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Update On Open NBA Roster Spots

February 28th, 2018 at 12:03pm CST by Luke Adams

Earlier this month, we identified the NBA teams with open roster spots. Since then, clubs have completed a flurry of 10-day signings, and a couple players have even received rest-of-season deals.

However, there are still plenty of teams around the league with openings on their respective rosters, which could come in handy with Thursday’s de facto buyout deadline around the corner. Once March 1 comes and goes, teams will have a better idea of which players will or won’t have postseason eligibility the rest of the way, creating a clearer picture for how to fill those open roster spots.

In the space below, we’ll take a closer look at teams with an open roster spot, breaking them down into three categories. Each of the clubs in the first group actually has a full 15-man roster right now, but in each instance, one of those 15 players is only a 10-day contract. With those contracts set to expire soon, it’d be very easy and inexpensive for these teams to create an opening if they need to.

Teams with full 15-man rosters who are carrying at least one player on a 10-day contract (10-day player noted in parentheses):

Dallas Mavericks (Scotty Hopson)
Indiana Pacers (Trey McKinney-Jones)
New Orleans Pelicans (Walter Lemon Jr.)
New York Knicks (Troy Williams)
Orlando Magic (Rashad Vaughn)
Phoenix Suns (Shaquille Harrison)
Utah Jazz (Naz Mitrou-Long)

The next list of teams includes the clubs with one open spot on their roster and no players on 10-day contracts. These clubs each have 14 players on standard, full-season NBA deals, leaving one spot open for either a 10-day player or a rest-of-season signing.

Teams with one open roster spot:

Charlotte Hornets
Chicago Bulls
Los Angeles Clippers
Los Angeles Lakers
- Note: The Lakers will create a second opening when they officially waive Corey Brewer.
Memphis Grizzlies
Minnesota Timberwolves
Oklahoma City Thunder
Sacramento Kings
Toronto Raptors

Finally, the last group of teams features four clubs that have been grouped together before. These four teams saw their roster counts slip to 13 players around the time of the trade deadline, and each had to add a player to get back up to the NBA-mandated minimum of 14. To reach that minimum, each team signed a player to a 10-day contract. That means these four franchises still only have 12 or 13 players on full-season contracts, with at least one player on a 10-day deal.

Teams with one open roster spot, plus at least one player on a 10-day contract:

Atlanta Hawks
- Note: 12 full-season contracts, plus Antonius Cleveland and Jaylen Morris on 10-day contracts
Cleveland Cavaliers
- Note: 13 full-season contracts, plus Marcus Thornton on 10-day contract.
Portland Trail Blazers
- Note: 13 full-season contracts, plus Brandon Rush on 10-day contract.
Washington Wizards
- Note: 13 full-season contracts, plus Ramon Sessions on 10-day contract.

For roster-count details on all 30 teams, be sure to check out our roster count page, which we updated daily throughout the 2017/18 season.

Note: Roster info current as of Wednesday, February 28 at 12:00pm CT.

Satoransky Happy To See Help On Way For Wizards

February 24th, 2018 at 9:40am CST by marksuleymanov

Howard drew his 12th technical foul of the season in Friday’s road contest against the Wizards, Bonnell writes in a separate story. The center has a history of racking up technical fouls; he is now four away from an automatic suspension.
Tomas Satoransky has played well for the Wizards as the team has struggled with injuries and lack of depth at the point guard position. Candance Buckner of the Washington Post writes that Satoransky and the team are both happy to see reinforcements on the way — including Ramon Sessions, who signed a 10-day deal — to aid the team in the postseason chase.

Wizards Sign Ramon Sessions To 10-Day Deal

February 23rd, 2018 at 3:27pm CST by Luke Adams

FEBRUARY 23: The Wizards have officially signed Sessions to a 10-day contract, the team announced today in a press release.

“We’re very familiar with Ramon,” Wizards president Ernie Grunfeld said in a statement. “He’s a veteran who can play both guard positions and will add depth to our backcourt.”

FEBRUARY 22: The Wizards plan to sign veteran point guard Ramon Sessions to a 10-day contract, reports ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (via Twitter). The club has two open spots on its 15-man roster, so no corresponding move will be required.

