However, according to Sarah Todd of The Deseret News, the Jazz don’t view 2024/25 as the third year of their rebuild. Instead, they consider it part of their multiyear tear-down process. “In their eyes,” Todd writes, “the rebuild hasn’t started.”

As Todd points out, the Jazz still had several veterans on their roster after moving on from Gobert and Mitchell and have since traded many of those vets too, including Bojan Bogdanovic, Mike Conley, Kelly Olynyk, Jarred Vanderbilt, and Simone Fontecchio.

Additionally, although Utah has drafted in the lottery in each of the past two years, the team didn’t have a top-eight pick in either of those drafts and none of its five first-round picks from 2023 or 2024 have established themselves as clear foundational pieces, Todd notes.

Given that context, it makes sense that the front office isn’t ready to pivot toward contending in 2025/26. Instead, hanging onto their 2026 first-rounder is a priority for the Jazz, according to Todd. That pick is top-eight protected and will be sent to Oklahoma City if it lands at No. 9 or lower. If that pick lands in the top eight, Utah would keep it and would no longer owe draft assets to the Thunder.

That means another tanking season in 2025/26 appears highly likely for the Jazz, Todd writes. Andy Larsen of The Salt Lake Tribune (Twitter link) has heard the same thing.

Of course, there’s a scenario in which the Jazz land a player like Cooper Flagg in this year’s draft and find themselves with too much talent on their roster to be an obvious bottom-feeder next season. If that happens, Todd writes, the Jazz might be more inclined to trade a player like Lauri Markkanen or Walker Kessler to ensure they hang onto their 2026 pick.

While the Jazz may find marketing value in spinning the past three seasons as a “tear-down” instead of a “rebuild,” I expect many fans in Utah will view the distinction as a semantic one and focus more on the fact that it has been a while since the organization has prioritized winning games.

As Larsen writes for The Salt Lake Tribune, several season ticket holders are upset about an announcement from the team that the price of their tickets are going up 2025/26. Some fans reported that prices have risen by up to 8%, Larsen writes, though the Jazz claim that most increases are closer to 3% or less and that the highest is about 6%.

“It’s extremely frustrating that I’m paying more than I was when we were the No. 1 seed and that it is far more expensive to be a season ticket holder than to just buy tickets from SeatGeek every game,” one season ticket holder told Larsen.

“Paying full price to watch a team play G League players and lose on purpose is already so disrespectful to your fan base,” another season ticket holder said, adding that he’s canceling his tickets for next season. “To then have the audacity to raise prices on season ticket holders, after being dead last in the West, shows how little this organization cares about the fans.”

Hoops Rumors has confirmed that Patrick Baldwin and Seth Lundy of the Clippers, Pete Nance and Jamaree Bouyea of the Bucks, Lester Quinones of the Pelicans, David Roddy of the Rockets, Miles Norris of the Celtics, and Jared Rhoden of the Raptors all signed two-year, two-way contracts.

As our tracker shows, that means that 25 of the 90 players signed to two-way contracts have deals that will carry over to the 2025/26 league year. It’s common for many of the players on two-year, two-way pacts to be waived during the offseason if teams decide there’s an undrafted rookie or Summer League standout they’d rather add, but those two-year terms give clubs the option of retaining their two-way players for another year.

Here are a few more details on recently signed contracts around the league:

• The Jazz used $634,437 of their room exception to sign guard Jaden Springer, who got a three-year contract that includes a non-guaranteed salary for 2025/26 and a team option for ’26/27. Springer will receive a $400K partial guarantee on next season’s salary if he remains under contract through July 25. That partial guarantee will increase to $600K if he makes the opening night roster in the fall.
• Teams that used a portion of their mid-level exceptions to promote two-way players to multiyear standard deals include the Wizards with Justin Champagnie ($1,800,000), the Clippers with Jordan Miller ($1,005,000), and the Rockets with Jeenathan Williams ($515,881). All three players got four-year contracts that don’t include guaranteed money beyond this season, though Miller’s deal includes some trigger dates — he’ll get a partial guarantee of $350K for 2025/26 if he’s still under contract beyond July 15 and half of his $2,191,897 salary will become guaranteed if he isn’t waived before the start of the ’25/26 regular season.
• Pat Spencer of the Warriors, Orlando Robinson of the Raptors, and Ryan Rollins of the Bucks all received straight conversions of their two-way contracts to standard deals, so they’ll each still be eligible for restricted free agency this offseason.
• Dominick Barlow‘s new two-year contract with the Hawks is a minimum-salary deal that includes a team option for 2025/26.

