As usual, the 2018 NBA offseason featured plenty of player movement, with new rookies entering the league, free agents changing teams, and a total of 31 trades being completed between the end of the 2017/18 season and 2018/19’s opening night.
Some teams were more involved in that summer carousel than others. The Hawks, for instance, will enter the season carrying only seven players who finished last season with the team. The Suns will also bring back just seven players from last year’s squad, and that number figures to drop to six once the team completes its reported signing of Jamal Crawford, assuming Davon Reed is the odd man out.
Because teams are permitted to carry 15 players on standard contracts and two more on two-way deals, the maximum number of players a club could have brought back was 17. No team got that high, but the Heat and Jazz are each bringing back 14 players from last year’s rosters. Impressively, all 14 players on Miami’s standard roster are returning players — only the club’s two-way players are new.
[RELATED: 2018/19 NBA Roster Counts]
While many teams turned over their two-way contract slots entirely, several clubs are bringing back those players, either keeping them on two-way deals or promoting them to their active rosters. The Nuggets, Bulls, Pacers, and Lakers are among the teams who retained both of their two-way players from last season.
[RELATED: 2018/19 NBA Two-Way Contract Tracker]
Listed below are the number of returning players for each of the NBA’s 30 teams, from most to fewest. Bringing back a significant number of players doesn’t necessarily lead to regular season success, but it wouldn’t be a surprise to see a few of the teams near the top of this list enjoy fast starts due to their players’ familiarity with each other, while teams near the bottom of the list may take some time to get used to their changes.
Here’s the returning-player count for each team:
- Miami Heat: 14
- Utah Jazz: 14
- Boston Celtics: 13
- Chicago Bulls: 12
- Denver Nuggets: 12
- New York Knicks: 12
- Cleveland Cavaliers: 11
- Indiana Pacers: 11
- Philadelphia 76ers: 11
- Portland Trail Blazers: 11
- Sacramento Kings: 11
- Toronto Raptors: 11
- Charlotte Hornets: 10
- Detroit Pistons: 10
- Golden State Warriors: 10
- Note: Patrick McCaw remains a restricted free agent. The Warriors’ returning player count could increase to 11 if he re-signs.
- Los Angeles Clippers: 10
- Milwaukee Bucks: 10
- Dallas Mavericks: 9
- Memphis Grizzlies: 9
- Minnesota Timberwolves: 9
- New Orleans Pelicans: 9
- Oklahoma City Thunder: 9
- Orlando Magic: 9
- Washington Wizards: 9
- Brooklyn Nets: 8
- Houston Rockets: 8
- Los Angeles Lakers: 8
- San Antonio Spurs: 8
- Atlanta Hawks: 7
- Phoenix Suns: 7
Wow, when did you ever expect to see the Spurs at the bottom of a list like this!
Yeah, that was certainly my biggest takeaway from this list. I mean, a team can only stay on top for so long, and there’s bound to be some level of roster turnover, when you’ve been a top-tier team for as long as I can remember..lol
I knew they had quite a bit of turnover, and they also lost franchise icons in Parker, Kawhi, and Ginobli..Green was jettisoned to Canada, and Anderson was lost in free agency..So, that’s 5 major role/star players right there, that they had to replace..I guess, I just didn’t realize they also lost four other players, when you consider the number 17 with the two, two-way contracts..
When was the last time the Spurs brought in more players than they’re returning!?! (8 returning, 9 lost) I have to imagine it’s been a LONG, LONG time!!
People will still call them old, by force of habit, like they have for 15 years or so.
Also, on the other hand, when it comes to several of the teams, this list is a bit misleading.
Teams generally carry 14-15 players, but out of those 14-15 players a team typically will only really count on 8-9 of those players to run and handle their system…
So, while a team may only be returning 9-10 players, those 9-10 very well could be their main rotation players from last year, and with the remaining 8-9 new players, 2 will not be on the roster the full season, and 3-4 of those players may rarely ever even get into most games, whole really it’s only 2-3 new players that the team has to incorporate into its system..
Not to mention, some of the two-way players that were kept over, or some of the players that were injured for the majority of last year, their teams are still going to have to work on team chemistry from a lack of on-court time, etc.
So, truthfully, without taking into consideration, number of new starters and new role players, or even breaking down the list by minutes played returning and lost, this list really doesn’t mean all that much…However, regardless, it is still pretty interesting just to look at which teams were most active trying to bring in some fresh faces..
My mistake for several auto-correct errors…It should be “with the remaining 7-8.” And not even trying to just correct the rest..lol..
This site, desperately needs an edit comment option, or like mlbtr, at least give you a couple minutes to make any changes you didn’t notice your phone making for you..lol
The way you speak gives off the vibe that you’ll never be wrong… it’s kinda offsetting