.jpg "NBA player Terry Rozier departs after his arraignment hearing at Brooklyn Federal Court on charges tied to illegal sports betting and poker game schemes on December 8, 2025 in New York City.")
NBA player Terry Rozier departs after his arraignment hearing at Brooklyn Federal Court on charges tied to illegal sports betting and poker game schemes on December 8, 2025 in New York City.
CHARLY TRIBALLEAU
AFP via Getty Images
The Miami Heat finally received some closure on the Terry Rozier situation.
With Rozier away from the team and not expected back this season in the wake of his Oct. 23 arrest stemming from a federal investigation into illegal gambling, the Charlotte Hornets are sending a 2026 second-round pick to the Heat to resolve a dispute over Rozier being under NBA and federal investigation over alleged gambling when Charlotte traded him to Miami in January 2024, a league source confirmed to the Miami Herald on Monday.
The 2026 second-round selection that the Heat is getting is the more favorable second-round pick between the Denver Nuggets or Golden State Warriors. As of Monday, the Warriors would have the more favorable second-round pick this year at No. 44 overall.
However, the Heat still owes the Hornets the first-round pick it dealt for Rozier two years ago.
That first-round pick will convey to the Hornets in 2027 if the Heat makes the playoffs next season. If the Heat misses the playoffs next season, then Charlotte would receive Miami’s 2028 first-round pick regardless of where it falls in the first round.
The 2026 second-round pick that the Hornets are sending to the Heat is the only compensation that Miami will receive in the dispute, with a league source indicating that the dispute between the Heat and Hornets is now essentially closed.
Rozier, who is on a $26.6 million salary for this season, is set to become an unrestricted free agent this upcoming offseason. He was only with the Heat this regular season for the opener before being arrested on the morning of Oct. 23 at the Heat’s Orlando hotel following the team’s Oct. 22 season-opening road loss to the Magic.
The NBA placed Rozier on paid leave shortly after his arrest in October, with the Heat continuing to list him as “not with team” on its injury reports this season. While the NBA was initially having the Heat place Rozier’s salary in an interest-bearing account, his $26.6 million salary for this season was released to him in early February after the arbitrator’s ruling.
At the center of the dispute between Miami and Charlotte is the fact that the Heat was not made aware of the unusual betting activity involving Rozier before trading for the veteran guard.
“This is an unprecedented situation,” NBA commissioner Adam Silver said during a news conference in Las Vegas on Dec. 16 ahead of the NBA Cup’s championship game. “And I think I’m incredibly sympathetic to the Heat and to their fans. But I think we’re going to try to work something through, work this out with them. But there’s no obvious solution here.”
The NBA was alerted to the unusual betting activity 10 months before the Heat traded Kyle Lowry and a first-round pick to the Hornets for Rozier in January 2024, but the league did not inform the Heat (or other teams) of that red flag in the months that followed. The NBA went on to clear Rozier in its own investigation of him before a federal investigation later ended with his arrest.
The Hornets also did not inform the Heat, sources said. The Hornets declined to comment when asked in October if they knew of the NBA’s investigation at the time of the trade, whether they had any knowledge of sportsbooks flagging bets involving Rozier and why they did not inform the Heat if they did know.
The Heat, in fact, was unaware that Rozier was the subject of separate NBA and FBI investigations until the Wall Street Journal broke the story in January 2025.
Rozier, 31, made an appearance in a federal courthouse in Brooklyn, New York, in December for his arraignment. Rozier pleaded not guilty at his arraignment and was released on a $3 million bond secured by his home in South Florida.
Rozier has been charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering. He is accused of providing inside information to co-conspirators about his intentions to leave a March 2023 game early due to a foot injury while he was with the Charlotte Hornets, which enabled them to place large bets on him not reaching statistical thresholds.
In its indictment, the FBI alleges that Rozier told Deniro Laster, a childhood friend, that he planned to remove himself from the Hornets’ game against the New Orleans Pelicans on March 23, 2023. Laster allegedly sold this information to two betters for about $100,000.
Rozier left the game after just nine minutes with five points, four rebounds and two assists.
The indictment alleges that he paid for Laster to travel to Philadelphia to collect the proceeds from the scheme, and that Laster then drove to Rozier’s home in Charlotte, North Carolina, to count the money with him. The indictment does not detail the evidence against Rozier.
Rozier’s attorney, Jim Trusty, has denied the allegations.
Rozier remains on the Heat’s roster despite being away from the team. The Heat has the option to eventually waive Rozier before the end of the season, as it already has enough room to sign a replacement player for the rest of the season without crossing the luxury tax threshold.
The Heat now owns a first-round pick and a second-round pick in this year’s draft. The Heat’s only other second-round pick over the next seven drafts will come in 2027.
The Heat, which has won five straight games and sits in seventh place in the Eastern Conference with a 36-29 record after Sunday night’s home victory over the East-leading Detroit Pistons, will continue its schedule on Tuesday against the Washington Wizards at Kaseya Center (7:30 p.m., FanDuel Sports Network Sun).
INJURY REPORT
The Heat will remain without Keshad Johnson (G League), Nikola Jovic (low back injury management), Norman Powell (right groin strain), Rozier (not with team), Andrew Wiggins (left big toe sesamoiditis) and Jahmir Young (G League) for Tuesday’s matchup against the Wizards.
In addition, Heat second-year center Kel’el Ware is questionable for Tuesday’s game after suffering a strained right shoulder during Sunday’s win over the Pistons.
But the Heat is expected to get back three-point shooting forward Simone Fontecchio on Tuesday after he missed the last three games with a strained left groin. Fontecchio is listed as probable.
This story was originally published March 9, 2026 at 1:03 PM.
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Miami Herald
Anthony Chiang covers the Miami Heat for the Miami Herald. He attended the University of Florida and was born and raised in Miami.