“He’s ahead of his time,” Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said. “Intuitively, he’s where the scientific research is, which is you wanna be making decisions. You want randomness in your workouts. You want variability. You want interweaving in the workout. He kinda does that naturally.”

Gilgeous-Alexander is breaking through the trend of high-usage players seeing efficiency taper off. His 64.5% true shooting percentage and 34.6% usage percentage are both career highs and lead most guards in the league.

“It’s like LeBron [James] in his prime, Giannis [Antetokounmpo], the speed of [Ja] Morant, the speed and power of [Russell] Westbrook; he’s a great athlete, but he’s not an overpowering athlete, where those guys are,” Daigneault said. “And yet, he gets to the same places on the floor as they do. And to me, that says it all about the skill.”

We have more from the Northwest Division:

• Jazz rookie big man Kyle Filipowski is coming off two of the best games of his career, scoring 25 points on Monday and going for 23 and 13 rebounds on Wednesday. Andy Larsen of The Salt Lake Tribune explores whether Filipowski is better suited to be playing the four or the five for the Jazz moving forward. Larsen opines that, while Filipowski isn’t the strongest interior defender, he’s probably best suited for the center position. “The responsibility between a four and a three on offense sometimes [doesn’t differ] very much,” head coach Will Hardy said. “The responsibilities between four and five are very different, and so Flip has had to deal with a lot of change throughout the season … He deserves a lot of credit, because that’s a hard thing. We have a lot of guys who are trying to learn their responsibilities at one position, and Flip’s doing it at two.”
• Jaden McDaniels offensive emergence is key to the Timberwolves‘ playoff push, writes Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic. In his last 12 games, McDaniels has averaged 19.2 points and 3.0 assists per game — in his first 52 games, he put up just 11.0 PPG and 1.7 APG. The forward’s three-point volume has also gone up — he launched a season-high nine outside attempts on Wednesday. He’s also on a different level now as a rebounder than he ever has been. “He can do a lot of different things, and he works his butt off,” teammate Julius Randle said. “We need him to play with that confidence because it gives us a whole different level as a team.”
• Scoot Henderson is continuing to emerge as a more consistent player, but Sean Highkin of The Rose Garden Report (Substack link) doesn’t see the former No. 3 overall pick returning to the starting lineup soon. Because the Trail Blazers are still in contention for a play-in spot, a shake-up might not make sense at this juncture. If Portland is eliminated, the club may switch things up.
• In the same article, Highkin explores the Trail Blazers‘ three options with Chauncey Billups this summer. Billups has shown he’s grown as a coach with Portland’s turnaround, Highkin writes, so they could either pick up the fifth-year option he has for next season, sign him to an extension, or mutually allow him to look for other opportunities.

“Everybody wants to play more, and then you get a chance to do it, and you go out there and you don’t execute, that’s frustrating,” Hardy said. “… The frustrating part is that there’s so much opportunity on our team right now, and all of these young players are getting an opportunity to show us who they are, what they are, and that opportunity needs to be met with the desperation that it deserves.”

None of the 10 Jazz players who saw minutes on Sunday are older than 26 years old, while their oldest starter in the game was 24-year-old KJ Martin, so an already young team was even younger in that game vs. the Pelicans.

“No one cares what your résumé was before you got here,” Hardy continued. “I don’t care how many points you scored in high school. I don’t care what you were ranked coming out of high school. It doesn’t matter where you played in college. Doesn’t matter how many wins you got in college. It doesn’t matter how many points you scored in college. Your Instagram followers mean nothing to me. This is a job … this is a profession, and it needs to be treated as such.”

