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Checking In On NBA’s Open Roster Spots

March 10th, 2022 at 8:00am CST by Luke Adams

Several of the NBA teams that had open roster spots following the trade deadline have since filled them, either with free agent signings, such as DeMarcus Cousins (Nuggets) and DeAndre Jordan (Sixers), or with promoted two-way players, like Caleb Martin (Heat) and Daishen Nix (Rockets).

However, there are still a number of clubs around the league with openings available, either on their standard 15-man roster or among their two-way contract slots.

Here, with the help of our roster counts page, is a look at the teams that have open roster spots as of March 10:

Teams with open 15-man roster spots:

Atlanta Hawks
Boston Celtics (2) *
Charlotte Hornets *
Cleveland Cavaliers *
Detroit Pistons
Indiana Pacers
Milwaukee Bucks
Minnesota Timberwolves
New Orleans Pelicans *
Orlando Magic
Toronto Raptors *
Utah Jazz

* The teams marked with an asterisk each technically have full rosters as of today, but are carrying at least one player on a 10-day contract. We’re considering those roster spots “open” because those 10-day deals will soon expire.

Despite a series of signings since last month’s trade deadline, there are still 12 NBA teams that aren’t carrying 15 players on full-season standard contracts. However, four of those clubs have filled their open roster spot(s) with 10-day signings, and a fifth will join that group when the Cavaliers complete their reported 10-day deal with Moses Brown.

The Celtics are one team to watch here. When the second 10-day contracts for Malik Fitts and Kelan Martin expire next Monday night, Boston will either have to sign at least one of them to a rest-of-season contract or add another player within the next two weeks in order to get back to the league-mandated minimum of 14 players on standard deals.

Teams with open two-way spots:

Houston Rockets
Phoenix Suns
Sacramento Kings

Following the trade deadline, five teams had open two-way contract slots. Four of those teams have since filled them — the Suns are the only holdout, having not carried a second two-way player since they released Chandler Hutchison in early January.

The Rockets have had an open two-way slot since they promoted Nix to the 15-man roster nearly a month ago, while the Kings‘ opening has existed since they waived Louis King on February 17.

Jazz Notes: Wade, Gobert, Mitchell, Butler

March 8th, 2022 at 7:37am CST by Luke Adams

As a part of the Jazz‘s ownership group, Dwyane Wade views it as one of his responsibilities to improve the experience for players and to narrow the “disconnect” between the people in the locker room and the people running the team, Mike Vorkunov of The Athletic writes.

Wade acknowledged that his input into basketball operations decisions is fairly limited for the time being, but he hopes to eventually take on a larger role as he gets more comfortable in his position in the front office.

“My name is probably bigger than the piece I have,” Wade told The Athletic. “As I’m trying to learn this space, I’ll hopefully one day be more involved. But right now I’m sitting back and I’m learning from (general manager) Justin Zanik, I’m learning from (CEO) Danny Ainge, and (team owner) Ryan (Smith) is as well.

“I don’t want that responsibility of trading a guy or signing a guy. That’s not my role. I don’t want anybody thinking that’s my role. My role is to give my perspective if asked. If I feel like, ‘Hey, what are we doing on this and that, these are the players that I see, that I like.’ And things about these players. Just conversations that anybody would have. But I don’t make the decisions. I’m not the decision-maker.”

Here’s more on the Jazz:

All-Star center Rudy Gobert thought the referees in Monday’s game in Dallas let the Mavericks‘ bench get away with comments that crossed a line, as Sarah Todd of The Deseret News relays. “There were a lot of things being said that wouldn’t be said outside of a basketball court,” Gobert said. “A lot of things that I would never say. I’m not perfect but I don’t say things to guys on the court that I wouldn’t say to their face outside the locker room.” The Jazz and Mavs will play again in Dallas later this month, and could face each other in the postseason — they currently hold the fourth and fifth spots in the West.
Tony Jones of The Athletic, in considering the Jazz’s long-term future, envisions the team eventually moving Donovan Mitchell to the point guard role on a full-time basis. If and when Mitchell assumes that role, Utah would probably want to complement him with a secondary creator and with a couple long, athletic wings who can shoot, Jones suggests. Mike Conley, the team’s current point guard, is under contract for two more seasons beyond this one, though his 2023/24 salary isn’t fully guaranteed.
A Louisiana native, Jazz rookie Jared Butler got his first opportunity to play an NBA game in New Orleans last Friday night, logging seven minutes of mop-up time in Utah’s blowout loss to the Pelicans. Speaking to local media, Butler discussed the challenges he has faced this season during a transition period. “This year has been interesting, because it’s brand-new for me,” Butler said, per Rod Walker of NOLA.com. “The coolest thing is I get to learn right now. That’s been a change of pace for me going from playing 30 minutes a night in college to just sitting and learning. So that’s been an adjustment. But there’s also just been the adjustment to the NBA lifestyle.”

