Q: Does Terry Rozier report to camp? – Bernie.
A: I would think so, or at least offers to report to camp. An interesting element of Terry Rozier’s contract is that while he holds a contract where $24.9 million of his full $26.6 million is guaranteed, all of it becomes guaranteed if he sustains a basketball-related injury. In that case, the Heat would lose the option of waiving him prior to the NBA’s Jan. 10 guarantee date in order to sign a replacement player (Precious Achiuwa?). So there could be something to the Heat asking him to remain home in order to avoid camp or preseason injury. Terry, though, would have a say in that process. Or this all could be overstated, with the Heat simply valuing his contract to the degree that they would want such a chip, injury or no injury, to potentially toss into a trade. Terry as salary-cap number ultimately could trump Terry as roster component.
Q: What’s happening with Precious Achiuwa? – Jon.
A: I believe he still would like to get to the Heat. But for the rest of the story, see the answer to the question above. The Heat did not offload Haywood Highsmith at the cost of an outgoing second round pick to then dive right back into the tax. If tax space opens up for one more veteran contract, I still believe Precious would be a frontrunner for such a spot.
Q: Ira, the offseason has been a snooze button. What’s going to wake the Heat up? – Richie.
A: I’m as curious as you are. Say what you wanted about Jimmy Butler, but he was a compelling NBA character. I’m not sure the Heat have a compelling NBA character at the moment (with all due respect to Tyler Herro’s swag). Bam Adebayo? Nice guy. Andrew Wiggins? Nice guy. Norman Powell? Nice guy. Kel’el Ware? Quiet guy. I guess outside of Tyler and his swag, Davion Mitchell might make the strongest case, based on the way he savors the spotlight.