Utah had Walker Kessler and Collin Sexton back in its starting five on Monday against Detroit after they missed Sunday’s game, but the club didn’t fare any better on the second end of a back-to-back set, falling by 28 points at home to the Pistons.

Here’s more from around the Northwest:

• The Thunder‘s top two scorers were firing on all cylinders in the team’s past two games, as Jalen Williams poured in a career-high 41 points in Sunday’s win over San Antonio (story via Joel Lorenzi of The Oklahoman) and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander racked up 51 in Monday’s win over Houston for his fourth 50-point game since January 22 (story via ESPN.com). “Whether it’s 50, whether it’s 27, whether it’s 17 — as long as we win, I have fun with it,” Gilgeous-Alexander said on Monday. “… Like, you don’t play the game to score a bunch of points. You don’t play the game to get a bunch of rebounds or assists or steals. … You don’t play for anything besides to win, and that’s what it’s all about.”
• As the fourth center on the Trail Blazers‘ depth chart behind Deandre Ayton, Robert Williams, and lottery pick Donovan Clingan, Duop Reath hasn’t gotten a chance to play much this season. But he has taken advantage of a chance to play rotation minutes in Portland’s past two games, scoring 20 points in a total of 41 minutes on Sunday and Monday with Ayton and Williams out, writes Aaron Fentress of The Oregonian. “(Reath) was playing great,” Anfernee Simons said after Monday’s win. “Obviously, having not been playing, staying ready at all times, being professional and coming in doing his job when his numbers is called. We all know what Duop is capable of. Each and every time we know we’re going to get the best out of him.”
• In a mailbag, Sean Highkin of The Rose Garden Report (Substack link) considers why the Trail Blazers haven’t “embraced the tank” this season, explores whether it makes sense for Portland to pursue win-now moves this summer, and acknowledges that it may difficult for the team to find a good deal for Jerami Grant on the trade market this offseason.

It continues a season-long streak of first-time winners — the league has announced eight Rookies of the Month so far this season, four in each conference, and no player has won the award twice. Jaylen Wells, Yves Missi, and Stephon Castle have also been honored in the West, while Jared McCain, Alex Sarr, and Kel’el Ware have won in the East.

The No. 29 overall pick in last year’s draft, Collier was elevated to Utah’s starting lineup in January. In February, he averaged 11.5 points, 3.9 rebounds, and an impressive 9.5 assists in 30.4 minutes per game across 13 outings.

According to Tony Jones of The Athletic, even though it was a short month made even shorter by the All-Star break, Collier’s 123 total assists in February were the most by a rookie in a single month since Pooh Richardson in March 1990.

“I think he’s playing the game with a chip on his shoulder,” Cody Williams said of his fellow Jazz rookie, per Jones. “I think he knows that there weren’t 28 players better than him in the draft, and he came into this season wanting to prove that.”

No player was drafted ahead of Risacher, 2024’s No. 1 overall selection. While the 19-year-old forward had an up-and-down first half, he has been very effective in recent weeks, averaging 12.8 PPG and 4.2 RPG with a .474/.440/.778 shooting line in 12 games (25.7 MPG) in February.

Those numbers don’t include his 27-point outburst in Memphis on Monday — he made 11-of-13 shots in that game and registered a career-high four steals as Atlanta eked out a two-point win.

February’s other Rookie of the Month nominees were Castle, Wells, and Zach Edey in the Western Conference, and Ware, Matas Buzelis, and Kyshawn George in the East (Twitter link).

Addressing those rumors, NBA insider Marc Stein of The Stein Line (Substack link) says he has consistently heard that the Mavericks only discussed Doncic by name with one team: the Lakers.

While Dallas did talk to Minnesota and Milwaukee, according to Stein, those discussions have been described to him as “very brief in nature and intentionally broad and vague,” with no conversations about Doncic specifically.

