182) — 2013/14, Andrew Bynum (12.25MM)
• Nuggets: 2012/13, Andre Iguodala ($14,968,250) — 2013/14, Ty Lawson ($10,786,517)
• Pistons: 2012/13, Jose Calderon ($11,046,591) — 2013/14, Josh Smith ($13.5MM)
• Rockets: 2012/13, Omer Asik/Jeremy Lin ($8,374,646) — 2013/14, Dwight Howard ($20,513,178)
• Bucks: 2012/13, Monta Ellis ($11MM) — 2013/14, Caron Butler/O.J. Mayo ($8MM)
• Sixers: 2012/13, Andrew Bynum ($16.889MM) — 2013/14, Thaddeus Young ($8.85MM)
• Suns: 2012/13, Goran Dragic ($7.5MM) — 2013/14, Marcin Gortat ($7,727,280)
• Kings: 2012/13, John Salmons ($8.083MM) — 2013/14, Marcus Thornton ($8.05MM)
• Spurs: 2012/13, Manu Ginobili ($14,107,492) — 2013/14, Tony Parker ($12.5MM)
• Jazz: 2012/13, Al Jefferson ($15MM) — 2013/14, Richard Jefferson ($11.046MM)

ShamSports was used in the creation of this post.

Hoops Rumors passes along the latest news and rumors on NBA player movement 365 days a year, but those aren’t the only updates you’ll see on the site. On our right sidebar, you’ll find a number of additional features and featured posts. Here’s a rundown of a few of them:

• We’re still keeping a close eye on free agency with the help of our list of 2013 free agents. If you want to look ahead to the summer of 2014 or 2015, we’ve rounded up those free agents as well. All of these FA lists will continue to be modified as needed.
• Our Free Agent Tracker, which features data sortable by team, position, contract years, and contract amount, has been continually updated to include all of this summer’s deals, including training camp invites.
• If you’re interested in monitoring the status of non-NBA players, be sure to check out our International Player Movement Tracker, developed with the help of Mark Porcaro. It includes data on thousands of players, and continues to be updated daily. Both our NBA free agent tracker and our international tracker will include moves up to the end of October.
• Not all the players currently on NBA rosters have guaranteed deals. We’ve provided a schedule of contract guarantee dates so you can keep track of when teams will have to make decisions on those non-guaranteed players. We also have them broken down by team.
• Our list of 2013/14 roster counts is a convenient tool for keeping tabs on how many players your favorite NBA team is carrying, and how many guaranteed contracts are on each club’s books.
• With the October 31st deadline for rookie-scale extensions just over a week away, you can read about some of the offseason’s remaining extension-eligible players in our Extension Candidate series.
• If you missed any trades made since the 2012/13 season ended, you can catch up using our list of 2013 offseason swaps.
• Our agency database is a handy reference point for determining the representation for virtually every NBA player.
• Using our 10-day contract tracker, you can find any 10-day contract signed since 2007, sorting by player, team, year, and other variables.
• On Mondays at 4:00pm CT, I answer readers’ questions in a live chat. These weekly live chats have been on hiatus for much of the offseason, but are set to return next week along with the NBA regular season. In the meantime, you can check out transcripts of our past live discussions here.
• Our list of outstanding traded player exceptions is updated whenever a trade exception is created, is used, or expires.
• We’re tracking teams’ amnesty provisions — using our complete list, you can check to see which clubs have used the amnesty clause and which will have it available next summer.
• The Hoops Rumors glossary helps explain some of the more complex concepts in the NBA’s Collective Bargaining Agreement.
• Zach Links rounds up the best of the blogosphere every Sunday in his weekly Hoops Links feature.
• If you’re looking to catch up on a few days worth of content, our Week in Review posts round up the week’s news and rumors, while our Hoops Rumors Originals posts recap the site’s original content for the week. Both round-ups are published every Sunday.
• Be sure to check out the Featured Posts section on the right sidebar for more original pieces from the Hoops Rumors writing team. Recently, we calculated next summer’s maximum contract scenarios for LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony, examined how new team executives have fared this offseason, and looked ahead to projected 2014 cap space for all 30 teams.

