Cavaliers and 16 Other Teams Start 2025-26 Season With Roster Vacancies
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More than half of the NBA’s 30 clubs will tip off the 2025-26 campaign with at least one open roster slot, leaving 18 standard positions unclaimed league-wide, according to data compiled by Hoops Rumors.
The Cleveland Cavaliers headline that list. They are the only franchise above the league’s second tax apron that has chosen to keep both a standard roster place and a two-way contract spot vacant. Cleveland is carrying 14 players on standard deals and two on two-way pacts.
Operating above the second apron makes every additional salary exponentially costly. The Cavaliers can also reduce expenses by moving on from center Thomas Bryant, whose veteran-minimum contract is fully non-guaranteed until Jan. 7; waiving him before that date would limit the payout to a prorated amount.
The league allows up to 15 standard contracts and three two-way deals per team, creating a maximum of 540 player slots. As the season opens, 522 of those positions are filled.
Teams that roster fewer than 15 standard players are capped at 90 combined active games for their two-way personnel, a restriction the Cavaliers appear willing to manage deliberately amid championship expectations and tax concerns.
Other Clubs With Room to Add
Fifteen additional teams have one unfilled standard roster spot, a group that includes the Celtics, Warriors, Nuggets, Lakers, Clippers, Knicks, Suns, 76ers and Rockets. Several of those franchises sit close enough to the hard cap that signing a 15th man is not yet feasible.
The Pistons possess the greatest financial flexibility among teams with openings, sitting more than $20 million below the luxury-tax threshold. With only guard Jaden Ivey dealing with more than a minor injury, Detroit has no immediate need to act.
Brooklyn is the lone club with an empty two-way slot. The Nets own the league’s lowest payroll, and with every NBA team now operating a direct G League affiliate, league observers note that the organization faces little impediment to filling that vacancy once the G League season begins.
For now, the Cavaliers remain the most notable team opting for patience, keeping costs in check while preserving roster flexibility deep into the season.
Source: Hoops Wire