Here are a few more items of interest from Stein:

• Following the expiration of Moses Brown‘s 10-day contract, the Mavericks can’t fill the 15th spot on their standard roster until April 10 due to their hard cap. Promoting two-way player Kessler Edwards, who has played a rotation role in recent weeks and can only be active for 10 more NBA games, is one option Dallas is considering for that final week of the season, league sources tell Stein. However, the team’s decision will depend in part on its health and roster needs as of April 10, Stein notes. While the Mavs have a serious frontcourt shortage right now due to injuries, that may not be the case in five-and-a-half weeks.
• The Knicks were “right there” with the Lakers before the trade deadline in trying to pry third-year center Walker Kessler away from the Jazz, league sources tell Stein, who says Utah made it clear to both clubs that it didn’t want to seriously entertain pitches for Kessler during the season. The big man will be eligible for a rookie scale extension during the 2025 offseason.
• Although Stein can’t confirm if Mike Budenholzer‘s job in Phoenix is any actual jeopardy, he says the topic has generated “heightened whispering and curiosity” in coaching circles. The Suns parted ways with Monty Williams in 2023 when he still had three years and $20MM+ left on his contract and let go of Frank Vogel in 2024 just one year into his five-season, $31MM deal. Budenholzer reportedly received a five-year contract worth in excess of $50MM when he was hired by Phoenix last May. His Suns have a 28-33 record and are four games back of the final play-in spot in the West.
• In case you missed it, Stein also reported that the Wizards gave real consideration to the idea of reacquiring Bradley Beal from the Suns prior to last month’s trade deadline. However, the teams couldn’t agree to terms and it seems unlikely that Beal would have waived his no-trade clause to return to D.C. anyway.

1:48 pm: Fresh off a 10-day deal with the Jazz, guard Jaden Springer has agreed to a three-year contract with Utah, his agent Chad Speck informs ESPN’s Shams Charania (Twitter link).

In a cost-cutting move, Boston traded the 6’4″ combo guard and a future second-round pick to Houston at this year’s trade deadline. The Rockets quickly waived Springer, who soon latched on with a rebuilding Utah team.

Springer has appeared in four games for the Jazz so far. He’s averaging 3.5 points, 1.3 assists and 0.8 steals in 8.8 minutes per night, with a shooting line of .556/.500/1.000 in a very small sample size.

Jazz head coach Will Hardy has been utilizing Springer and another new wing addition, KJ Martin, in an effort to shore up his defense.

Springer, still just 22, was selected with the No. 28 pick out of Tennessee by the Sixers in 2021. He spent his initial two seasons on contending Philadelphia teams, but failed to make much of a rotational dent.

Springer was traded to the Celtics midway through the 2023/24 season, but was squeezed out of Joe Mazzulla‘s rotation during Boston’s run to the 2024 title. He appeared in just four playoff games for the Celtics, averaging 5.5 mop-up minutes during those games.

With Utah fully in developmental mode, Springer will now get an extended opportunity to make a real roster impact at last.

Using our roster counts tracker, let’s check in on which teams have openings and which are most likely to fill them in the short term.

Teams with multiple open spots on their standard 15-man rosters:

• New Orleans Pelicans
• Sacramento Kings

The Pelicans and Kings are both currently carrying 13 players on standard contracts, which teams are permitted to do for up to 14 days at a time or 28 days in total during a season.

New Orleans dipped down to 13 players last Thursday by buying out Javonte Green, which means the club will have until next Thursday (March 6) to get back to 14 players. Two-way player Brandon Boston is considered a strong candidate for a promotion, though he’s still eight games away from his 50-game limit because he has been out since February 8 with a sprained ankle.

Sacramento, meanwhile, dropped to 13 players when Daishen Nix‘s 10-day contract expired last Monday night. The Kings need to re-add a 14th man by next Tuesday (March 4) in order to adhere to the NBA’s roster rules.

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

• Atlanta Hawks
• Boston Celtics
• Golden State Warriors
  • Note: Two of the Warriors’ 14 players are on 10-day contracts.
• Indiana Pacers
• Milwaukee Bucks
• Minnesota Timberwolves
• New York Knicks

The Celtics, Bucks, Timberwolves, and Knicks are all deep into luxury tax territory and may not be in any rush to add a 15th man, since that player would cost exponentially more once tax penalties are taken into account. New York is currently restricted by a hard cap but could sign a player as soon as February 28.