Jazz Could Face Offseason Of Change

March 6th, 2022 at 9:57pm CST by JD Shaw

The Jazz could be facing an offseason of massive change if they don’t make a deep postseason run, ESPN’s Tim McMahon suggested on The Lowe Post. Utah has had an inconsistent season — the team is 8-2 in its last 10 games but lost by 34 on Friday against New Orleans — and could break up the Donovan Mitchell–Rudy Gobert partnership if it doesn’t succeed this year.

Danuel House Receives Support From Former Coach

March 5th, 2022 at 4:04pm CST by JD Shaw

Rockets coach Stephen Silas expressed support for Jazz forward Danuel House, who played for Houston from 2018-21, Eric Walden of the Salt Lake City Tribune tweets. House signed three 10-day contracts with Utah before earning a standard deal. “I’m happy for him and proud of him because he’s a contributor for a winning team,” Silas said. “I love him. It wasn’t anything he did wrong (here). I’m happy he landed on his feet.”

Projected NBA Taxpayers For 2021/22

March 4th, 2022 at 9:27am CST by Luke Adams

The 2021/22 NBA season will be a record-setting one for luxury tax payments.

According to data from Albert Nahmad of HeatHoops.com and Yossi Gozlan of HoopsHype, the league’s previous single-year record for total luxury tax payments was $173.3MM, back in 2002/03.

This season, the Warriors‘ tax penalties alone will nearly match that league-wide record. And they’ll be joined by six other projected taxpayers whose combined end-of-season bills would eclipse the previous record even without Golden State’s help.

In the space below, we’ve done our best to ballpark the current tax bill for each of this season’s seven projected taxpayers. These numbers may end up looking slightly different after the season, since it can be tricky to pin down the precise amount of a tax bill during the season.

Earned and unearned incentives in certain players’ contracts can affect eventual tax payments, and not all of the criteria for those incentives are public. Even the incentives that are known may not have been decided yet — for instance, Nets guard Kyrie Irving will earn a $137,500 bonus if he makes at least 88.5% of his free throws this season. He’s currently at 91.9%, but has only had 62 attempts, so it remains possible his free throw rate will dip below 88.5%, costing him that bonus and reducing Brooklyn’s tax bill.

Additionally, even after the trade deadline, a team’s tax bill remains fluid due to possible forthcoming roster moves, suspensions, and a handful of other factors. The Sixers‘ projected tax bill just increased last night when they officially signed DeAndre Jordan to a rest-of-season contract.

With all that in mind, here are the current projected penalties for this season’s probable taxpayers, based on our math, along with salary data from Spotrac and Basketball Insiders:

Golden State Warriors: $170.3MM
Brooklyn Nets: $97.0MM
Los Angeles Clippers: $82.5MM
Milwaukee Bucks: $56.5MM
Los Angeles Lakers: $45.0MM
Utah Jazz: $18.8MM
Philadelphia 76ers: $13.9MM

In total, these seven teams project to owe a staggering $484MM in luxury tax payments.

Half of that total will be dispersed to the league’s non-taxpayers, which means that 23 teams should be in line to split a pot of about $242MM. That would work out to a payment of approximately $10.5MM for each of those 23 non-taxpayers.

These numbers make it more obvious why a team like the Celtics made a concerted effort to get out of luxury tax territory at the trade deadline. A tax bill of $2MM or so wouldn’t break the bank for Boston’s ownership group, but the C’s generated more than just $2MM in savings by ducking below the tax line — they’re now in line to be one of those 23 teams that receives a $10MM+ windfall.

