Cavs, multiple others enter season with open roster spots

More than half of the 30 NBA teams are opening the season with at least one roster spot available, with the Cavaliers among them. And they are taking a patient, financially smart approach to it.

As Hoops Rumors’ Luke Adams writes, each NBA team can carry up to 15 standard contracts and three two-way players, totaling a potential 540 roster spots across the league.

Of those, 522 are currently filled to begin the 2025-26 season, leaving 18 open spots spread across 17 franchises.

Cleveland is one of those teams, and the only one operating above the second tax apron. That makes any roster move an expensive one — exponentially so when factoring in luxury penalties.

For now, Adams notes, the Cavs appear content to roll with 14 standard contracts and two two-way players, keeping both a standard and a two-way slot open.

They could shuffle that 14th roster spot later in the season, as Thomas Bryant’s minimum contract is fully non-guaranteed. If waived before January 7, the Cavs would owe him only a prorated portion of his deal.

While two-way players don’t count against the cap, they still come with modest salaries, and the Cavs’ decision to leave one open could be part fiscal, part strategic.

Teams with fewer than 15 standard players are limited to 90 combined active games for their two-way players. The Cavs, with their title aspirations and tax-burdened payroll, aren’t in a rush to burn those early.

Elsewhere, 15 other teams have one open standard roster spot, including the Celtics, Warriors, Nuggets, Lakers, Clippers, Knicks, Suns, Sixers, and Rockets — most of whom are also operating above the tax line.

Adams adds that several of those clubs are close enough to the hard cap that signing a 15th man simply isn’t possible yet.

The Pistons, by contrast, could fill their opening the soonest, sitting more than $20 million below the tax line with no financial barriers.

Still, with Jaden Ivey the only player currently nursing more than a minor injury, Detroit isn’t pressed to act immediately.

The Nets are the lone team with one open two-way slot. Brooklyn’s payroll is the lowest in the league, and with every NBA team now having its own G League affiliate, Adams writes there’s “no real excuse” not to carry a full complement of two-way players once the G League season begins.

For now, the Cavs headline the list, as the lone second-apron team. Clearly, they are choosing patience over pressure.