Decisions on rookie scale extensions and options are due by October 31st, and many teams will be thinking of their 2014/15 cap space when they make their calls. Let’s take a look at where each team stands heading into next summer, when the cap is expected to rise to $62.1MM and the tax line to $75.7MM. We’ve ranked each NBA club by the amount of money it has committed for the ’14/’15 season:

1. Nets: $82,998,463: The Nets don’t have any rookie options or extensions due by the end of the month, but they’re almost certain to remain a tax team next season.
2. Clippers: $66,322,769: The Eric Bledsoe trade cleared the only rookie scale option or extension decision from L.A.’s table.
3. Thunder: $62,056,871: Oklahoma City is set to remain without cap room regardless of whether it picks up $5,535,570 worth of rookie scale options.
4. Blazers: $61,280,581: Portland has already picked up its rookie scale options, virtually assuring the club will be a cap team in 2014/15.
5. Bulls: $60,994,844: Marquis Teague has surfaced in trade rumors, but the Bulls are certain to pick up Jimmy Butler‘s $2,008,748 option for 2014/15, pushing Chicago to the cap.
6. Pacers: $60,615,028: Paul George‘s max extension eats up the team’s cap room, meaning Indiana faces a talent drain if they don’t use Bird rights to re-sign Danny Granger and Lance Stephenson.
7. Nuggets: $57,315,378: Denver wouldn’t have much cap room even if it surprised and turned down the options of either Kenneth Faried, Evan Fournier, or both. More than $5.5MM worth of player options for Nate Robinson and Darrell Arthur make it almost certain the Nuggets will be over the cap.
8. Timberwolves: $57,001,059: The Wolves aren’t about to turn down Ricky Rubio‘s $4,660,479 rookie scale option, making Minnesota a likely cap team for 2014/15 regardless of what it does with Derrick Williams.
9. Rockets: $56,983,489: Planned option pick-ups for Terrence Jones and Donatas Motiejunas leave the club without much wiggle room below the cap for next season. That space should get even tighter if Francisco Garcia picks up his $1,316,809 player option by June 30th and the Rockets hang on to Chandler Parsons past January 1st, when an additional $624,771 of Parsons’ contract becomes guaranteed for 2014/15.
10. Pelicans: $53,107,429: This number includes the already exercised options for Anthony Davis and Austin Rivers, so the team should have at least a small amount of cap room next summer, even if Anthony Morrow picks up his $1,145,685 player option.
11. Kings: $52,997,837: Sacramento could easily cross into cap territory with a $3,110,796 option decision due on Jimmer Fredette and an extension for Greivis Vasquez. The team won’t have too much room in any event, thanks to the max extension it’s already given to DeMarcus Cousins.
12. Warriors: $50,846,420: Pending options worth $7,238,680 to Klay Thompson, Harrison Barnes and Festus Ezeli will likely make the club’s potential cap space all but vanish.
13. Pistons: $50,226,170: The total includes Andre Drummond‘s option, which has already been exercised. Greg Monroe is unlikely to sign an extension, leaving Detroit to decide whether to wipe out its potential cap room with a deal for him next summer or seek to replace him via trade or free agency. Jonas Jerebko‘s $4.5MM player option could limit the team’s ability to sign a replacement for Monroe.
14. Celtics: $48,730,705: The C’s only have about $3.6MM in pending rookie scale options, so this number shouldn’t change much. Still, the thought of committing nearly $2.2MM to MarShon Brooks is no slam-dunk when that kind of money might make a difference to a free agent the C’s are trying to sign with cap space next summer.