It’s worth noting too that the Warriors are the only one of these seven projected taxpayers who will be subjected to “repeater” penalties this season, so it’s not as if those more punitive repeater penalties are fueling this year’s record-setting totals. Even without the repeater penalties, the Dubs would still owe approximately $131.1MM in taxes.

And-Ones: Brown, Brogdon, Biyombo, Udoka, Snyder, Russia, Smith

March 3rd, 2022 at 11:00pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Jaylen Brown, Malcolm Brogdon and Bismack Biyombo have been re-elected as VPs on the National Basketball Players Association’s Executive Committee, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski tweets. They’ll serve new three-year terms, according to the players’ union.

We have more from around the basketball world:

The Celtics’ Ime Udoka and Jazz‘s Quin Snyder were named Coaches of the Month for February, NBA Communications tweets. Boston had a 9-2 record during the month, while Utah went 8-1.
In the aftermath of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the NBA has suspended all activities in Russia, Mark J. Burns of the Sports Business Journal tweets. According to Burns’ source, that includes activities related to content distribution such as digital and broadcast. There is no timeline on when business activities will resume in Russia.
Forward Roscoe Smith, who has appeared in 149 G League games, has signed in Palestine with Orthodoxi Beit Jala, agent Derek James of Global Pipeline Agency told JD Shaw of Hoops Rumors (Twitter link).

Western Notes: Gobert, Jazz, Edwards, Wolves, Williamson

February 27th, 2022 at 10:01pm CST by JD Shaw

Jazz center Rudy Gobert continues to dominate this season despite facing criticism, as relayed by NBA.com. Gobert, one of the league’s top rim-protectors, is averaging 15.6 points and 14.8 rebounds per game on a career-best 72% shooting.

“I’m just gonna keep trying to be the best Rudy I can be, on and off the court. … And for my team,” Gobert said. “The more these people try to discredit what I do or what my team does, it just means we’re doing something right.”

Gobert is also averaging 2.3 blocks per game, making it eighth straight seasons of averaging over two blocks. His impressive two-way play is a key reason why Utah ranks fourth in the West at 38-22.

Here are some other notes from the Western Conference:

The Jazz are bouncing back after dealing with a difficult January, as relayed in a separate NBA.com story. Utah is 8-1 this month, which includes a 118-114 road victory over the Suns on Sunday. The team owns the sixth-best record in the league.
The Timberwolves have to find a way to improve their offense, Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic writes. One of the team’s recent problems has been Anthony Edwards, who’s currently in a slump. Minnesota has scored 102, 119 and 91 points in its last three games. “We’ve kind of regressed with that first unit, and we just have to get back to playing through our early concepts,” head coach Chris Finch said. “That’s what we’ve gone away from.”
Christian Clark, Scott Kushner and Rod Walker of NOLA.com debate whether Pelicans star Zion Williamson will play another game with the organization. Williamson hasn’t played this season (foot surgery rehab) and remains away from the team. He could undergo a second procedure at some point, as we previously relayed.

Knicks Notes: Barrett, Randle, Mitchell, Grimes, Walker

February 26th, 2022 at 5:16pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Knicks are expected to pursue a roster shakeup this summer, but the Heat’s Jimmy Butler believes there’s already a future star to build around, writes Stefan Bondy of The New York Daily News. RJ Barrett impressed Butler and his Miami teammates with a 46-point outburst Friday night.

“He had a helluva game, an all-around game at that,” Butler said. “We all know he’s capable of that. I don’t think anybody is surprised or should be surprised. He’s definitely going to be playing in this league for a long time and he’s going to be the face of the Knicks.”

Barrett is averaging a career-high 18.6 points per game in his third NBA season, but Bondy points out that he’s still a streaky shooter and has trouble beating defenders off the dribble. The question for the Knicks, Bondy adds, is what to do about Julius Randle, who needs to handle the ball often to be effective and isn’t an ideal complement to Barrett. Bondy notes that Randle and Barrett have only reached 20 points in the same game seven times all season.