The Hawks and Pacers have enough breathing room below the tax not to worry about surpassing that line, so they may look to add someone sooner rather than later, perhaps on a 10-day contract.

The Warriors, meanwhile, will dip back to 12 players once the 10-day contracts for Kevin Knox and Yuri Collins expire this Friday night. Golden State has some hard-cap issues to navigate for the rest of the season and might not want to get back to 14 players right away.

Teams with full standard 15-man rosters that include one 10-day contract:

• Brooklyn Nets
• Cleveland Cavaliers
• Dallas Mavericks
• Memphis Grizzlies
• San Antonio Spurs
• Toronto Raptors
• Utah Jazz
• Washington Wizards

These teams each have 14 players on standard contracts and one on a 10-day deal. With one exception, they’re all below the tax line and could continue cycling through 10-day signings or add a player on a rest-of-season contract when their current 10-day deals expire.

The one exception is Dallas. The Mavericks are right up against their hard cap, so once Moses Brown‘s 10-day contract ends, they won’t be able to bring in a new 15th man (or bring Brown back) until April 10.

Teams with an open two-way slot:

• Brooklyn Nets
• Golden State Warriors

The Warriors will reportedly fill their open two-way slot with Australian guard Taran Armstrong, so the Nets are really the only team with a two-way spot available, having promoted Tyrese Martin to a standard contract last Thursday.

It’s a pretty safe bet Brooklyn will fill that opening at some point before March 4, which is the deadline for two-way signings. You can also count on several other teams promoting, waiving, and signing two-way players before that deadline.

Also appearing for the first time in a Jazz uniform was KJ Martin, who went from Philadelphia to Utah in the five-team trade that sent Jimmy Butler to Golden State. Martin, who played 15:40 and scored two points, has a non-guaranteed $8MM contract for next season, so he’s auditioning for a future role with the team.

Hardy’s reliance on the two newcomers is an indication of his desire for increased energy on defense, according to Larsen. Hardy told reporters that he expects Springer and Martin “to be good individual defenders, and also sort of model what being a competitive defensive player looks like.” Larsen also notes that small forward Brice Sensabaugh, who’s averaging 8.9 PPG in 44 games, didn’t play at all as Hardy shifts the team’s emphasis to defense.

There’s more from Utah:

• Jazz rookie Cody Williams got to face his older brother, Thunder star Jalen Williams, for the first time ever on Friday night, Larsen adds. Cody, who was sidelined the first two times the teams met this season, said watching the matchup meant a lot to their mother, who attended the game with a large contingent of family members wearing split Jazz/Thunder jerseys. “I could tell she was crying, her eyes were a little red,” he said. “I think they realize the situation and just how blessed we are. It’s just an awesome moment, to have family out here.”
• Keyonte George talked about the need to keep improving in an interview with Cyro Asseo de Choch of HoopsHype. George has evolved into a more confident facilitator during his second NBA season. “When you understand the game, it slows down,” he said. “I’m trying to play with pace, to understand how defenses are going to guard me and some of our actions. And it’s almost like having the answer to the test -– when you prepare the right way and know what teams are going to do, it’s way easier when you’re out there on the floor.”
• Collin Sexton has resumed on-court activities and will be reevaluated early next week, the Jazz announced (via Twitter). Sexton has been out of action since February 3 with a sprained left ankle.

February 19: The Jazz and free agent guard Jaden Springer have reached an agreement on a 10-day contract, agent Chad Speck tells Shams Charania of ESPN (Twitter link).

Springer was drafted 28th overall out of Tennessee by the Sixers in 2021 and spent his first two-and-a-half NBA seasons in Philadelphia before being sent to Boston at the 2024 trade deadline in exchange for a second-round pick.

The 6’4″ guard won a title with the Celtics and was still on their roster to open the 2024/25 season, but was dealt to Houston along with a second-round pick earlier this month in a salary-dump deal. The Rockets subsequently waived him.

