Officially, at the start of each season, NBA franchises have the possibility of registering up to 18 players in their squad, including three in “two-way contract”. For example, the Nuggets have only used 17 players this season. On the Celtics side, we are at 19. At the other end of the scale, there are the Pistons with already 30 different players used this season by Monty Williams.
This is quite simply an NBA record, tied with the Rockets of 2021. But at the time, the NBA had opened the floodgates due to the Covid-19 pandemic, and franchises could multiply very short-term fixed-term contracts to compensate for absences linked to the virus. This season, no pandemic, but an avalanche of injuries in Detroit, but also numerous transfers and contract terminations. This is how we arrive at a record of 30 players!
Only 11 players remain from the initial squad
“Injuries are one of the things we've dealt with throughout the year,” deplores Monty Williamsthe Pistons coach. “But I'm happy to be able to continue to apply this mentality of going all out, with some new guys who have given their all and are competitive. The positive attitude of our players throughout the season is truly impressive. I didn't necessarily anticipate such a thing, but I enjoy the challenges of developing and training in these situations, because you learn a lot about yourself, some things you can do in the future and on others which should not be done either. These are moments of growth for our franchise.”
Among the 30 players used, only 11 remain from the squad at the start of the season: Cade Cunningham, Ausar Thompson, Isaiah Stewart, Jaden Ivey, Jalen Duren, Marcus Sasser, James Wiseman, Jared Rhoden, Stanley Umude, Tosan Evbuomwan and Buddy Boeheim.
Eight players who started the season with Detroit are no longer there: Killian Hayes, Marvin Bagley III, Alec Burks, Isaiah Livers, Bojan Bogdanovic, Monte Morris, Joe Harris and Malcolm Cazalon. Furthermore, four players who arrived during the season have already left: Kevin Knox, Shake Milton, Danilo Gallinari and Mike Muscala.
Two-way contract : Designed to create a new bridge between the NBA and the G-League, this type of contract allows each team to secure the services of two or three additional players, to develop them mainly in their affiliated development league franchise but also up to 50 matches in the NBA.