There’s more from New York:

Executive vice president William Wesley has been lobbying owner James Dolan with a plan to acquire a star and is focused on Jazz guard Donovan Mitchell, a source tells Steve Popper of Newsday. There are some New York connections for Mitchell, who is a former client of team president Leon Rose and worked closely with associate head coach Johnnie Bryant when he was in Utah. Popper points out that Mitchell will make $30.4MM next season and won’t hit the open market until 2025 at the earliest, and any deal the Knicks could offer would have to include almost every asset at their disposal.
Rookie guard Quentin Grimes, who suffered a subluxation of his right patella in Friday’s game, will be re-evaluated in two weeks, the Knicks announced (via Twitter). Grimes was at the team facility today and was “walking around pretty well,” tweets Ian Begley of SNY TV, who adds that Grimes’ response to physical therapy will determine how much time he has to miss. Surgery won’t be necessary, a source in Grimes’ camp tells Ashley Nicole Moss of Sports Illustrated (Twitter link), and he will likely be sidelined two to three weeks because of slight ligament bruising.
The medical procedure that Derrick Rose underwent on his left ankle Friday won’t affect Kemba Walker‘s decision to sit out the rest of the season, per Marc Berman of The New York Post. Walker made the decision in the belief that he wouldn’t have a spot in the rotation once Rose returned, but a source told Berman that he’s unlikely to change his mind and coach Tom Thibodeau also dismissed the possibility.

Danuel House Wants To Make Good On Utah's Investment In Him

February 26th, 2022 at 2:00pm CST by Luke Adams

Having been signed for the rest of the season following a series of 10-day deals, Danuel House is looking to repay the Jazz‘s investment in him with his play on the court, writes Eric Walden of The Salt Lake Tribune. “This is a good organization. And they believe so much in me, they’re pouring into me,” House said. “So my job is, if they’re pouring into me, to make sure that when the water hits the glass, make sure it’s purified enough for us to drink.”

Northwest Notes: Jazz, Finch, Wolves, Masks, Simons, Watford

February 24th, 2022 at 3:04pm CST by Rory Maher

Rudy Gobert still believes in Utah’s title chances this season, even if most of the league has counted the Jazz out, as Sarah Todd of the Deseret News relays.

“It’s about embracing the wins and the losses, and I believe in our group,” Gobert said. “I really believe that we can accomplish our goal. … Everything that we’ve been through only helped us grow and have prepared us even for that moment when it comes. I’m excited for the second part of the season and I know that we’re going to be ready to make a push.”

Todd points out that the Jazz have struggled against top-tier teams this season, blowing multiple big leads, and if they truly want to compete for a championship, they can’t afford those types of mental lapses.

“We’ve got to learn quickly,” coach Quin Snyder said. “Start developing the ability to push the lead as opposed to essentially giving it back.”

The Jazz don’t have the luxury of an “on-off” switch, they need to be “on” all the time in order to prepare for a postseason push, and Todd believes that level of consistency has been lacking this season.

Here’s more from the Northwest:

Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic recently wrote a story about coach Chris Finch‘s eventful first year with the Timberwolves. “He is very direct when he talks to us, to the players,” offensive coordinator Pablo Prigioni said. “He’s honest. He don’t tell the guys what they want to hear, he tells them the truth. He’s not a big talker. But when he talks, he goes to the point. I think the players appreciate that.” After taking over mid-season in 2020/21, Finch has helped lead the Wolves to a 31-28 record this season, seventh in the West.
The city of Minneapolis lifted its mask mandate Thursday morning, and the Timberwolves have followed suit. Fans will no longer be required to wear masks inside Target Center arena, the team announced.
Trail Blazers rising star Anfernee Simons discussed his situation in Portland with Shams Charania of The Athletic (video link). Simons says the Most Improved Player and Sixth Man of the Year Awards were both goals for him entering this season. “At first, I didn’t know if I was gonna get Most Improved because I wasn’t playing as much, that’s why I keyed in on Sixth Man, but now I’m starting to get a lot of minutes so that’s why I’m keying in on Most Improved. It’s been great how everything’s been working out,” Simons said.
Keith Smith of Spotrac (Twitter link) provides details on Trendon Watford‘s new standard contract with the Trail Blazers. Watford was promoted from a two-way deal. Portland used part of its remaining mid-level exception to sign Watford to a four-year deal. He’ll earn $436,482 for the remainder of this season and a guaranteed $1,563,518 next season. The final two seasons, in 2023/24 and ’24/25, are both non-guaranteed, with the Blazers holding a club option in the last season.