Most Personnel Turnover Between Seasons
Posted by Neil Paine on August 11, 2010
Today I thought we'd briefly put aside the top college programs series and take a look at the NBA teams that had the most personnel turnover from one season to the next. As we all know, the 2010-11 Miami Heat will probably return less than half of their minutes from a year ago, with the top newcomers by playing time expected to be LeBron James & Chris Bosh. How does this stack up against teams that had a lot of roster turnover in the past? Here are the (non-expansion) clubs since 1965 who gave the smallest % of their minutes to players who had been on the roster the previous season:
Year | Team | Pct | Record | Top Newcomers | Prv. Rec. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
2005 | Orlando Magic | 10.6% | 36-46 | Steve Francis & Dwight Howard | 21-61 |
1980 | Utah Jazz | 10.7% | 24-58 | Adrian Dantley & Ben Poquette | 26-56 |
2005 | Atlanta Hawks | 10.8% | 13-69 | Al Harrington & Josh Childress | 28-54 |
1998 | Cleveland Cavaliers | 19.4% | 47-35 | Wesley Person & Shawn Kemp | 42-40 |
1991 | Sacramento Kings | 20.3% | 25-57 | Lionel Simmons & Rory Sparrow | 23-59 |
2009 | Los Angeles Clippers | 22.5% | 19-63 | Eric Gordon & Baron Davis | 23-59 |
1997 | Dallas Mavericks | 25.9% | 24-58 | Derek Harper & Michael Finley | 26-56 |
1979 | San Diego Clippers | 26.1% | 43-39 | World B. Free & Kermit Washington | 27-55 |
1973 | Philadelphia 76ers | 26.5% | 9-73 | Manny Leaks & Leroy Ellis | 30-52 |
2002 | Memphis Grizzlies | 27.0% | 23-59 | Shane Battier & Pau Gasol | 23-59 |
1990 | San Antonio Spurs | 27.1% | 56-26 | David Robinson & Terry Cummings | 21-61 |
2005 | Los Angeles Lakers | 27.1% | 34-48 | Chucky Atkins & Caron Butler | 56-26 |
2004 | Minnesota Timberwolves | 27.2% | 58-24 | Latrell Sprewell & Sam Cassell | 51-31 |
1998 | Denver Nuggets | 28.1% | 11-71 | Dean Garrett & Johnny Newman | 21-61 |
2000 | Chicago Bulls | 28.2% | 17-65 | Elton Brand & Ron Artest | 13-37 |
1978 | New Jersey Nets | 29.0% | 24-58 | Bernard King & Kevin Porter | 22-60 |
1999 | Sacramento Kings | 29.0% | 27-23 | Jason Williams & Vlade Divac | 27-55 |
2005 | Houston Rockets | 30.6% | 51-31 | Tracy McGrady & Bob Sura | 45-37 |
1981 | Golden State Warriors | 32.5% | 39-43 | Joe Barry Carroll & Bernard King | 24-58 |
2000 | Orlando Magic | 32.7% | 41-41 | Ben Wallace & John Amaechi | 33-17 |
1978 | Seattle Supersonics | 33.2% | 47-35 | Marvin Webster & Gus Williams | 40-42 |
1978 | Buffalo Braves | 33.7% | 27-55 | Swen Nater & Billy Knight | 30-52 |
1982 | Dallas Mavericks | 34.1% | 28-54 | Jay Vincent & Allan Bristow | 15-67 |
1993 | Minnesota Timberwolves | 34.2% | 19-63 | Chuck Person & Christian Laettner | 15-67 |
1982 | Cleveland Cavaliers | 34.5% | 15-67 | James Edwards & Bob Wilkerson | 28-54 |
2005 | New Orleans Hornets | 34.8% | 18-64 | Dan Dickau & Lee Nailon | 41-41 |
2000 | Houston Rockets | 35.1% | 34-48 | Steve Francis & Shandon Anderson | 31-19 |
1996 | Philadelphia 76ers | 35.5% | 18-64 | Jerry Stackhouse & Vernon Maxwell | 24-58 |
1978 | Los Angeles Lakers | 35.7% | 45-37 | Norm Nixon & Lou Hudson | 53-29 |
1999 | Charlotte Hornets | 36.0% | 26-24 | Chucky Brown & Derrick Coleman | 51-31 |
As it turns out, the Heat probably aren't going to have an historic amount of personnel turnover despite having just two players under contract on July 8. Still, they'll likely be among the NBA leaders in 2011 -- for comparison's sake, only 4 teams in 2010 (the Raptors, Bucks, T-Wolves, & Pistons) gave less than 50% of their minutes to players who weren't on the roster the year before.
