Heat makes cuts to set roster for start of season and promote Dru Smith to two-way deal
With cut-down day approaching, the Miami Heat didn’t waste any time in preparing its roster for the start of the regular season.
Shortly after defeating the New Orleans Pelicans 120-103 on Wednesday night at FTX Arena to close the preseason at 4-1, the Heat made a series of roster moves.
As expected, the Heat waived three Exhibit 10 players, Mychal Mulder, Orlando Robinson and Jamaree Bouyea. They are all now on track to transition to the organization’s G League affiliate, the Sioux Falls Skyforce, to continue their development.
But the Heat made another move on Wednesday night that wasn’t as much of a formality, releasing guard Marcus Garrett from his two-way contract and then converting guard Dru Smith’s Exhibit 10 deal to a two-way contract. Garrett, who will miss at least the next four weeks because of a fractured right wrist, will remain around the team to rehab his injury.
NBA teams have a 5 p.m. Monday deadline to cut rosters to the regular-season maximum of 15 players, which does not include the two two-way contract slots. But teams have to make those moves by 5 p.m. Saturday because of the 48-hour waiver period.
Heat coach Erik Spoelstra declined to comment on the news Wednesday night, but noted that the front office was in the process of making a few roster moves following its preseason finale. The Heat, which officially announced the roster changes on Thursday afternoon, opens the regular season this upcoming Wednesday against the Chicago Bulls at FTX Arena.
The Heat, which carried the preseason maximum of 20 players before these roster cuts, will enter the regular season with 14 players on standard contracts: Bam Adebayo, Jimmy Butler, Dewayne Dedmon, Udonis Haslem, Tyler Herro, Haywood Highsmith, Nikola Jovic, Caleb Martin, Kyle Lowry, Victor Oladipo, Duncan Robinson, Max Strus, Gabe Vincent and Omer Yurtseven.
Entering the season with 14 players is one shy of the NBA regular-season maximum of 15 players but still acceptable under NBA roster rules. Miami has gone with 14 players in previous seasons when up against the luxury tax, like it is this season.
The Heat has about $150.1 million committed to salaries for next season with the NBA setting the 2022-23 salary cap at $123.7 million and luxury-tax threshold at $150.3 million. That leaves the Heat just about $200,000 away from entering the tax, which does not give Miami enough space to sign a 15th player to a standard contract without becoming a luxury tax team.
Avoiding the luxury tax again pushes back the clock on the looming punitive repeater tax (when a team is over the tax at least three times during a four-year period). The last time the Heat finished as a tax team was in the 2019-20 season.
As for the Heat’s two two-way contract slots, there has been some recent turnover there.
After waiving forward Darius Days from his two-way contract to be able to convert forward Jamal Cain’s Exhibit 10 deal to a two-way contract on Sunday, the Heat released the injured Garrett to reward Smith with a two-way deal.
Although it appears that Cain and Smith will open the season as the Heat’s two two-way contract players, two-way contracts can be swapped out at any time as Days and Garrett learned in recent days.
Smith earned the promotion with a strong preseason, averaging 7.4 points while shooting 45.5 percent from the field and 41.7 percent from three-point range, 2.4 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game in five preseason appearances.
Smith, who went undrafted last year out of Missouri, played in three summer league games with the Heat in July, averaging 12 points, 1.7 rebounds, 1.7 assists and three steals per game while shooting 46.4 percent from the field. He appeared in 10 games (five starts) with the Heat’s G League affiliate, the Sioux Falls Skyforce, last season and averaged eight points, 3.3 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 1.2 steals per game.
Smith turns 25 on Dec. 30. He was named to the All-SEC First Team and became the first player in school history to be named to the SEC All-Defensive Team as a redshirt senior at Missouri.
Cain, 23, also earned his promotion to a two-way contract with a standout preseason. Undrafted out of Oakland University this year, he averaged 10.6 points while shooting 51.4 percent from the field and 5 of 13 (38.5 percent) from three-point range, 5.4 rebounds, 1.4 assists and 1.4 steals per game in five preseason appearances.
Two-way contracts do not count toward the salary cap or luxury tax and allow for players to be on their NBA team’s active list for as many as 50 regular-season games, with other game action having to come in the G League. Those on two-way deals are not eligible to take part in the NBA playoffs.
With the preseason complete and the Heat’s roster for the start of the regular season now set, the countdown to Wednesday’s opener begins. The Heat will have Thursday and Friday off before returning to practice Saturday at FTX Arena to continue its preparation for the start of the regular season.
This story was originally published October 13, 2022 at 10:36 AM.
