The Miami Heat is reportedly interested in buying out Terry Rozier. (Mandatory Credit: Carmen Mandato/Getty Images)
We are roughly one month away from the start of training camp, and the Miami Heat’s roster remains fairly unbalanced.
They have an abundance of guard depth and little to no frontcourt depth, which is beyond questionable roster construction. And one could argue that one of the odd men out is veteran guard Terry Rozier, who’s coming off one of the worst seasons of his career.
The Heat have been more than open about wanting to move him in the last year of his contract. However, there are struggles with that, given he’s directly tied to a months-long federal betting investigation.
Reports surfaced Thursday that Miami was interested in buying out the 31-year-old guard, but one complication could prevent an immediate solution.
Why a Terry Rozier-Heat buyout may be unrealistic in the immediate future:
In a perfect world, it’s best for both sides to no longer be invested in a partnership.
Rozier is expected to be out of the rotation at the season’s start, barring injury. Ideally, you don’t want him to stint the potential growth of Kasparas Jakucionis, Pelle Larsson or Davion Mitchell. And, most importantly, his on-court fit remains questionable alongside Bam Adebayo and Tyler Herro.
However, for a buyout to occur, the player must forfeit a percentage of his salary. There isn’t much downside from a team perspective, given they build a little more flexibility. In this case, this would likely allow the Heat to sign another veteran minimum contract to remain below the luxury tax — a threshold they’re currently $1.6 million under.
Though considering not only the fact that Rozier had a down season, but the fact that he’s attached to a federal investigation, there wouldn’t be an immediate home to offset the money lost. All it takes is one team, but conventional wisdom suggests his market would be drier than a summer in Arizona — until the investigation is cleared (similar to Malik Beasley).
There would essentially be no upside from Rozier’s perspective. It takes two to tango, and I, personally, don’t think he’d be willing to forgo money until he knows he has a market elsewhere.
The Miami Heat have had trouble moving the 6-foot-2 combo guard all summer. That’s not going to change now. Rozier could very well begin the 2025-26 season on the Heat roster, unless they outright waive him without forfeiting any dough.
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