The Pelicans have remained relatively quiet in free agency after finishing 26-56 last season.
We’re still waiting for LeBron James to decide where he wants to take his talents, and there are a handful of restricted free agents that are still without new contracts. But, after nine days, free agency is winding down.
As has been noted previously, trades have made a bigger impact than free agency. And the combination of the two has changed some teams pretty dramatically.
Here are some notes and numbers on how some teams will look different in October.
1. The Lakers have hit the reset button
James isn’t the only rotation player who’s parted ways with the Lakers. There were 10 guys who played at least 700 regular-season minutes for them last season, and only four of the 10 are still on the roster and under contract for 2026-27.
In total, the players currently under contract for ’26-27 account for just 42% of their regular-season minutes from ’25-26. That’s easily the lowest ratio for any team.
Lowest % of 2025-26 regular-season minutes under contract for 2026-27
| Team | Returners | %Ret.M | %FAM | %GoneM |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| L.A. Lakers | 8 | 42% | 16% | 42% |
| LA Clippers | 10 | 49% | 11% | 40% |
| Denver | 10 | 54% | 30% | 16% |
| Philadelphia | 9 | 57% | 6% | 37% |
| Sacramento | 11 | 58% | 17% | 26% |
Returners = Players from ’25-26 under contract (or agreement) for ’26-27
%Ret.M = Percentage of ’25-26 minutes under contract (or agreement) for ’26-27
%FAM = Percentage of ’25-26 minutes played by outstanding free agents
%GoneM = Percentage of ’25-26 minutes played by players no longer on the roster
That 42% is also a lower rate of continuity than any team had last year.
James, Deandre Ayton, Rui Hachimura, Marcus Smart, Jaxson Hayes and Luke Kennard are all gone. Quentin Grimes, Jaden Hardy, Walker Kessler, Kevon Looney, Sandro Mamukelashvili and Collin Sexton are in their places.
The new group provides a little more shooting and the Lakers now have five guys – Luka Dončić, Austin Reaves, Hardy, Mamukelashvili and Sexton – who shot the league average (36.0%) or better on at least 100 attempts from 3-point range in ’25-26, up from four at the end of the season.
Of course, Kessler is the big piece, both literally and figuratively. The Lakers sent two first-round picks and two pick swaps to Utah, so they could pay the seven-footer (who played only five games last season) $130 million over four years.
Kessler’s best skill is his rim protection. Over his four years with the Jazz, opponents shot just 52.7% at the rim when he was there to protect it, the fifth best mark among 88 players who’ve defended at least 750 shots at the rim over that time. It’s actually slightly better than that of Victor Wembanyama.
On the other end of the floor, Kessler ranked third in offensive rebounding percentage (14.5%) among 295 players who averaged at least 15 minutes per game in 40 games or more in 2024-25. And his 68.1% career field goal percentage is the fourth best mark in NBA history (minimum 1,000 field goal attempts).
2. The Pelicans are running it back?
It’s a little surprising that the Lakers are making so many changes to a team that went 19-5 over the final 24 games of the regular season and won a playoff series without Dončić.
The other end of the (current) continuity list may be a little more surprising. New Orleans Pelicans players currently under contract for ’26-27 account for 93% of the Pels’ minutes in ’25-26. That’s the highest rate in the league as things stand.
The largest chunk of ’25-26 minutes that’s no longer on the Pelicans’ roster belonged to Jose Alvarado (896), who was traded to New York in February. The only other players who played for New Orleans last season and are no longer on the roster are Kevon Looney (307 minutes, heading to the Lakers), Trey Alexander (111, signed by Utah) and Josh Oduro (82, outstanding free agent).
There should obviously be hope for improvement from last year’s rookies (Jeremiah Fears and Derik Queen) and an expectation that Dejounte Murray (who missed the first 58 games in ’25-26) will be healthy for a full season. But it’s still odd to see such a high rate of continuity from a team that went 26-56, finishing 11 games out of the Play-In in the Western Conference.
The next six teams on the list all made the playoffs, with the two Finals teams – San Antonio and New York – ranking second and fourth in continuity, respectively…
Highest % of 2025-26 regular-season minutes under contract for 2026-27
| Team | Returners | %Ret.M | %FAM | %GoneM |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New Orleans | 19 | 93% | 0% | 7% |
| San Antonio | 20 | 92% | 6% | 2% |
| Orlando | 19 | 90% | 4% | 6% |
| New York | 20 | 88% | 2% | 10% |
| Houston | 16 | 83% | 7% | 10% |
3. A new back-up in New York
The Spurs are retaining all 10 guys that played at least 100 playoff minutes for them, but the Knicks have lost a key piece off their bench, because they were unable to pay Mitchell Robinson and remain under the second apron.
They did replace Robinson with 14-year veteran Andre Drummond, who should do a pretty good job of replicating Robinson’s most important skill.
