We’ve been keeping track of the number of players each team has on its roster all season long, and we’ve featured teams with open roster spots at key junctures, doing so at the start of the season and before the trade deadline. With the end of the regular season less than a week away and the playoffs about to start for 16 teams, we’ll follow up with another look at clubs that have the most flexibility to make a signing.
A team with a full 15-man roster can still make a move, of course, but unless one of their players is on a 10-day contract that’s about to run out, it would entail waiving a fully guaranteed contract. There’s little consequence in waiving a guaranteed contract that runs only through 2013/14 at this point, since this season is almost over, but chances are that the players who are on rosters now will continue to be there.
Only three teams ended up without 15 players on their rosters at the end of last season, and none of them were playoff teams, so there’s a fair chance that the clubs below will be making additions in the next few days. Here’s the list of teams with fewer than 15 players:
- Bobcats
- Bulls — Chicago’s agreements with Mike James and Lou Amundson will take it to the 15-man limit once the signings become official.
- Clippers
- Kings — Sacramento plans to sign Jared Cunningham for the rest of the season.
- Knicks
- Magic — Orlando has two open roster spots.
The following teams have 10-day contracts that are set to expire before the end of the season, creating an open roster spot:
- 76ers — Philadelphia has two 10-day contracts, though their 10-day deal with Adonis Thomas runs through the final day of the regular season.
- Spurs
- Bucks