15. Hawks: $45,336,656: John Jenkins and Jared Cunningham represent less than $3MM worth of option decisions, but Atlanta may decline at least one of them so that the team keeps its cap space close to the total necessary to make a max offer to a restricted free agent next summer.
16. Bucks: $42,789,682: Even with Larry Sanders‘ $11MM-a-year extension and exercised options for John Henson and Brandon Knight, Milwaukee figures to have some cap room to play with.
17. Grizzlies: $39,947,212: Extensions for either Ed Davis or Quincy Pondexter seem unlikely, but this number figures to grow because it doesn’t include Zach Randolph‘s $16,973,333 player option, which would wipe out any significant cap space.
18. Wizards: $36,953,480: Washington still has room left over after John Wall‘s max extension, though $4,505,280 will almost certainly be added to the total when the team exercises its option for Bradley Beal. A play for a significant free agent is not out of the question next summer.
19. Magic: $33,448,634: This number includes four rookie scale option pickups and leaves Orlando with enough room for a marquee free agent next summer.
20. Spurs: $28,477,500: San Antonio’s commitments figure to grow thanks to Tim Duncan‘s $10MM player option, an almost certain $2,894,059 option pickup on Kawhi Leonard, and an extra $9MM in non-guaranteed money on Tony Parker‘s contract that San Antonio surely won’t pass up.
21. Mavericks: $28,267,575: With no rookie options or extensions due, this number looks solid. Dallas will have a chance to spend the summer chasing another marquee free agent if Dirk Nowitzki agrees to a pay cut
22. Knicks: $27,286,556: Like the Heat, New York is another team with a low 2014/15 cap number that doesn’t include large amounts in player and early termination options. Even if Carmelo Anthony chooses free agency, Amar’e Stoudemire, Andrea Bargnani and Metta World Peace could opt to rake in another $36,494,955 combined.
23. Raptors: $26,092,556: Rudy Gay‘s $19,317,326 player option looms over the team’s plans, and nearly $7MM in almost-certain rookie scale option pickups for Jonas Valanciunas and Terrence Ross shouldn’t leave Toronto with much cap room if Gay decides to opt in.
24. Bobcats: $25,744,248: Keeping Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, Kemba Walker and Bismack Biyombo around would cost another $12,162,449, but that still leaves plenty of cap space.
25. Cavaliers: $18,214,242: This number could nearly double in the coming days, with $17,974,920 worth of rookie scale options pending for Kyrie Irving, Tristan Thompson, Dion Waiters and Tyler Zeller.
26. Jazz: $17,720,831: This figure assumes the $49MM+ extension for Derrick Favors starts at $12.25MM next season. Utah will likely commit more than $8.5MM on options for Alec Burks and Enes Kanter, and another large-scale commitment could be coming in the form of an extension for Gordon Hayward. Still, the Jazz figure to have some cap room next season.
27. Suns: $16,539,978: This number could vault significantly with an extension for Eric Bledsoe, a pending $6.8MM player option for Channing Frye, and about $9MM in rookie options that have yet to be picked up.
28. Sixers: $15,026,029: Philly could add to this number with another $4.1MM in rookie scale option pickups, but with no extension likely forthcoming for Evan Turner, the team is set to have plenty of cap room in the summer.
29. Lakers: $10,616,243: L.A.’s books are as clean as can be for 2014/15, and there aren’t any rookie scale options or extensions that could add to that total this month. Just how much of a discount Kobe Bryant is willing to offer in free agency this summer will be the key.
30. Heat: $2,038,206: Norris Cole‘s exercised rookie scale option is the only contract guaranteed to be on the team’s books, but the low number is deceptive, since the Heat have $71,212,490 in player and early termination options.