An 11-year NBA veteran, Sessions has some previous experience with the Wizards, having spent time with the team in 2015 and 2016. He left Washington as a free agent in 2016 to join the Hornets, then spent the first part of this season with the Knicks.

New York’s starting point guard to open the 2017/18 campaign, Sessions was quickly supplanted in the lineup by Jarrett Jack and ultimately didn’t see much action with the Knicks. In total, he averaged 3.7 PPG and 2.1 APG in 13 games (12.8 MPG) for the club, struggling with his shot during his limited minutes (.321 FG%, .182 3PT%). He was waived in January.

The Wizards have been on the lookout for a veteran point guard to help man the position with John Wall on the shelf. Prior to the All-Star break, Washington was linked to Ty Lawson and Derrick Rose, along with Sessions. The timing of the move comes as no surprise, since the Wizards were required by league rules to add a 14th player to their roster this week — I’d expect the deal to be finalized by the end of the day.

As our chart from earlier today shows, Sessions will make $131,562 on his 10-day deal, while the Wizards will take on a cap hit of $83,129. The team will also incur approximately $147K in projected luxury tax penalties, notes ESPN’s Bobby Marks.

John Wall Returning To School For Business Degree

February 22nd, 2018 at 12:41pm CST by Luke Adams

Wizards point guard John Wall is still only 27 years old, so he has a long basketball career ahead of him and doesn’t yet known what he’ll do when his playing career is done. However, he intends to enter that stage of his life armed with a business degree. As Candace Buckner of The Washington Post writes, Wall will return to the University of Kentucky this summer to work toward that degree.

Wizards Have Little Room For Error

February 20th, 2018 at 6:58pm CST by clarkcrum

Despite currently sitting at fourth place in the Eastern Conference, the Wizards are only a mere five games ahead of ninth-place Detroit and must be careful not to slip out of the playoff race, authors Candace Buckner of The Washington Post. Washington has the toughest remaining schedule in the East and third-hardest in the NBA, according to BasketballReference.com, so as Buckner writes, the team has little room for error.

Communication Between Players Must Improve

February 19th, 2018 at 8:12pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Wizards need to do a better job of communicating with each other to avoid locker room controversies, Chase Hughes of NBCSports.com writes. The team does not have any unresolvable issues, according to Hughes, but problems like the tension between John Wall and his teammates need to be addressed privately rather than through the media or social media channels, Hughes adds.

Roster Moves Required This Week For Four Teams

February 19th, 2018 at 10:09am CST by Luke Adams

As we noted last week when we identified the clubs with open roster spots, NBA rules generally prohibit teams from carrying fewer than 14 players on their 15-man squads (not counting two-way players). However, teams are permitted to dip to 13 – or even 12 – in special circumstances, as long as they get back up to 14 within two weeks.

At this month’s trade deadline, four teams ended up with multiple open roster spots and are currently carrying 13 players on their NBA rosters. The Cavaliers have 13 players after their plethora of deadline deals; the Wizards went down to 13 after sending Sheldon Mac to Atlanta; and the Trail Blazers are carrying 13 after trading Noah Vonleh to Chicago. The Hawks, meanwhile, waived Mac and Marco Belinelli after the trade deadline passed to get to 13.

As a result of those roster moves, Cleveland, Washington, and Portland have until this Thursday – two weeks after the trade deadline – to get back up to 14 players by signing a player to a 10-day contract or a rest-of-season deal. Atlanta has until Friday to do the same.

While we don’t know with certainty which players will be signed by these four teams later this week, there have been some clues. Veteran big man Kendrick Perkins published a tweet on February 8 suggesting that he was joining the Cavs, but quickly deleted it — Cleveland may be ready to finalize an agreement with Perkins later this week.

The Wizards, meanwhile, have been linked to several free agent point guards with John Wall sidelined and Tim Frazier banged up too. Ty Lawson, Derrick Rose, and Ramon Sessions are among the players said to have drawn some interest from Washington, so perhaps the club will pull the trigger on a deal with one of those vets this week.

Temporarily carrying 13 players has had a noticeable financial impact for the Cavs, Wizards, and Blazers, as cap expert Albert Nahmad observes (via Twitter). Cleveland has saved $35K per day since the trade deadline in potential luxury-tax payments for that 14th roster spot, while Washington has saved $12K per day in taxes. As for the Blazers, the savings they’ve created by carrying 13 players will allow them to sign a 14th player, then eventually sign a 15th player – if they so choose – without going over the tax line.

