KZ Okpala traded to Thunder. What it means for Heat’s current roster, stock of draft picks
Even with the top record in the Eastern Conference at 35-20, the Miami Heat is making at least one move before Thursday’s 3 p.m. NBA trade deadline.
The Heat opened another roster spot, added flexibility under the luxury tax and unlocked additional first-round picks that can be included in a future trade by sending forward KZ Okpala to the Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday in exchange for a 2026 second-round pick. The 2026 second-round selection will be the lessor from either the Thunder, Dallas Mavericks or Philadelphia 76ers, which are all currently held by Oklahoma City.
As part of the trade, the Heat and Thunder agreed to amend the protections of the first-round pick that Miami already owed to Oklahoma City to a protected 2025 first-round selection that will turn into a 2026 unprotected pick if it’s not conveyed in 2025.
The Heat previously owed a 2023 first-round pick to the Thunder with draft protections that ran until 2026, which prevented Miami from including an unprotected first-round selection in a trade until 2028. The NBA doesn’t allow teams to be without consecutive future first-round picks.
But by amending the protections to push the pick owed to the Thunder back from 2023 to 2025, the Heat is now able to include an unprotected 2022, 2023 and/or 2028 first-round selection in a trade.
The Heat practiced Wednesday afternoon in Washington, D.C., before flying to New Orleans for Thursday’s matchup against the Pelicans (7:30 p.m., Bally Sports Sun) that marks the end of Miami’s six-game trip.
Okpala, 22, has been sidelined since late December because of a wrist injury. He averaged 3.7 points, two rebounds and 0.7 assists in 21 games with the Heat this season.
The Heat traded three second-round picks to acquire Okpala on draft night in 2019.
Okpala was never able to find a consistent role with the Heat, as he spent the first two-plus seasons of his NBA career in Miami before Wednesday’s trade. He logged 717-regular-season minutes with the Heat and 572 minutes with the organization’s G League affiliate, the Sioux Falls Skyforce.
Okpala averaged 2.8 points on 40.6 percent shooting from the field and 27.3 percent shooting from three-point range, 1.8 rebounds and 0.5 assists in 63 regular-season games (nine starts) over three seasons with the Heat.
It wasn’t immediately clear if the Thunder planned to keep Okpala, who is on a $1.8 million salary in the final year of his rookie contract.
The Thunder was able to take Okpala’s salary back in the trade as the only NBA team currently with cap space. Oklahoma City is also below the minimum salary floor.
Along with unlocking additional first-round picks for Miami to deal, the trade also created another open spot on the Heat’s roster and additional room below the luxury tax threshold.
Miami now has 13 players signed to standard contracts, two fewer than the league-maximum of 15 players. NBA teams can only carry 13 players on standard contracts for up to two weeks before rules force a 14th player to be added.
But without Okpala’s $1.8 million salary on the books, the Heat went from just a little more $100,000 away from the luxury tax to $1.9 million under the luxury tax line.
This provides the Heat with enough room to immediately fill both of its empty roster spots with players at the NBA minimum salary. Miami wants to avoid the luxury tax this season, with the threat of the punitive repeater lax (when a team is over the tax at least three times during a four-year period) looming.
The Heat will almost assuredly fill one of its open roster spots by converting Caleb Martin’s two-way deal into a standard contract to make him eligible for the playoffs. Once Martin is moved to a standard contract, Miami will be able to fill his two-way spot with another prospect.
And now the Heat has another opening on its 15-man roster to bring in a player via the buyout market.
Potential buyout candidates include Gary Harris, Thaddeus Young, Tristan Thompson, Goran Dragic, Serge Ibaka and Paul Millsap. But Dragic would only be eligible to sign with the Heat this season if the Toronto Raptors trade him to another team and he then agrees to a buyout with his new team.
This marks the fifth straight year that the Heat has been active around the trade deadline.
The Heat acquired Nemanja Bjelica and Victor Oladipo on deadline day last year, added Jae Crowder, Andre Iguodala and Solomon Hill just hours before the deadline in 2020, traded for Ryan Anderson on the eve of the deadline in 2019, and re-acquired Dwyane Wade on trade deadline day in 2018.
The Heat already dealt Okpala on the eve of the trade deadline this year, and there’s still time for more moves to be made before Thursday afternoon.
▪ Tyler Herro (sore right knee) and Caleb Martin (left Achilles soreness) are listed as probable for Thursday’s game against the Pelicans. Markieff Morris (return to competition reconditioning) and Victor Oladipo (right knee injury recovery) remain out for the Heat.
▪ As part of another roster move on Wednesday, center Chris Silva left the Heat upon the expiration of his 10-day contract as a COVID-19 replacement. He returned to the Iowa Wolves, the Minnesota Timberwolves’ G League affiliate that holds his rights.
This story was originally published February 9, 2022 at 3:18 PM.
