Nearly one hundred players who signed new contracts this past offseason will become trade-eligible on Friday, and while that doesn’t mean we’ll immediately see NBA teams make a flurry of trades, it does mean that clubs figure to start looking a little more seriously at making moves.
Up until this point in the 2017/18 season, roster moves have been few and far between. Outside of a pair of trades involved disgruntled players (Eric Bledsoe and Jahlil Okafor), there have only been a handful of signings and cuts, as teams have been mostly content to assess their rosters to determine what they have.
With the regular season’s two-month mark approaching, however, there will likely be a few more transactions completed in the coming weeks — and especially in the new year. In addition to having more of their players become trade-eligible, teams will also be able to start signing players to 10-day contracts early in January. Those 10-day deals are useful tools for teams that want to take a look at players without committing a roster spot and a salary to them for the entire season.
With roster activity expected to pick up in the near future, it’s worth taking a look at which teams have the flexibility to sign a player or to take on an extra player in a two-for-one trade without waiving anyone.
With the help of our roster counts page, here are the teams that currently have an opening on their respective 15-man NBA rosters:
- Atlanta Hawks
- Boston Celtics
- Charlotte Hornets
- Detroit Pistons
- Houston Rockets
- Indiana Pacers
- Los Angeles Clippers
- Minnesota Timberwolves
- Note: The Timberwolves are also the only team with an open two-way contract slot.
- Oklahoma City Thunder
- Philadelphia 76ers
- Portland Trail Blazers
- Toronto Raptors
- Washington Wizards
While all of the teams listed above have a single open roster spot, some of those clubs have the flexibility to easily create another opening without waiving a player on a guaranteed contract. For instance, one of the Raptors’ 14 players on NBA contracts is little-used rookie forward Alfonzo McKinnie, who has only played 25 minutes for the team all season. McKinnie’s salary is non-guaranteed, so if Toronto wanted to create an extra roster spot, the team could waive McKinnie without taking on much dead money.
Along those lines, the following teams currently have full 15-man rosters, but are carrying at least one player on a non-guaranteed salary:
- Brooklyn Nets (Spencer Dinwiddie)
- Chicago Bulls (Kay Felder, David Nwaba)
- Dallas Mavericks (Dorian Finney-Smith, Devin Harris, Jeff Withey)
- Los Angeles Lakers (Andrew Bogut)
- Milwaukee Bucks (DeAndre Liggins)
- New York Knicks (Jarrett Jack)
- Orlando Magic (Khem Birch)
- San Antonio Spurs (Bryn Forbes)
- Utah Jazz (Raul Neto)
Most of the unguaranteed players are likely pretty secure. Neto, Harris, Liggins & Jack are reasonably important to their teams, and Dinwiddie & Nwaba are good anywhere. It would be a shame if Liggins has to move again!