NBA:Rosters

NBA RealGM — League Rules

Your roster is the collection of players you have under contract. The league spreadsheet is the league's record of it, and your forum roster post must match.

Roster size

Three separate groups, each with its own limit. The counts are independent — a player occupies exactly one.

Group	Minimum	Maximum
Active	12	15
G League	—	3
Injured Reserve	—	2

Moving a player to the G League or IR opens an active spot. It does not open cap space — every player in all three groups is paid in full.

Waiving a player also frees his spot immediately, on posting, without waiting out the 48 hours — whichever of the three groups he was in. The cap works differently there: posting frees only 60% of the contract, and the rest frees the moment another team claims him.

When the limits bind

The 12–15 active limit applies during the season, with opening day as the deadline to comply. Through the off-season you may sit above or below it freely.

The salary cap is different: it binds at all times, off-season included.

Outside the limits in-season

Violation	Consequence
Above 15	Your most recently acquired player is placed on waivers by default
Below 12	Your team is disqualified from the playoffs

An exception may be made if you briefly land outside the range mid-move — waiving and signing at once — but do not rely on it.

Starting lineup

Slot	Count
Point Guard	1
Shooting Guard	1
Small Forward	1
Power Forward	1
Center	1
Flex	2

Flex takes any position. Everyone else on your active roster is on the bench, so the bench runs 5 to 8 players. Position eligibility follows Fantrax.

Lineups are set daily, and fielding a legitimate one is a standing obligation with enforcement behind it.

How to post

Post in your team's forum, under NBA: Team Forums → your conference → your division → your team. Your G League roster goes there too.

Keeping it current is not optional — an out-of-date roster invalidates free agency bids and blocks re-signs.

Anyone reading your post should be able to verify your cap and all three counts without research: a summary block, players by position, then IR, G League, and any dead money. The formats below are preferred, not required.

Summary block

Roster Spots: 13/15
Injured Reserve: 0/2
G League: 2/3
Re-Signs: 3/3
Salary Cap: $60,000,000
Total Salary: $58,467,800
Cap Hits: $1,400,000
Cap Space: $132,200

Total Salary is your players only — it does not include cap hits. Cap Space = Salary Cap − Total Salary − Cap Hits.

Re-Signs: X/3 is worth including even though few teams do: it is the fastest way to check your usage against the [RS] tags on your roster.

Dead money

List the hit itself and the year it runs through — not the original contract, which is on the waiver post. A hit from an over-cap free agency bid is listed the same way. The Cap Hits line in your summary block is the sum of them:

Cap Hits
Derek Harper (DAL - PG) $2,480,000 (2026)

A complete example

A 2026-2027 roster:

Roster Spots: 13/15
Injured Reserve: 0/2
G League: 2/3
Re-Signs: 3/3
Salary Cap: $60,000,000
Total Salary: $58,467,800
Cap Hits: $1,400,000
Cap Space: $132,200

Point Guard
Dennis Johnson (BOS - PG/SG) $10,900,000 (2029) [RS]
Sleepy Floyd (GSW - PG) $10,100,000 (2028) [RS]
Michael Adams (DEN - PG) $500,000 (2027)

Shooting Guard
Jeff Malone (WAS - SG) $4,000,000 (2027)
Dale Ellis (SEA - SG) $1,420,400 (2028, 2029x)
Vinnie Johnson (DET - PG/SG) $500,000 (2027)

Small Forward
Dominique Wilkins (ATL - SF) $10,700,000 (2031) [RS]
Trent Tucker (NYK - SG/SF) $6,600,000 (2027) [RSBO]
Paul Pressey (MIL - PG/SG/SF) $2,906,200 (2027, 2028x)

Power Forward
Larry Smith (GSW - PF/C) $5,250,000 (2028)
Xavier McDaniel (SEA - SF/PF) $2,606,200 (2026, 2027x)

Center
Steve Stipanovich (IND - C) $1,500,000 (2028)
Mark Eaton (UTA - C) $495,000 (2025, ~2029x)

Injured Reserve

G League
Jerome Kersey (POR - SF) $495,000 (2026, ~2030x)
Mark Price (CLE - PG) $495,000 (2026, ~2030x)

Cap Hits
Louis Orr (NYK - SF) $200,000 (2028)
Craig Hodges (MIL - PG/SG) $800,000 (2027)
Quintin Dailey (CHI - SG) $200,000 (2027)
Doc Rivers (ATL - PG) $200,000 (2027)

• 13 active players, inside 12–15.
• 3 [RS] tags — Dennis Johnson, Floyd, Wilkins — matching Re-Signs: 3/3. Trent Tucker is [RSBO] and uses none of the team's 3.
• The empty IR section is still listed, so a reader can see it is empty rather than omitted.
• 2 in the G League, both on 2nd-round contracts. They are paid in full — Total Salary covers them — but they do not count against the 12–15 active limit.
• Cap Hits lists the hits themselves, and they add up to the $1,400,000 on the summary line.
• Salaries $58,467,800 + cap hits $1,400,000 + space $132,200 = exactly $60,000,000.

Naming that section after your real affiliate rather than G League is common and fine.

See also

• Contracts — how to read and write a contract line
• Salary Cap — what counts against the cap, and in what state
• GM Responsibilities — keeping your roster current
• In-Season — setting lineups each day
• G League — eligibility and assignment
• Injured Reserve — who qualifies and the 1-day activation rule