Technically speaking, only one NBA team — Memphis — is at the expanded offseason limit of 21 players under contract. So the other 29 teams each have at least one roster opening.
However, NBA clubs are only permitted to carry 15 players on standard contracts once the regular season begins, plus up to three players on two-way deals. Those three two-way spots don’t count toward the 15-player limit during the regular season, but they do count toward the 21-man offseason limit.
As our 2026/27 roster counts tracker shows, nearly half the teams in the league are currently carrying fewer than 15 players on their official rosters. That doesn’t include two-way players, who we have sorted in their own category even though they’re also official contracts.
Here’s the full list of teams with official openings, along with how many players they’re currently carrying on their rosters. Again, this total does not include players on two-way deals.
Chicago Bulls: 14
Cleveland Cavaliers: 13 (11 fully guaranteed)
Denver Nuggets: 13
Golden State Warriors: 13 (12)
Indiana Pacers: 14
Los Angeles Clippers: 14
Miami Heat: 12 (10)
Minnesota Timberwolves: 13 (12)
New York Knicks: 13
Oklahoma City Thunder: 14
Orlando Magic: 14 (13)
Sacramento Kings: 13
San Antonio Spurs: 14
Washington Wizards: 14 (13)
The Bulls were one of three teams that operated with cap room this summer. While they essentially used all of that space, they still have access to the room exception, which starts at about $9.4MM in 2026/27 and is worth up to $29.5MM over three years.
Cleveland is said to be pursuing sign-and-trade scenarios with Denver for Peyton Watson, who remains a restricted free agent. The Cavs are also said to have interest in Jonathan Kuminga and DeMar DeRozan, two prominent unrestricted free agents. DeRozan has also been linked to the Nuggets, among other teams.
The Cavs, Nuggets, Warriors, Pacers, Timberwolves, Knicks, Thunder, Magic and Kings are navigating expensive payrolls and in some cases hard caps. Denver is currently the only team over the second tax apron, while Golden State, Minnesota, New York and Orlando are operating over the first apron. Indiana is right below its first-apron hard cap and still has an unsigned second-round pick in Braden Smith.
If the trade sending Kawhi Leonard to Toronto eventually goes through, the Clippers will actually be at 15 players on official deals, as they’ll be receiving two players back in that trade (Brandon Ingram and Gradey Dick), with Bennedict Mathurin still a restricted free agent.
The Heat are technically just below the luxury tax line right now, but they’ll likely move above that threshold once they finalize their regular roster. Miami is about $10.6MM below its first-apron hard cap, per Yossi Gozlan of CapSheets.com, and seems to be waiting to see if Klay Thompson shakes loose from Dallas before filling out its roster.
The Spurs don’t currently have enough room beneath the luxury tax line to sign a 15th player to a minimum-salary deal, so they may wait until later in the regular season to fill out that final spot. There’s nothing preventing the team from signing players to training camp deals, however.
Finally, the Wizards are about $11MM beneath the tax threshold and still have access to the full mid-level exception and a pair of traded player exceptions. They’re one of several teams said to have interest in DeRozan.