The postseason has long been a stage where familiar contenders return year after year, yet scattered across league history are teams whose playoff trips have become rare sightings, brief sparks in stretches defined by rebuilding identities.
For some franchises, reaching spring basketball has meant battling through unstable rosters, unlucky timing or cycles that never quite align. Their appearances arrive in short bursts.
These teams carry stories shaped by scarcity—moments of promise followed by long waits that test patience and reshape expectations. Their paths offer a different lens on NBA competition, one built less on tradition and more on the pursuit of a breakthrough.
New Orleans Pelicans | 9 playoff appearances
Brandon Ingram #14 of the New Orleans Pelicans in 2024 (Source: Sean Gardner/Getty Images)
The New Orleans Pelicans stand out in the playoff scarcity conversation not because of a lack of talent — but because circumstance has repeatedly conspired against them. In their two decades of NBA history, the franchise has reached the postseason just 9 times, a modest number compared with most of the league.
This paltry total reflects not only a youthful franchise still carving out its identity, but also seasons brutally disrupted by injuries to cornerstone players. The Pelicans’ lore is heavily shaped by what might have been.
Zion Williamson’s tantalizing rise, marked by spectacular athleticism and alluring promise, has been repeatedly sidetracked by physical setbacks. These injury interruptions have not only kept fans on edge but undercut the team’s ability to build postseason continuity.
Even off-court decisions have proven pivotal: the high-profile firing of executive David Griffin in 2025 underscored the franchise’s hunger for structural success rather than fleeting sparks. For New Orleans, the playoff droughts feel less like failure than unfinished business.
Charlotte Hornets | 10 playoff appearances
Kon Knueppel #7 of the Charlotte Hornets in 2024 (Source: Jacob Kupferman/Getty Images)
Charlotte Hornets are among the most emblematic examples of persistent playoff struggles in the NBA. With 10 all-time postseason appearances in their history, they’ve spent far more seasons chasing relevance than celebrating victories.
Unlike some lottery teams that cycle through rebuilding phases quickly, Charlotte’s story is one of extended identity gaps. The periods between postseason pushes have often outlasted the glimpses of competitiveness on the floor.
Their last appearance came in 2016, and in the seasons since, inconsistency has plagued roster construction and strategic direction alike. This sporadic playoff presence isn’t rooted in total ineptitude but rather in their inability to string together sustained success.
Minnesota Timberwolves | 13 playoff appearances
Anthony Edwards #5 of the Minnesota Timberwolves in 2024 (Source: David Berding/Getty Images)
Rarely have long droughts and electric highs been so tightly entwined as in the history of the Minnesota Timberwolves. Their 13 total playoff appearances — modest by NBA standards — paint a picture of a franchise that has flirted with promise but seldom clutched consistency.
The Wolves’ greatest chapter came in 2004, when Kevin Garnett orchestrated a surge all the way to the Western Conference Finals, a run that remains a touchstone for fans decades later. Yet even that remarkable playoff journey feels almost like an anomaly within a broader landscape of unfulfilled potential.
In the years since, Minnesota has cycled through rebuilds, draft gambles, and coaching changes, each attempt reshaping expectations. While recent seasons have seen flashes of resurgence and a deeper competitive edge, the franchise’s overall playoff record still reads as a study in stops and starts, a reminder that rare postseason visits can feel like momentous breaths in an otherwise quiet history.
Toronto Raptors | 13 playoff appearances
Brandon Ingram #3 of the Toronto Raptors in 2025 (Source: Mark Blinch/Getty Images)
On the surface, the Toronto Raptors’ 13 playoff appearances might place them alongside other infrequent postseason teams, but their narrative takes on added intrigue thanks to a historic twist: they won an NBA championship, a feat few franchises with similar appearance counts can claim.
The Raptors’ golden moment came in 2019, when a blend of savvy management, defensive grit, and elite two-way stars culminated in the franchise’s first Larry O’Brien Trophy. It elevated Toronto from perennial underdog to global contender overnight.
Yet outside that unforgettable season, Toronto’s playoff narrative has been more muted, with several campaigns falling short of deep runs and sporadic appearances marking their timeline. Their story underscores a unique truth in NBA lore: impact isn’t only measured by frequency but by the depth of success when it arrives.
Memphis Grizzlies | 14 playoff appearances
Ja Morant #12 of the Memphis Grizzlies in 2025 (Source: Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)
The Memphis Grizzlies have carved out a niche identity rooted in toughness and character, but over the course of their history they’ve only made the playoffs 14 times, a reflection of the challenges small-market teams often face against the deep pockets and star power elsewhere in the league.
Memphis’s finest postseason hour arrived in 2013, when the gritty “Grit and Grind” squad powered its way to the Western Conference Finals. That journey wasn’t just a tactical triumph, it became a cultural hallmark of the franchise.
But such peaks have been spaced out over long stretches of regular-season rebuilding and roster churn. In a league where continuity increasingly translates to sustained success, the Grizzlies have often had to restart rather than refine, making each season at the cusp of postseason contention feel like a reset as much as a chance at progress.
Los Angeles Clippers | 19 playoff appearances
James Harden #1 of the LA Clippers in 2025 (Source: Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
In the sprawling sports metropolis of Los Angeles, the Clippers’ journey has been defined as much by perception as performance. They’ve made the playoffs 19 times, a respectable total compared with some expansion-era peers, yet their narrative has long been overshadowed by their glamorous citymates, the Lakers.
For decades, the Clippers were the epitome of the “other” LA team: perennial also-rans, draft lottery mainstays, hopeful but rarely headline-grabbing. That began to shift in the 2010s with the emergence of the Lob City era, when electrifying star power thrust them into meaningful playoff runs and energized a new generation of fans.
Yet even as the Clippers now compete regularly, their overall playoff history remains modest and uneven compared with blue-blood franchises. Their narrative is not one of perennial underachievement, but of persistent evolution: the story of a team shedding its underdog label yet still yearning for a signature postseason legacy.
Sacramento Kings | 30 playoff appearances
Russell Westbrook #18 of the Sacramento Kings in 2025 (Source: Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)
Of all the teams on this list, the Sacramento Kings’ story is the one that echoes through NBA lore as a testament to both history and heartbreak. With 30 all-time playoff appearances, they’ve certainly seen the postseason as often as many franchises but it’s their deep droughts between those visits that define them.
Sacramento once stood among the West’s fiercest competitors, even reaching the Conference Finals in the early 2000s. But that early promise was followed by an era of prolonged absence from the postseason: a 16-year gap between 2006 and 2022, the longest such stretch in league history.
When the Kings finally broke through that seemingly endless drought, it felt like a collective exhale from a fanbase that had endured heartbreak and false dawns for nearly two decades. Sacramento’s playoff narrative isn’t just about appearances, it’s about resilience and the emotional geography of waiting for return after return.