At the other end of the spectrum, here are the teams that were the most stable between two seasons:
Year | Team | Pct | Record | Top Newcomers | Prv. Rec. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1982 | Denver Nuggets | 99.7% | 46-36 | David Burns | 37-45 |
1994 | Miami Heat | 99.5% | 42-40 | Manute Bol & Morlon Wiley | 36-46 |
1972 | Boston Celtics | 99.4% | 56-26 | Clarence Glover | 44-38 |
1988 | Atlanta Hawks | 98.6% | 50-32 | Chris Washburn & Leon Wood | 57-25 |
1974 | Boston Celtics | 98.5% | 56-26 | Phil Hankinson & Steve Downing | 68-14 |
2000 | Indiana Pacers | 98.3% | 56-26 | Jonathan Bender & Zan Tabak | 33-17 |
1985 | Los Angeles Lakers | 98.3% | 62-20 | Ronnie Lester & Chuck Nevitt | 54-28 |
1978 | Philadelphia 76ers | 98.2% | 55-27 | Ted McClain & Wilson Washington | 50-32 |
1988 | Dallas Mavericks | 98.2% | 53-29 | Steve Alford & Jim Farmer | 55-27 |
1974 | New York Knickerbockers | 97.9% | 49-33 | Dick Garrett & Mel Davis | 57-25 |
1998 | Utah Jazz | 97.6% | 62-20 | Jacque Vaughn & William Cunningham | 64-18 |
1979 | San Antonio Spurs | 97.6% | 48-34 | Frankie Sanders & Glenn Mosley | 52-30 |
1968 | Philadelphia 76ers | 97.5% | 62-20 | Johnny Green & Ron Filipek | 68-13 |
1997 | Chicago Bulls | 97.2% | 69-13 | Robert Parish & Bison Dele | 72-10 |
1972 | Seattle Supersonics | 97.0% | 47-35 | Fred Brown & Jim McDaniels | 38-44 |
1986 | Houston Rockets | 96.8% | 51-31 | Steve Harris & Granville Waiters | 48-34 |
1985 | Boston Celtics | 96.8% | 63-19 | Ray Williams & Rick Carlisle | 62-20 |
1995 | New York Knickerbockers | 96.7% | 55-27 | Monty Williams & Doug Christie | 57-25 |
1991 | Detroit Pistons | 96.6% | 50-32 | John Long & Lance Blanks | 59-23 |
1979 | Washington Bullets | 96.5% | 54-28 | Dave Corzine & Roger Phegley | 44-38 |
1988 | Los Angeles Lakers | 96.4% | 62-20 | Milt Wagner & Tony Campbell | 65-17 |
1990 | Dallas Mavericks | 96.1% | 47-35 | Randy White & Bob McCann | 38-44 |
1974 | Chicago Bulls | 95.9% | 54-28 | Rick Adelman & John Hummer | 51-31 |
1992 | Chicago Bulls | 95.6% | 67-15 | Bob Hansen & Mark Randall | 61-21 |
1992 | Phoenix Suns | 95.5% | 53-29 | Jerrod Mustaf & Steve Burtt | 55-27 |
1986 | Denver Nuggets | 95.4% | 47-35 | Pete Williams & Blair Rasmussen | 52-30 |
2009 | Los Angeles Lakers | 95.4% | 65-17 | Josh Powell & Shannon Brown | 57-25 |
2008 | Denver Nuggets | 95.1% | 50-32 | Chucky Atkins & Bobby Jones | 45-37 |
1988 | Detroit Pistons | 95.1% | 54-28 | James Edwards & Ralph Lewis | 52-30 |
1982 | Boston Celtics | 95.1% | 63-19 | Danny Ainge & Charles Bradley | 62-20 |
August 11th, 2010 at 11:37 am
Here's the win increase percentages on the biggest turnovers. Of course, there are many other factors, but a quick glance suggests lots of turnover is probably not a good thing (duh).
https://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=0AowDfK6gQsDJdEN0a2NRbUx4OVhtMFNRZ2FWUDY0cVE&hl=en&output=html
August 11th, 2010 at 1:38 pm
Alot of championship teams on the second list....
Surprised the 08 Celts weren't on the first list
August 13th, 2010 at 9:57 am
Hi, Neil.
If I'm reading your charts correctly, the Average Win Total for the 30 teams you have listed in Chart 1 is 30.
I'd also be curious to know how the Average Win Total would look, if you adjusted your parameters to include:
i. All teams that changed at least 50% of their roster from the previous season;
ii. All teams that changed less than 50% of their roster from the previous season.
Thanks, in advance.
August 13th, 2010 at 12:47 pm
What I find interesting is how different the era's were. Looking at the decades and see how many times a team makes each of the two list yeilds the following:
Decade.... List 1... List 2
70's........6.........8
80's........4........10
90's........9.........8
00's.......11.........3
In the 70's and 80's there were more teams that had very little turnover than those with significant turnover. In the 90's it was evenly split. But in the 2000's there are almost 4 times as many teams on the high turnover list than the low turnover list.
August 14th, 2010 at 9:58 am
The most striking thing about your high turnover list is the lack of pairs of veterans of any significance as top newcomers. They're mostly rookies and journeyman. So it's not a very good predictor of how Miami will do. The closest comparison on your list would be the '04 Timberwolves (Sprewell & Cassell), who dipped slightly but still won 50+ games.
If you look at teams that brought in significant newcomers, the '08 Celtics (Garnett & Allen) stand out. Or the '08-'10 Lakers (Gasol, then Artest). Or the '70s Knicks adding Walt Frazier, Dave DeBusschere, Jerry Lucas, and Earl Monroe over a relatively short period.
You can't just look at quantity. You have to consider quality.