Springer never emerged as a consistent, reliable rotation player in either Philadelphia or Boston, having averaged just 2.7 points and 1.3 rebounds in 8.0 minutes per game across 93 total appearances (four starts) for the two teams. Still, he’s just 22 years old and is a talented point-of-attack defender, making him a worthwhile flier for a lottery-bound team like Utah.

The Jazz have been carrying just 14 players on standard contracts since cutting Josh Richardson shortly after this month’s trade deadline, so they won’t need to waive anyone to make room on their roster for Springer.

Springer will earn $124,288 on his 10-day deal, while Utah carries a cap hit of $119,972. Assuming the contract is officially signed on Wednesday or Thursday, it will cover the Jazz’s next five games.

Gilgeous-Alexander has prioritized an exhaustive workout regimen over building out a particularly robust off-court sponsorship portfolio.

“I just live my life,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “I come to work every day. I hoop. I interact with my fans. I love my family, call my friends. I do everything normal people do. I’m nobody special. I’m just like the rest of y’all, for y’all wondering what I’m like.”

The 6’6″ guard has led Oklahoma City to a 44-10 record, tied with Cleveland for the best in the league. Eight games clear of the No. 2-seeded Grizzlies, the Thunder appear poised to secure the No. 1 seed in the West for the second consecutive season.

As the team’s leader, Gilgeous-Alexander has been a huge part of that success. Across 53 games this season, the Kentucky alum is averaging 32.5 points, 6.1 assists and 5.1 rebounds per night.

“Being the face of the league would be special,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “It’s, again, something I can’t control, but it’s something that would be amazing. At the end of it, I can just try to be the best basketball player I can be, the best person I could be, the best role model I could be for all the kids growing up trying to play basketball.”

There’s more out of the Northwest Division:

• Jazz forward Lauri Markkanen has had a down season for Utah, itself en route to its third straight lottery during his tenure with the team. To hear him explain his statistical dip, Markkanen is thinking about the 13-42 Jazz’s future, per Andy Larsen of The Salt Lake Tribune. The Arizona alum is adjusting his shot profile to be ready for more competitive games. “We’ve been working on, like, not getting just wide-open catch shoots all the time,” Markkanen said. “I’m trying to shoot more contested threes. Lightly contested, from behind dribble handoffs, and when they’re lazy switching. Stuff that I haven’t really shot before.” Larsen observes that the numbers bear this out, as Markkanen is attempting one fewer open three-pointer per game this season. Across 41 bouts, the 27-year-old is averaging 19.6 points per game on .432/.353/.869 shooting splits. Markkanen just inked a lucrative four-year contract extension last summer.
• After Alex Rodriguez and Marc Lore won a Timberwolves ownership arbitration ruling Monday against Glen Taylor, Chris Hine and Jeff Day of The Minnesota Star Tribune take stock of what’s next for Minnesota’s evolving ownership situation.
• Timberwolves rookie wing Terrence Shannon Jr. has recently emerged alongside lottery pick Rob Dillingham as a useful bench cog for the West playoff hopefuls, writes Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic. Shannon’s aggressive post play has impressed head coach Chris Finch, although consistent minutes have been tough to come by. “He loves finishing with reckless abandon, and we need that,” Finch said. “It’s a part of the reason we identified him in the draft. We had other guys that maybe were younger guys, but we wanted somebody who was a little bit more physically and mentally ready to play right away.”

Instead of accepting that offer, the Bulls opted to hang onto Ball and agreed to sign him to an extension instead. That two-year deal will reportedly be worth $20MM, with a second-year team option for 2026/27.

While it’s fair to question Chicago’s decision to pass on that reported trade offer, there are several missing details that would provide more context on just how strong the offer was. For instance, we don’t know how many years of salary the Bulls would’ve been required to take on, whether the first-rounder was heavily protected or likely to land in the late-20s, and whether other players or assets would have been included.

Johnson does provide one additional detail, tweeting that at least one of the scenarios he heard about would’ve required the Bulls to sent out a second-round pick along with Ball as part of the deal.