Southeast Notes: Wall, Winslow, Heat Roster

February 18th, 2018 at 7:17pm CST by marksuleymanov

Injured Wizards point guard John Wall is off his crutches and walking without a noticeable limp. However, the star point guard, who was pulled from the All-Star Game due to knee surgery, is reluctant to put a timetable on his return, Candace Buckner of The Washington Post writes.

“I really don’t know because I’m just doing everything the doctors are telling me,” Wall said. “I haven’t really tried to get back on the court yet so, just doing the little things. And I haven’t started running yet. So whenever I get to that point I can kind of start grasping stuff and understanding what level I’m at but right now it’s between six to eight weeks. It might be longer but I don’t know. I haven’t got to that point.”

Wall also addressed his recent public spat with teammate Marcin Gortat. A tweet from Gortat after a Wizards game referred to their performance as a great “team” win. Wall took his own shot at Gortat later on but he said both men have spoken and any personal issues will not be brought to the court.

There are more notes from the Southeast Division below:

In his latest installment of Ask Ira, Ira Winderman of The Sun-Sentinel addressed the possibility of Justise Winslow losing playing time once Kelly Olynyk and Rodney McGruder return from injury. While Winslow is a talented player, his role on the Heat will likely diminish now that Dwyane Wade has returned and other players are healthy, Winderman writes.
Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald spoke to a veteran NBA scout who said that the Heat must blow up their roster this offseason. “Let’s put it this way,” the scout said. “Goran Dragic is their best player, but if you had a really good team that would contend for a championship, you would want him to be your fourth-best player, maybe [third if you had two superstars]. Jackson goes up and down the roster, with the veteran scout assessing each player’s value for next season.

Wizards Get Creative At Practice

February 14th, 2018 at 8:30pm CST by clarkcrum

Faced with a slew of injuries at the point guard position, the Wizards had to get creative during one recent practice, according to Candace Buckner of The Washington Post. John Wall, Tim Frazier, and Tomas Satoransky are all out with injuries, so Washington, armed with only seven healthy players, used Kamran Sufi, a player development manager, as a point guard during practice. Satoransky returned to the line-up tonight against New York, while Wall and Frazier remain out.

John Wall, Marcin Gortat Met Privately To Clear Air

February 14th, 2018 at 9:47am CST by Luke Adams

Wizards teammates John Wall and Marcin Gortat had a private in-person meeting last week to discuss where they stood with one another and clear the air, league sources tell Chris Haynes of ESPN. The meeting came on the heels of apparent public friction between the two players.

The meeting, which was requested by both players, didn’t last long, according to Haynes. Sources tell ESPN that while Wall and Gortat aired their grievances, there’s still more work to be done before their relationship is fully repaired.

The tension between Wall and Gortat seemingly began shortly after the point guard went down with a knee injury. Following a win in which the Wizards racked up 30 assists without Wall, Marcin Gortat tweeted that it was a great “team” victory, a comment perceived by many as a passive-aggressive slight at his teammate.

According to Haynes, Wall reached out to Gortat soon after the big man published his tweet to essentially tell him that if he has a problem with Wall, he should direct it to him rather than cryptically addressing it on social media. Although Gortat insisted that he meant no offense by his comment, Wall also responded publicly during an appearance on ESPN’s Sportscenter.

“I know I’m a team player. I average almost 10 assists a game,” Wall said at the time. “I’m very prideful in finding my teammates and getting guys easy shots. Even more just shocking hearing it from [Gortat] and understand he gets the most assists from me and gets the most spoon-fed baskets ever.”

Gortat was involved in some trade rumors prior to the deadline, but ultimately stayed put, so he and Wall will have to be on the same page if the Wizards hope to make another run in the postseason this spring. According to Haynes, sources close to the Wizards suggest that this sort of altercation is natural due to the rigors of an emotional season, so it sounds like they’re not overly concerned about it. Still, the franchise may look into introducing a policy that would allow the club to fine a player for any social media posts deemed detrimental to the team, Haynes notes.