Robinson grabbed 21.4% of available rebounds while he was on the floor this past season, the highest rate among 347 players who averaged at least 10 minutes in 40 games or more. Second on the list (at 20.2%) was Drummond, who has now ranked in the top four in rebounding percentage in all 14 of his seasons. The only time he ranked fourth was his rookie year, and Robinson just ended Drummond’s four-year reign at the top…
Andre Drummond rebounding percentages, season by season
| Season | OREB% | Rank | DREB% | Rank | REB% | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012-13 | 13.3% | 2 | 23.5% | 12 | 18.3% | 4 |
| 2013-14 | 15.7% | 1 | 25.3% | 9 | 20.2% | 1 |
| 2014-15 | 16.2% | 1 | 27.2% | 4 | 21.5% | 3 |
| 2015-16 | 13.5% | 2 | 30.9% | 1 | 21.7% | 1 |
| 2016-17 | 13.2% | 5 | 34.1% | 1 | 22.9% | 1 |
| 2017-18 | 14.5% | 2 | 32.9% | 2 | 23.4% | 2 |
| 2018-19 | 15.1% | 1 | 31.1% | 2 | 22.8% | 1 |
| 2019-20 | 12.9% | 4 | 33.6% | 1 | 22.9% | 1 |
| 2020-21 | 13.2% | 9 | 33.6% | 1 | 22.9% | 2 |
| 2021-22 | 15.5% | 2 | 30.5% | 3 | 23.0% | 1 |
| 2022-23 | 16.0% | 4 | 35.3% | 1 | 25.6% | 1 |
| 2023-24 | 18.7% | 1 | 33.1% | 1 | 25.7% | 1 |
| 2024-25 | 13.4% | 9 | 28.8% | 1 | 20.5% | 1 |
| 2025-26 | 14.5% | 5 | 26.4% | 5 | 20.2% | 2 |
Rank = Among players who averaged at least 10 minutes in 40 games or more
Now, Robinson was on another level this past season, with his offensive rebounding percentage (20.1% of available offensive boards) being the highest mark for any player in the 30 seasons for which we have play-by-play data.
Drummond also isn’t nearly the defender that Robinson is. Over the last three years, Robinson has averaged more deflections per 36 minutes (3.4 vs. 3.1) and has been the much better rim protector. Opponents have shot 60.4% at the rim against Robinson, but 66.8% against Drummond over those three years.
But Drummond has been more durable. Over the last five years, he’s played 83 more games than Robinson. He’s also taken some shots from outside the paint and was 29-for-77 (38%) on corner 3-pointers this past season.
4. Who has shooters?
The Knicks might not need Drummond to shoot, because they have nine of the 154 guys who shot the league average (36.0%) or better on at least 100 3-point attempts last season, which is two more than any other team.
Most players who shot 36% or better on 100+ 3PA
| Team | End of season | July 9 | Diff. |
|---|---|---|---|
| New York | 9 | 9 | 0 |
| Boston | 7 | 7 | 0 |
| Indiana | 6 | 7 | +1 |
| Milwaukee | 7 | 7 | 0 |
| Minnesota | 6 | 7 | +1 |
A few notes:
- At the bottom of the list are the aforementioned Pelicans and the Kings, who each have just two of the 154 shooters. The Kings had three at the end of the season, but Doug McDermott remains an outstanding free agent.
- In total, there are 14 outstanding free agents who shot 36% or better on at least 100 3-point attempts last season. The one with the most made 3s is James Harden, who’s expected to return to Cleveland.
- Even with Harden, the Cavs will have gone from six shooters to four, having lost Keon Ellis and Dean Wade in free agency. The Rockets and Heat have also lost two shooters apiece, though Houston’s Aaron Holiday remains a free agent.
5. The Nuggets have some work to do
At the end of the season, the Nuggets led the league with 10 guys who shot 36% or better on at least 100 3-point attempts. But only five of those 10 are currently under contract to play with Denver in 2026-27.
Only one of the other five is definitely gone: Tim Hardaway Jr. has signed with Miami. The remaining four – Bruce Brown, Spencer Jones, Jalen Pickett and Peyton Watson – are all outstanding free agents.
In total, outstanding free agents account for 30% of the Nuggets’ 2025-26 minutes. That’s the league’s highest rate by a huge margin, with Golden State (led by Draymond Green) and *Sacramento (Russell Westbrook) both at 17%.
* The Kings’ total doesn’t include DeMar DeRozan’s minutes (he goes in the “Gone” percentage on the table above), because he was waived.
So there’s still plenty of business to be done over the next few months, and it’s likely that some teams are waiting on James’ decision before finalizing deals with other players.
***
John Schuhmann has covered the NBA for more than 20 years. You can e-mail him here, find his archive here and follow him on Bluesky.