Here are a few more leftovers from last Thursday’s trade deadline:

• Appearing on the local broadcast of Wednesday’s game vs. the Lakers (Twitter video link via Grant Afseth of Dallas Hoops Journal), Jazz general manager Justin Zanik suggested that Los Angeles was fortunate to land superstar guard Luka Doncic in a trade Utah helped facilitate. “(Lakers GM) Rob Pelinka even said it in his press conference introducing Luka, that it was a gift,” Zanik said. “I think that’s how a lot of my colleagues – I don’t want to speak for them – but how we all kind of felt.”
• Zanik went on to say that he respects the Mavericks‘ front office and noted that Dallas received a “top-15 player” in his own right in Anthony Davis. He also expressed a belief that if the Jazz hadn’t been willing to serve as a facilitator, another team would have stepped in and snatched up the two second-round picks that went to Utah for taking on Jalen Hood-Schifino‘s contract. “If we were in the playoffs right now, I’d be asking both (teams), ‘What is going on?’ and ‘I’m not doing it,'” the Jazz GM said. “But where we are, the ability to pick up stuff basically for free, to do something another team would have done anyway (made sense).”
• A panel of ESPN’s NBA reporters (Insider link), including Jeremy Woo, Bobby Marks, and Michael C. Wright, break down how seven lottery-bound teams’ moves at the trade deadline affect their outlook going forward. Addressing the Hornets‘ post-deadline plans, Marks notes that general manager Jeff Peterson will have to decide whether LaMelo Ball is still a foundational piece in Charlotte. As good as Ball has been when healthy, he has been limited to 91 total games since the start of the 2022/23 season and his impressive scoring numbers haven’t necessarily translated to wins.
• Only five teams – the Trail Blazers, Magic, Nets, Nuggets, and Timberwolves – sat out the trade deadline entirely, not making any moves in the week leading up to the afternoon of February 6. Michael Pina of The Ringer takes a closer look at why those teams opted to stand pat and delivers a one-word verdict on each club’s inactivity, including “bizarre” for Portland and “commendable” for Orlando.

For clubs with just a single standard or two-way opening, there’s not necessarily any urgency to fill those spots, especially ahead of the All-Star break. But the clock is ticking for teams who have two or more openings on their standard rosters to make a move, since clubs are only permitted to carry fewer than 14 players on standard contracts for up to two weeks at a time.

With the help of our roster count tracker, here’s where things stand for all 30 teams around the NBA as of Monday morning. As a reminder, teams are typically permitted to carry up to 15 players on standard contracts and three on two-way deals.

(Note: Teams marked with an asterisk have a player on a 10-day contract.)

Teams with multiple open roster spots

• Cleveland Cavaliers
• Golden State Warriors
• Philadelphia 76ers *
• Sacramento Kings *

The Cavaliers dipped to 13 players on standard contracts as a result of Thursday’s De’Andre Hunter trade, so their situation is fairly straightforward — they’ll have to re-add a 14th man by February 20.

The Warriors‘ four-for-one Jimmy Butler trade dropped them to just 11 players. They quickly got back to 12 by promoting Quinten Post from his two-way contract to a standard roster spot and now have three openings on their standard roster, along with one open two-way slot.

Golden State doesn’t have to fill all those openings, but the team does have to get back to at least 14 players on standard contracts by Feb. 20. Assuming Post got a prorated rookie minimum salary on his new deal, the Warriors – by my count – have $1,372,306 in breathing room below their first-apron hard cap.

If the Warriors were to sign a pair of veterans to rest-of-season minimum deals on Feb. 20, they would each count for $635,853 against the cap, leaving the team with $100,600 in breathing room below the hard cap. It’s possible Golden State will go that route. It’s also possible the club will sign a couple players to 10-day contracts, then go another 14 days in March with just 12 players under contract in order to create a bit of extra wiggle room below that hard cap. That would allow the Warriors to sign a 15th man a little earlier in the second half.

The Sixers briefly dropped to 12 players on standard contracts at the trade deadline, but they’re back to 14 now, having promoted Justin Edwards to a standard contract and given Chuma Okeke a 10-day deal. They’re expected to sign David Roddy to a 10-day contract too, which will give them a full standard roster.