HoopsWorld and ShamSports were used in the creation of this post.

Not every training camp invitee is an anonymous rookie. Teams often bring in veterans with extensive track records, as I detailed when I looked at a few longtime veterans in camp with teams this year. Still, just because those players have eye-catching names doesn’t mean they’re destined to make the team, or even catch on with another club if they’re let go. Several prominent veterans were in camp with teams last season, got cut, and still haven’t found another NBA playing gig. We’ll detail the cases of some of them here. Note that this list doesn’t include Eddy Curry, since he appeared in a pair of games for the Mavericks last year before they waived him in early November.

• Kelenna Azubuike, Cavaliers: He didn’t play in any professional league last season after the Cavs let him go in mid-October. He remains unsigned this year, and we haven’t heard anything regarding another opportunity for him. The former starting small forward for the Warriors has played only three NBA regular season games after botched surgery on a torn patellar tendon in 2009.
• Anthony Carter, Nuggets: The 14-year veteran sat out last season after Denver waived him, and it appears his playing career is over, since he’ll serve as an assistant coach for the Spurs’ D-League affiliate this year.
• Kyrylo Fesenko, Bulls: Financial considerations may have been in play for the hard-capped Bulls when they let him go before opening night last year, but the team didn’t re-sign him once the minimum salary had prorated far enough down to allow them to do so. The Hawks passed after working him out in November, and he wound up signing to play in Ukraine. He hit free agency again this summer, but he remains unsigned and we haven’t heard him linked to any teams.
• Jonny Flynn, Pistons: The former sixth overall pick was a high-profile signing for the Melbourne Tigers of Australia this past November, and the Lakers and Grizzlies were linked to him during the season. A new NBA deal never materialized, so he inked this summer with a Chinese team.
• D.J. Mbenga, Mavericks: The seven-year vet and two-time champ didn’t even make it to the preseason last year, as the Mavs let him go on October 2nd, shortly after signing him. He went next to a Chinese team, but that squad waived him after only a month. He wound up playing in the Philippines, and though he’s back on the free agent market, there doesn’t appear to be any interest.
• Jamaal Magloire, Raptors: A native of Toronto, he stepped into a post-playing career with the Raptors shortly after they waived him, joining the team last November as a basketball development consultant and community ambassador.
• Mikki Moore, Sixers: The 37-year-old center appears to be at the end of the line, as there haven’t been any updates to his Hoops Rumors page since the Sixers cut him. He didn’t play regular season ball for any team last season.
• Adam Morrison, Trail Blazers: It appeared that Morrison was set to retire when the Blazers waived him last year, but agent Brad Ames said shortly after Morrison’s release that the one-time third overall pick was open to playing overseas. He didn’t wind up doing so, and there’s been no interest in him in the offseason.
• Ronald Murray, Grizzlies: The guard known as “Flip” ended up with a Ukrainian team last season, and though he took part in a mini-camp with the Jazz in September, he remains a free agent.
• Delonte West, Mavericks: West’s conduct doomed his chances with the Mavs, and his decision to wait two months after signing with the D-League’s Texas Legends to suit up for the team certainly didn’t help his perception among NBA clubs. Still, the Knicks, Lakers and Grizzlies are among the teams that showed varying levels of interest before he signed to play in China a few weeks ago.

The Hoops Rumors International Player Movement Tracker and RealGM.com were used in the creation of this post.

This week might have signaled the end of Corey Maggette‘s playing career, as the Spurs released him two days after he indicated he’d retire if San Antonio cut him. Training camp invitations are usually reserved for younger players, but the 33-year-old Maggette wasn’t alone among veterans with plenty of NBA experience on non-guaranteed deals. A half-dozen players who’ve played at least nine NBA seasons have fully non-guaranteed contracts with teams around the league. Here’s a look at how each of them stands with a week and a day left before the last camp cuts must go on waivers.

• Rasual Butler, Pacers: NBA teams didn’t appear to have much interest in Butler before the Pacers signed him in early September, but he’s survived the first round of cuts and is one of 15 players currently on the Indiana roster. Coach Frank Vogel has made it sound like the team only wants to carry 13 players to start the regular season, and with 13 players on fully guaranteed contracts, Butler’s place on the team remains precarious.
• Brian Cook, Jazz: Cook spent what would have been his 10th NBA season last year playing in Puerto Rico, but he wound up with Utah after changing agents this summer. He’s probably battling five other guys for two spots, but his chances got a boost this week when the Jazz waived fellow big man Dwayne Jones.
• DeSagana Diop, Cavaliers: A report last week categorized Diop as a favorite to win a regular season roster spot, though another Cavs beat writer suggested others were more likely to get the nod. In any case, it’s a wide open camp in Cleveland, where 20 players have contracts, but only 11 of those deals are fully guaranteed.
• Royal Ivey, Hawks: The Spurs, Suns and Bucks also had interest in Ivey over the summer, but the 31-year-old guard wound up with the Hawks, a team with only a dozen fully guaranteed deals and 18 total players in camp. Ivey outlasted fellow nine-year veteran Damien Wilkins, whom the Hawks waived on Monday.
• Mike James, Bulls: James has a history with Chicago, which signed him to a pair of 10-day contracts and a deal for the rest of the season in 2011/12. He traveled a similar path with the Mavericks last year, as our 10-day tracker shows, but despite a strong showing in Dallas and negotiations with the Mavs about a new deal this summer, the 38-year-old wound up back in Chicago. He has a strong chance of making the Bulls, since he’s one of only 15 players on the roster and is reportedly the front-runner to become the team’s 13th man on opening night.
• Roger Mason, Heat: Coach Erik Spoelstra has given Mason plenty of playing time in exhibitions and he’s performed remarkably well, averaging 10.3 points and 5.0 rebounds on 53.8% three-point shooting in 28.7 minutes per game. Still, the Heat have been planning to carry just 13 players to start the regular season, and they already have 13 fully guaranteed deals. Mason is one of seven guys on non-guaranteed deals with the Heat, a list that includes Michael Beasley, so Mason’s strong preseason showing may not be enough to keep him in Miami.

