NBA Roster Continuity Rankings: Spurs Most Intact, Lakers Least
The San Antonio Spurs are the NBA’s most intact team heading into 2026-27. They return an average of 96.2% of last season’s minutes, points, starts and win shares. The Los Angeles Lakers are at the other end of the table at 42.5%, the lowest of all 30 teams, after LeBron James left for the Philadelphia 76ers.
We ranked every team by how much of its 2025-26 production is still on the roster after the Oct. 19 deadline. The league average is 71.1%.
Most intact rosters
The Spurs return 99.5% of their starts, 96.0% of their points, 93.8% of their minutes and 95.7% of their win shares. They lead the league in all four measures.
The Orlando Magic are second at 93.3%, with 97.8% of starts coming back. The New Orleans Pelicans (91.1%) and New York Knicks (90.7%) follow. The Knicks return 93.4% of their points, second only to San Antonio. The Houston Rockets round out the top five at 89.1%.
The drop after that is steep. The Golden State Warriors are sixth at 80.9%, and no other team clears 80%.
Most changed rosters
The Lakers return 38.0% of their starts and 39.6% of their minutes, both the lowest in the NBA. Luka Doncic is still there, and Austin Reaves re-signed. Beyond James, the departures include Rui Hachimura (signed with the Clippers), Marcus Smart (Rockets), Luke Kennard (Suns), Jaxson Hayes (Jazz) and Deandre Ayton (traded to the Wizards). Walker Kessler, Collin Sexton and Quentin Grimes are among the arrivals.
The Los Angeles Clippers rank 29th at 44.0%. They return 39.8% of their points and 39.8% of their win shares, the lowest figures in the league on both. Kawhi Leonard was traded, and Brandon Ingram is among the new additions.
The Lakers and Clippers are the only teams returning less than half of their starts. The next team up, the Sacramento Kings, is 13.3 points clear of the Clippers at 57.3%. The Chicago Bulls (58.2%) and Memphis Grizzlies (58.3%) are 27th and 26th.
Two mid-table teams have an uneven profile. The Milwaukee Bucks return 75.9% of their starts but only 53.2% of their win shares. The Brooklyn Nets are at 72.7% and 53.0%. Those are the third- and fourth-lowest win share figures in the league, behind only the Clippers and Lakers.
Polymarket’s 2027 NBA championship market has the Thunder at 23% and the Spurs at 20% as of Oct. 21. If you’re new to the platform, start with our polymarket invite code.
Full NBA roster continuity rankings
How the NBA title market looks after the deadline
Polymarket’s “NBA: 2027 Champion” market has traded $27.7 million. As of Oct. 21, the Oklahoma City Thunder are the favorites at 23%, followed by the Spurs at 20% and the 76ers at 10.3%.
On Oct. 19, the Spurs were in front at 23% with the Thunder at 20%. The two teams have since swapped places. The Thunder rank 10th in continuity at 75.2%.
| Team | Continuity rank | Polymarket, July 24 | Polymarket, Oct. 19 | Polymarket, Oct. 21 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oklahoma City Thunder | 10 | 24% | 20% | 23% |
| San Antonio Spurs | 1 | 19% | 23% | 20% |
| Philadelphia 76ers | 22 | 12% | 9% | 10% |
| Boston Celtics | 11 | 5% | 6% | 7% |
| New York Knicks | 4 | 9% | 8% | 7% |
| Minnesota Timberwolves | 18 | n/a | 6% | 5% |
| Toronto Raptors | 19 | n/a | 5% | 5% |
| Miami Heat | 24 | 5% | 4% | 4% |
The Knicks have the fourth-most intact roster and have slipped from 9% in July to 7%. Boston has gone the other way, from 5% to 7%, while ranking 11th in continuity. Philadelphia, 22nd in continuity after adding James, is third in the market.
A stable roster does not guarantee a short price. Orlando, second in continuity, trades at 0.9%. New Orleans, third, is at 0.2%. The Lakers, last in continuity, are at 2.2%, and the Clippers are under 1%.
Methodology
We used 2025-26 team stats from Basketball-Reference (minutes, points, games started and win shares, counted only for the team a player earned them with). Official 2026-27 rosters came from NBA.com, collected Oct. 20 after the Oct. 19 deadline. A player counts as returning if he played for the team last season and is on that team’s roster now, matched by name. Each team’s returning share of minutes, points, starts and win shares was calculated separately, then the four were averaged with equal weight to produce the continuity score. The score measures who left, not who arrived. Rosters can change after Oct. 20.
Polymarket prices are for the “NBA: 2027 Champion” market and are rounded to whole percentages.
IMAGE CREDIT: ALAMY