The NBA has a total of 30 teams that compete for one year/season. Each NBA team has a total of 82 games per season, which I consider exhausting. However, NBA players bodies are built on such physicalities.
Each NBA team should have a total of five players inside the court, and the remaining players will stay on the bench. But, how many total players are on one NBA basketball team?
Today, we are going to answer that question above. We are going to take a look at how many players are on every NBA team. Let’s get into it!
How Many Players Are On One NBA Team?
During the offseason, there is no minimum or a maximum number of players required on one NBA team. The off-season is a time after an NBA team’s last NBA game. They used the offseason to trade players, and sign free-agents. An NBA team can sign 30 players in the offseason. There are also no minimums, which mean that any NBA team can have zero players during the offseason.
However, before the regular season starts, each NBA team is required to have a minimum of 13 players. When the regular season starts, one NBA team can only have a maximum total of 15 players. To answer the question more concisely, an NBA team must have 14 to 15 players.
There are also what we called two-way contracts. A two-way contract is an NBA contract where NBA teams sign a player and the salary will depend on which league they are playing in (NBA or G-league). Each NBA team is only allowed to sign 2 two-way contracts. Aside from that, if the roster of a team is suffering from many injuries, there is something they can use, and it is called hardship exemption. It allows an NBA team to sign more than 15 players.
How Many of These Players Can be Active?
Even though the maximum number of players one NBA team can sign is 15 players, only 12 to 13 players are allowed to be active. While the two or three other players are considered as the team’s reserves. Reserve players can play if one player got injured or if the coach decided to let him play.
The reserves players can also be players on the team that doesn’t want to play, injured, or the coaches didn’t give them playing time. Coaches are the ones who can change reserves into active players. There are two reasons why coaches let reserves play. One is if they see that this reserve player can bring value to the team, and two if there are injured, active players. Also, suspended players will not be counted in the list of players of an individual team.
Even though an NBA team can have a maximum total of 12 active players, some NBA teams end up playing around 9 to 10 players only in their most games.
How Many Players On The Team Can Play Each Basketball Position?
In basketball, there are five basketball positions that a player can play. There are point guards, shooting guards or wing guards, small forward, power forward, and center. Each basketball position has different roles and responsibilities inside the basketball court.
Point guards are the players who handle the ball, and they are the coach inside the court. The shooting guards are the main shooter of the team, and they are mostly the one who takes the last seconds shots. Centers and Power Forwards are responsible for rebounds, inside shots, and inside defense. Lastly, small forwards are the slashers of the basketball team.
The NBA has many rules regarding the number of players in one NBA team roster. However, there are no rules regarding how many players of one basketball position a team is required to have. NBA teams are free to fill up their rosters with any players they want in whatever position.
Let me give you one example. One NBA team can fill their roster of point guards (14-15 points guards). They can fill up their roster with 15 centers or 15 power forwards. This kind of scenario can happen. However, most NBA teams want to balance each basketball position for better team performance.
Final Words
The NBA have become more organized because of the rules they implement. They have rules for everything useful and confusing at the same time. The NBA is so smart to apply rules for the roster to avoid any conflicts or cheatings.
I hope that you have learned many things today. This article is essential for you to read for a fan like you that wanted to know how many players in one NBA team, how many players can be active in one NBA team, and how many players on an NBA team can play in each basketball position.
If you will build an NBA roster, who are the 15 NBA players that will fill up your roster? Comment your answer in the comments section below!