With a number of option decisions due by the end of the month and plenty more roster cuts to come, there will be plenty of notable stories to follow on Hoops Rumors before opening night. There are a handful of different ways you can follow us to keep tabs on the latest NBA news and rumors this fall and throughout the year.

You can Like us on Facebook, and receive headlines and links for all our posts via your Facebook account. You can also follow us on Twitter to have all our posts and updates sent directly to your Twitter feed. And our RSS feed is located here, if you’d like to follow us using your RSS reader of choice.

If you prefer to receive updates only on roster moves such as signings, cuts, and trades, you can follow our transactions-only feeds via RSS and Twitter.

Our list of non-guaranteed contracts for 2013/14 includes not only players whose deals are fully non-guaranteed, but also those who have a partial guarantee on their contracts. If those players are waived by their respective teams, they’ll still receive a portion of their salaries, though the club won’t have to pay the entire amount.

In some cases, the partial guarantee on a player’s contract is fairly insignificant, and likely won’t have a huge effect on whether or not that player makes his team’s regular-season roster. For instance, if a camp invitee on a non-guaranteed deal is outplaying someone with a partial guarantee of $25K, a club isn’t likely to stick with that second player to recoup that $25K. Still, if all else is equal, a team would prefer to pay just one player, rather than two, so these partial guarantees are worth taking into account.

Based on the contract details reported to date, with assists from ShamSports and HoopsWorld, here are the players who have partial guarantees, along with the amount of that guarantee. These players are assumed to be on minimum-salary contracts unless otherwise indicated:

• 76ers: Gani Lawal ($100K guaranteed), Darius Morris ($1.05MM salary; $200K guaranteed), Rodney Williams ($35K guaranteed)
  
• Bobcats: Jannero Pargo ($300K guaranteed)
• Bulls: Erik Murphy ($250K guaranteed)
• Cavaliers: Andrew Bynum ($12.25MM salary; $6MM guaranteed), Matthew Dellavedova ($100K guaranteed)
• Clippers: Brandon Davies ($50K guaranteed)
• Hawks: Mike Scott ($100K guaranteed)
• Jazz: Ian Clark ($200K guaranteed)
• Kings: Trent Lockett ($35K guaranteed)
• Knicks: C.J. Leslie ($200K guaranteed), Jeremy Tyler ($100K guaranteed)
• Lakers: Elias Harris ($100K guaranteed), Shawne Williams ($100K guaranteed)
• Magic: Hedo Turkoglu ($12MM salary; $6MM guaranteed)
• Nuggets: Quincy Miller ($150K guaranteed)
• Pelicans: Lance Thomas ($15K guaranteed)
• Pistons: Josh Harrellson ($150K guaranteed), Peyton Siva ($150K guaranteed)
• Rockets: Ronnie Brewer ($100K guaranteed), Reggie Williams ($474K guaranteed)
• Thunder: Ryan Gomes ($50K guaranteed), Hasheem Thabeet ($1.2MM salary; $500K guaranteed)
• Trail Blazers: Dee Bost ($25K guaranteed)
  
• Warriors: Kent Bazemore ($25K guaranteed), Seth Curry ($75K guaranteed), DeWayne Dedmon ($25K guaranteed)

Keen observers will notice that the total number of players here doesn’t quite match up with the number of players with partial guarantees listed on our roster count page. On that page, the Sixers, Suns, and Trail Blazers all have additional partially guaranteed contracts listed. That’s because there are a handful of players who were reported to be in line for partial guarantees, but whose contract details have yet to be reported and confirmed. Here are those players:

