MIAMI — Amid the unknowns of Thursday’s 3 p.m. NBA trading deadline, one of the likelihoods is that the clock is imminently ticking toward the end of Terry Rozier’s time on the Miami Heat roster.
With Rozier on NBA leave as he faces federal charges in the FBI’s gambling probe of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering, the veteran guard’s value going forward to the Miami Heat will be eliminated if his contract is not put into play by the deadline.
To this point, Rozier’s $26.6 million 2025-26 salary has remained on the Heat’s books as a ledger item, one potentially to be put into play at the deadline as a ledger item to balance a deal for salary-cap matching purposes. Such possibilities included being utilized in possible trades for Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo or Memphis Grizzlies guard Ja Morant.
But with Rozier’s case expected to play out in the court system well through the end of the season, that value of his contract as a transaction vehicle would be lost after 3 p.m. Thursday.
Instead, by waiving Rozier, the Heat would be able to open an additional spot on their standard roster, currently operating with 14 such players, one below the league maximum.
The Heat already have enough space under the punitive NBA luxury tax to add two players on veteran-minimum salaries and still remain below that threshold.
Options upon waiving Rozier would include promoting one of the team’s current two-way players to a standard contract, with guard Myron Gardner having recently emerged as a contributing player, starting two of the past three games, including Tuesday night’s 127-115 loss to the Atlanta Hawks at Kaseya Center that has the Heat at 27-25 going into the trading deadline.
In turn, the Heat then would be able to sign a replacement two-way player, with the deadline for such a move being March 4.
The Heat also could replace Rozier with a prospect on a multiyear contract, as a means of furthering the team’s developmental program.
Another option would be waiting to the March 1 deadline for players to be waived elsewhere in order to be signed on the buyout market. Because of how the Heat have maintained their payroll, they remain below the first luxury-tax threshold and therefore are not limited by what potential buyout prospects currently are earning.
Among options for the Heat to replace Rozier, if waived, would be adding players on 10-day contracts as a means of assessing talent on a short-term basis. Teams are allowed to sign players up to two 10-day contracts per season, before having to either convert such players to a standard deal or release them.
The only benefit of retaining Rozier to the end of the season would be to maintain at least 14 players under standard contract, with teams not allowed to go more than 28 days during the season below that threshold. By retaining Rozier, it would allow the Heat to save on paying an additional player.
The Heat made clear on Jan. 7 that the focus with Rozier was to potentially utilize his salary in a trade. Otherwise, the Heat could have saved $1.7 million of his salary which was not guaranteed beyond that date by waiving him at that deadline. Such a move would have allowed the Heat to sign a replacement player at that time.
While the NBA has not officially ruled that Rozier’s salary can be put into play in a trade as he remains on league leave, the working assumption is that such a transaction would be allowed.
There had been thought that by retaining Rozier on their books, it would make it easier for the Heat to claw back Rozier’s salary, which until earlier this week was being placed into an interest-bearing, escrow-type account. An arbitrator, however, on Monday released a ruling that Rozier’s salary, including the amount previously withheld, must be paid directly to the 31-year-old guard. That case was successfully argued for Rozier by the National Basketball Players Association.
The charges involving Rozier date to his time with the Charlotte Hornets, in a game he pulled himself early that featured several “under” proposition bets by those known to be Rozier associates.
Rozier, 31, was arraigned in December in Brooklyn federal court, pleading not guilty to the charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering. He was released on $3 million bond secured by his home in South Florida.
Rozier’s attorney has filed a motion to have the government’s charges dropped, citing a U.S. Supreme Court precedent that could stand in Rozier’s favor.
Rozier is in the final season of the contract the Heat acquired when they added Rozier in the January 2024 trade that sent Kyle Lowry and a first-round pick to the Charlotte Hornets. That pick is due to the Hornets in 2027 or ’28.