For now then, no roster moves are necessary in Philadelphia, but the team does have a two-way slot open and could drop back to 13 players on standard deals after Okeke’s and Roddy’s 10-day contracts expire, which would necessitate a least one addition within 14 days.

The Kings are currently carrying 12 players on full-season standard contracts, with Daishen Nix on a 10-day deal. They’ll have to get back to 14 players by Feb. 20.

Teams with one open roster spot

• Atlanta Hawks
• Boston Celtics
• Brooklyn Nets
• Charlotte Hornets *
• Dallas Mavericks
• Indiana Pacers
• Los Angeles Clippers
• Milwaukee Bucks
• Minnesota Timberwolves
• New Orleans Pelicans
• New York Knicks
• Toronto Raptors
• Utah Jazz

The Hawks, Celtics, Nets, Mavericks, Bucks, Timberwolves, Pelicans, Knicks, Raptors, and Jazz are all carrying 14 players on full-season standard contracts and three on two-way deals, with no reported signings pending. They’re each free to carry that open roster spot for as long as they want to, though some figure to fill it sooner rather than later.

Two teams that can’t fill their openings sooner rather than later are Dallas and New York. The Knicks are just $540,126 below their second-apron hard cap, while the Mavericks have a mere $171,120 to operate below their first-apron hard cap. Based on my math, New York would be able to sign a veteran free agent as a 15th man as of February 28 (that date moved up a day as a result of the Knicks trimming $4,825 from their cap in the Delon Wright/Jericho Sims swap), while Dallas will have to wait until March 31.

The Hornets are in this group because they have a two-way slot open, but their standard roster is full for now. In fact, it’s more than full — as a result of having been granted a hardship exception, they’re temporarily carrying 16 players instead of the usual maximum of 15. Elfrid Payton, on a 10-day deal, is the 16th man.

The Pacers and Clippers, meanwhile, each technically have an open roster spot for now, but they reportedly have deals in place with prospective 15th men. Indiana will sign center Alex Len once he clears waivers, while L.A. will add three-time All-Star Ben Simmons. Both players are on track to clear waivers on Monday.

Teams with no open roster spots

• Chicago Bulls
• Denver Nuggets
• Detroit Pistons
• Houston Rockets
• Los Angeles Lakers
• Memphis Grizzlies
• Miami Heat
• Oklahoma City Thunder
• Orlando Magic
• Phoenix Suns
• Portland Trail Blazers
• San Antonio Spurs *
• Washington Wizards *

The Bulls, Nuggets, Pistons, Rockets, Lakers, Grizzlies, Heat, Thunder, Magic, Suns, and Trail Blazers are all carrying 15 players on standard contracts and three on two-way deals. If they want to make a free agent addition during the season’s final two months, they’ll have to cut a player to do so.

That won’t necessarily be the case for the Spurs and Wizards though. Both clubs have just 14 players on full-season standard contracts, with one on a 10-day deal — Bismack Biyombo for San Antonio and Jaylen Nowell for Washington. Once those contracts expire, the Spurs and Wizards could open up a roster spot if they opt not to retain Biyombo and Nowell, respectively.

The move had been anticipated for several days, with reporting on Thursday indicating that Utah intended to part ways with Richardson after acquiring him from Miami as part of the five-time Jimmy Butler trade.

Richardson has had a productive NBA career as a role player in Miami, Philadelphia, Dallas, Boston, San Antonio, and New Orleans over the past 10 seasons, but has been plagued by a heel issue for much of 2024/25 and was limited to just eight appearances for the Heat.

Last season, in 43 games, Richardson averaged 9.9 points, 2.8 rebounds, and 2.4 assists in 25.7 minutes per night, with a .444/.347/.944 shooting line.

If he’s healthy, the 31-year-old could draw interest from playoff teams with open roster spots during the second half of the season. He’ll be eligible to sign with any team except the Heat.

Unless he’s claimed on waivers, which is unlikely, the Jazz will carry a $3,051,153 dead money cap hit after cutting Richardson. The move opens up a spot on Utah’s 15-man roster, which seems likely to be used to either promote a two-way player or to audition players on 10-day contracts.