• 76ers: Vander Blue, Khalif Wyatt
• Suns: Dionte Christmas
• Trail Blazers: Richard Howell

Non-guaranteed and partially guaranteed contracts that aren’t released on or before January 7th, 2014, will become fully guaranteed for the season on January 10th. However, prior to that date, there are a few other checkpoints when certain players will receive partial guarantees, as our schedule shows. The following players will be guaranteed the partial amounts specified if they’re not waived on or before the listed dates:

• October 29th: Trent Lockett (Kings): $100K (from $35K)
• October 29th: Romero Osby (Magic): $100K
• October 29th: Jarvis Varnado (Heat): $250K
• October 30th: Ryan Gomes (Thunder): $75K (from $50K)
• December 15th: Jarvis Varnado (Heat): $500K (from $250K)

Even when NBA rosters expand to a 20-player maximum during the offseason, there are only a limited number of openings for all the NBA hopefuls worldwide. Given how hard it is to earn a roster spot in the Association, many talented players ultimately end up on teams in Europe, South America, Asia, and Australia.

At Hoops Rumors, we focus primarily on NBA roster moves, or at least players that have recently been on NBA rosters, passing along only the more notable international transactions. But we’re still interested in following player movement in those non-NBA leagues, which is why we’re continuing to update our International Player Movement Tracker.

Working with Mark Porcaro of Secret Rival, we’re maintaining a database of thousands of players, tracking which teams they played for last season, and where they’ll play for the coming 2013/14 campaign. Using our tracker, you can search and sort players by the team they played for (or the country they played in) either last season or this season, as well as the college they attended (or their home country).

For instance, if you’re curious about which former Kansas players are on roster overseas, you can use this link to check on the statuses of Keith Langford, Julian Wright, Aaron Miles, Josh Selby, and others. If you’d like to see players currently on the CSKA roster in Russia, you can search by current team and find this list.

Mark will be updating our database daily, leading up to the opening night of the 2013/14 NBA season, so be sure to keep checking back. We’ll continue to pass along word of more noteworthy international transactions on Hoops Rumors, but our tracker will also include plenty of players not mentioned in posts on the site.

Our International Player Movement Tracker can be found anytime under the “Hoops Rumors Features” menu on the right-hand sidebar.

Waiver claims represent a tiny fraction of player acquisitions in the NBA, but with close to 100 players set to hit waivers in the next two weeks, chances are we’ll see a few of them get claimed. Three of the eight players claimed off waivers since last October were camp cuts, although that trio combined to appear in just two regular season games last season for the teams that claimed them. That’s in part because this time of year the motivation to claim a player may be about more than just his NBA rights.

The Blazers waived Justin Holiday shortly after claiming him last year, but they protected his D-League rights, meaning Holiday wound up with Portland’s affiliate when he signed to play in the D-League. NBA teams are allowed to keep three camp cuts out of the D-League draft. As Blazers GM Neil Olshey has explained, many teams, including Portland, wait until the last moment to release their camp invitees so that other teams don’t grab their NBA rights, cut them, and protect them for their own D-League teams.

Holiday remained at Idaho most of the year without the Blazers signing him to an NBA deal, and the Sixers scooped up Holiday’s rights when they brought him to Philadelphia near the end of the season. Still, if an NBA team is interested in keeping tabs on one of the players who’s waived by another club this month, the waiver claim may well come into play.

Here’s a look at each of the players claimed off waivers since last October, with an asterisk by the name of anyone who is still with the team that claimed him.

• *Gustavo Ayon — The Hawks claimed him from the Bucks on July 28th.
• Josh Akognon — The Grizzlies claimed him from the Mavericks on July 23rd.
• *James Anderson — The Sixers claimed him from the Rockets on July 13th.
• *Tim Ohlbrecht — The Sixers claimed him from the Rockets on July 13th.
• Shaun Livingston — The Cavaliers claimed him from the Wizards on December 25th, 2012.
• Eddy Curry — The Mavericks claimed him from the Spurs on October 25th, 2012.
• Reeves Nelson — The Rockets claimed him from Lakers on October 22nd, 2012.
• Justin Holiday — The Blazers claimed him from the Cavaliers on October 12th, 2012.

