Roster Moves Required For Wolves, Nuggets, Celtics

NBA roster rules require teams to carry at least 14 players on standard contracts for most of the regular season. Clubs are permitted to dip below 14 players for no more than 14 days at a time and 28 days in total during a season.

Several teams around the NBA dropped below 14 players on standard contracts earlier this month as a result of trade-deadline deals. While some have since made additions to get them back to the league-mandated minimum, there are a few exceptions who will have to make roster moves this week.

Minnesota Timberwolves

The Timberwolves went from 14 players on standard contracts to 13 on February 3, two days before this month’s trade deadline, when they sent Mike Conley to Chicago in a three-team trade that also involved the Pistons. That means they must re-add a 14th man on Feb. 17 — today.

It sounds like the Wolves’ new 14th man will look a whole lot like their old 14th man. Because Conley was subsequently flipped from Chicago to Charlotte before being waived by the Hornets, NBA rules don’t prohibit him from returning to Minnesota, and that’s reportedly the plan. Word broke back on Feb. 6 that Conley intended to re-sign with the Timberwolves after he cleared waivers.

At the time, ESPN’s Shams Charania reported that Conley and the Wolves were working on the timing of the deal. With Minnesota operating in luxury tax territory and the All-Star break around the corner, it made sense for the team to take advantage of its two-week allowance below 14 players and to give Conley a bit of a vacation before bringing him back. I expect he’ll officially sign on Tuesday.

Denver Nuggets

The Nuggets’ situation is pretty straightforward. They dipped from 14 players to 13 on Feb. 5, deadline day, when they traded Hunter Tyson to Brooklyn in order duck below the luxury tax line. They have until this Thursday (Feb. 19) to get back to the 14-man minimum, and there’s an obvious candidate to fill that roster spot: Spencer Jones.

The second-year forward, who is on a two-way contract, reached his limit of 50 active games prior to the All-Star break, but he suffered a concussion in that 50th game, which likely delayed his promotion to the 15-man roster.

Assuming Jones is fully healthy, it would be a surprise if anyone besides him is added to Denver’s 15-man roster on or before Thursday. If he still needs more time to recover, the Nuggets could add a veteran on a 10-day contract as their 14th man for the time being, but Jones’ promotion is happening sooner or later. The 24-year-old has started 34 games and averaged 23.6 minutes per night — Denver needs to make sure he’s eligible to play once he’s ready.

Boston Celtics

The Celtics, who had been carrying 14 players on standard contracts, made a series of trades on deadline day that saw them send out four players (Anfernee Simons, Xavier Tillman Sr., Chris Boucher, and Josh Minott) and bring back just one (Nikola Vucevic). They also promoted Amari Williams from his two-way contract to a standard deal on Feb. 5, but they’ve had just 12 players on their 15-man roster since then, so they’ll need to make two roster additions by this Thursday (Feb. 19).

Boston will have to operate very carefully to remain below the luxury tax line this season and has likely already plotted out the timing of its roster moves for the rest of the season. As we wrote in a post-deadline Front Office article, that plan will likely involve two-way players Max Shulga and John Tonje, since they’ll both count for the rookie minimum for tax/apron purposes if they’re promoted to standard contracts, whereas a rookie free agent wouldn’t due to the “tax variance” rule.

That doesn’t mean both Shulga and Tonje will be converted right away, but I expect at least one of them to be involved in Boston’s roster moves this week. A 10-day deal for Tonje along with a 10-day deal for a veteran free agent is one path the Celtics could take — that would allow them to dip back to 12 players for another two weeks after those 10-day contracts expire.