(Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-Imagn Images)
Of the 15 players who finished the season under (standard) contract, the Miami Heat had just two free agents this offseason — Alec Burks and Duncan Robinson.
Burks, 34, remains unsigned. Robinson, the greatest shooter in franchise history, agreed to a three-year deal with the Detroit Pistons.
The prize the Heat got back in the sign-and-trade was sharpshooting wing Simone Fontecchio, whose role shrank in his first full season with the Detroit Pistons a year ago. For most of his professional career, he’s been an above-average shooter, but shot just 33.5 percent from 3-point range.
He’ll be entering the final year of his deal at $8.3 million in 2025-26, but one recent report suggests there’s a chance he doesn’t suit up for the Heat.
Miami Heat could consider waiving Simone Fontecchio for tax reasons:
The Miami Heat currently has 14 players on roster and is $1.6 million above the luxury tax, according to Yossi Gozlan’s Capsheets. They opened up the additional roster spot in the Norman Powell three-team sign-and-trade in early July.
To get below the tax, Fontecchio “may be waived by the Heat” (via translation), according to Sports Digitale’s Niko Yenibayrak. Yenibayrak notes that Turkish team Fenerbahçe is monitoring the situation.
🚨Simone Fontecchio, Miami Heat tarafından serbest bırakılabilir.
Heat’in lüks vergisinden kaçınmak için oyuncuyu waive etmesi gündemde.
Fenerbahçe Beko, Avrupa’ya dönüş ihtimali beliren İtalyan yıldızın durumunu yakından takip ediyor. pic.twitter.com/cHKpmGJLw7
— Niko Yenibayrak (@nikoskrijelj) August 5, 2025
Fenerbahçe is one of the best teams in Europe. They won the EuroLeague last season with nine Turkish Cup championships, including four in the last seven seasons. A few notable players who play for Fenerbahçe are Wade Baldwin IV, Khem Birch and Brandon Boston Jr., who signed earlier this week.
The waive-and-stretch deadline for players is on Aug. 29. If any player is stretched after that point, his current year salary — in this case, Fontecchio’s $8.3 million — would still be paid out in full.
If done by Aug. 29, Fontecchio would be on the Heat books for the next three seasons at $2.8 million, thus pushing the Heat roughly $3.9 million below the luxury tax. Though they would need to get back to the 14-player minimum by adding a minimum contract. At worst, that costs $2.3 million.
They have been open about ducking it to avoid the repeater tax penalties, but they have until the end of next season before it’s calculated. In essence, the “soft” deadline to get under is by next February’s trade deadline.
I don’t think it would be wise to give up Fontecchio months before you get a chance to see how he would fit — especially when you have months to make a decision ahead of the deadline. What are your thoughts? Let us know in the comments!
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