The RealGM transaction log was used in the creation of this post.

The league’s current Collective Bargaining Agreement has made it a little easier for teams to keep their own superstars, but it also reduced the maximum number of years for a player’s contract. Additionally, increasing tax penalties have prompted several teams with expensive payrolls to cut costs by trading or releasing veterans, reducing the likelihood that a given player will stay with the same team throughout his NBA career.

Taking into account the changes to roster-building dictated by the new CBA, it’s worth looking at which players have managed to stick with their current teams for the longest time. A handful of clubs, such as the Lakers with Kobe Bryant and the Spurs with Tim Duncan, have kept their respective stars under contract for well over a decade. But other teams, such as the Pelicans, haven’t carried any one player for more than the last three years, with their longest-tenured player (Jason Smith) having joined the team for the 2010/11 season.

Here’s a look at the longest-tenured player on each NBA team in chronological order, including details on how that player was initially acquired:

1. Los Angeles Lakers: Kobe Bryant. Acquired via trade on July 11th, 1996.
2. San Antonio Spurs: Tim Duncan. Drafted on June 25th, 1997.
3. Dallas Mavericks: Dirk Nowitzki. Drafted on June 24th, 1998.
4. Miami Heat: Dwyane Wade. Drafted on June 26th, 2003.
5. Oklahoma City Thunder: Nick Collison. Drafted on June 26th, 2003.
6. Chicago Bulls: Luol Deng. Drafted on June 24th, 2004.
7. Orlando Magic: Jameer Nelson. Drafted on June 24th, 2004.
8. Cleveland Cavaliers: Anderson Varejao. Acquired via trade on July 23rd, 2004.
9. Indiana Pacers: Danny Granger. Drafted on June 28th, 2005.
10. Portland Trail Blazers: LaMarcus Aldridge. Drafted on June 28th, 2006.
11. Boston Celtics: Rajon Rondo. Drafted on June 28th, 2006.
12. Atlanta Hawks: Al Horford. Drafted on June 28th, 2007.
13. Memphis Grizzlies: Mike Conley. Drafted on June 28th, 2007.
14. Philadelphia 76ers: Thaddeus Young. Drafted on June 28th, 2007.
15. Detroit Pistons: Rodney Stuckey. Drafted on June 28th, 2007.
16. Minnesota Timberwolves: Kevin Love. Drafted on June 26th, 2008.
17. Brooklyn Nets: Brook Lopez. Drafted on June 26th, 2008.
18. Sacramento Kings: Jason Thompson. Drafted on June 26th, 2008.
19. Los Angeles Clippers: DeAndre Jordan. Drafted on June 26th, 2008.
20. Golden State Warriors: Stephen Curry. Drafted on June 25th, 2009.
21. Toronto Raptors: DeMar DeRozan. Drafted on June 25th, 2009.
22. Charlotte Bobcats: Gerald Henderson. Drafted on June 25th, 2009.
23. Denver Nuggets: Ty Lawson. Drafted on June 25th, 2009.
24. Phoenix Suns: Channing Frye. Signed on July 14th, 2009.
25. Milwaukee Bucks: Ersan Ilyasova. Signed on July 23rd, 2009.
26. Washington Wizards: John Wall. Drafted on June 24th, 2010.¹
27. Utah Jazz: Gordon Hayward. Drafted on June 24th, 2010.¹
28. New York Knicks: Amar’e Stoudemire. Signed on July 8th, 2010.
29. New Orleans Pelicans: Jason Smith. Acquired via trade on September 23rd, 2010.
30. Houston Rockets: Chandler Parsons. Drafted on June 23rd, 2011.

¹ The Wizards and Jazz each landed multiple players on June 24th, 2010 that remain on their respective rosters. Trevor Booker and Kevin Seraphin (acquired via draft-night trade) join Wall for Washington, while Utah also added Jeremy Evans after drafting Hayward. Wall and Hayward were the first picks by each club, technically making them the longest-tenured players, if only by a matter of minutes.

Data from Mark Porcaro was used in the creation of this post