It has been a quiet start to free agency for Heat. Where things stand, as East continues to evolve
Just two months ago, Miami Heat president Pat Riley made clear he knew roster changes were needed. After all, the Heat has been eliminated in the first round of the playoffs in each of the last two seasons, has needed to qualify for the playoffs through the NBA’s play-in tournament in each of the last three seasons and finished this past regular season with a losing record for the first time since the 2018-19 season and just the sixth time in Riley’s 30 seasons with the organization.
“I think we do have to make changes,” Riley said during his season-ending news conference in May. “There’s no doubt. There has to be some change.”
But so far this offseason, there has been very little change for the Heat. As of Tuesday afternoon, the Heat has not yet made a roster move since free agency opened around the NBA on Monday at 6 p.m.
Meanwhile, two Eastern Conference teams that were also part of the play-in tournament with the Heat last season have been aggressive in improving their rosters this offseason. With a few of last season’s top East teams — the Boston Celtics (ruptured Achilles for Jayson Tatum and then trading away Kristaps Porzingis and Jrue Holiday), the Indiana Pacers (torn Achilles for Tyrese Haliburton and then losing Myles Turner in free agency) and the Milwaukee Bucks (waiving and stretching Damian Lillard after he tore his Achilles but then adding Turner in free agency) — facing major questions and dealing with major changes this upcoming season, the Atlanta Hawks and Orlando Magic have upgraded their rosters in hopes of taking advantage of what could be a wide-open conference.
The Hawks, which have been in the play-in tournament in each of the last four seasons, added Porzingis through a trade with the Celtics and has already received free-agent commitments from guards Nickeil Alexander-Walker and Luke Kennard this offseason.
The Magic, which was in the play-in tournament last season, landed guard Desmond Bane in a trade with the Memphis Grizzlies and added guard Tyus Jones in free agency this offseason.
But the Heat’s current roster looks almost exactly the same as the one that was outscored by 122 points in a four-game first-round sweep to the Cleveland Cavaliers this past season for the most lopsided playoff series in NBA history. Thirteen of the 15 players from last season’s Heat’s season-ending standard roster are still with Miami.
The only new face on the current roster is guard Kasparas Jakucionis, who the Heat selected with the 20th overall pick in this year’s draft. The two players from last season’s Heat season-ending roster currently not yet committed to return to Miami are guard Alec Burks and three-point shooting forward Duncan Robinson.
The Heat’s current salary-cap breakdown includes these 14 players on standard contracts with partially guaranteed or fully guaranteed salaries for next season: Bam Adebayo ($37.1 million), Tyler Herro ($31 million), Andrew Wiggins ($28.2 million), Terry Rozier ($24.9 million of $26.6 million salary currently guaranteed), Davion Mitchell (estimated $11.5 million), Kyle Anderson ($9.2 million), Haywood Highsmith ($5.6 million), Nikola Jovic ($4.4 million), Kel’el Ware ($4.4 million), Kevin Love ($4.2 million), Jaime Jaquez Jr. ($3.9 million), Jakucionis ($3.7 million), Pelle Larsson ($978,000 of $2 million salary currently guaranteed) and Keshad Johnson ($2 million).
This leaves the Heat just one player short of the 15-man regular-season limit for an NBA standard roster. When including the full salaries for Rozier and Larsson but not including cap holds, the Heat has about $173.8 million in salaries committed to 14 players for next season.
With the salary cap for the 2025-26 season set at $154.6 million and the luxury tax set at $187.9 million, the Heat is about $14 million below the luxury-tax threshold for this upcoming season. After finishing as a luxury tax team in each of the last two seasons, the expectation is the Heat will try to find a way to get below the luxury tax threshold this upcoming season in order to avoid the onerous repeater tax that’s triggered when a team crosses the luxury tax threshold in four straight seasons or four times during a five-season period.
When including the $2.5 million in “unlikely to be earned incentives” (are added to calculate where teams are against the aprons) that raise Herro’s cap number for this upcoming season to $33.5 million, the Heat has about $176.3 million in salaries committed to 14 players for next season. This has Miami about $19.6 million below the punitive first apron of $195.9 million and far from the dreaded second apron of $207.8 million.
The list of players from the Heat’s season-ending roster who are free agents this summer includes Robinson (unrestricted free agent), Burks (unrestricted free agent), guard Josh Christopher (unrestricted free agent), guard Dru Smith (restricted free agent) and guard Isaiah Stevens (unrestricted free agent). Mitchell was on this list as a restricted free agent before he reached an agreement to return to the Heat prior to Monday’s start of league-wide negotiations.
One option for the Heat to fill its final standard roster spot is bringing back Robinson on a contract that would pay him the $9.9 million he would have been guaranteed for next season (but opted out of when he exercised the early-termination option in his contract for next season to become a free agent) with additional season of guaranteed money tacked on. For example, a $33 million contract over three years that would give Robinson a significant amount of guaranteed money while also keeping his cap hit for this upcoming season at $9.9 million to leave the Heat some room under the luxury-tax threshold.
But the expectation as of Tuesday afternoon is Robinson will not be returning to the Heat, according to multiple league sources.
The expectation is that Robinson will land with a new team through a sign-and-trade transaction that could bring assets back to the Heat, according to an Eastern Conference source. The Detroit Pistons are among the teams that have been pursuing the 31-year-old Robinson in free agency.
If Robinson doesn’t return to Miami, the Heat would have enough room under the luxury tax to use the $14.1 million non-taxpayer midlevel exception and/or the $5.1 million bi-annual exception to offer outside free agents without crossing the first apron.
This is important because using either the non-taxpayer midlevel exception or the bi-annual exception would hard cap the Heat at the first apron of $195.9 million.
With the Heat about $14 million away from the luxury-tax threshold, it could use most of the non-taxpayer midlevel exception to add an outside free agent while also still avoiding the luxury tax.
The issue for the Heat is the free-agent market is quickly drying up. Among the midlevel exception or minimum options still available in unrestricted free agency are Deandre Ayton, Spencer Dinwiddie, Al Horford, Russell Westbrook, Malcolm Brogdon, Chris Boucher, Amir Coffey, Gary Payton II, Chris Paul, Jaxson Hayes, Monte Morris, Ben Simmons, Seth Curry, De’Anthony Melton, Talen-Horton Tucker, Cameron Payne, Landry Shamet, Precious Achiuwa, Trey Lyles, Doug McDermott, Dalano Banton, Garrison Matthews, Kyle Lowry, Gary Harris, Javonte Green, Eric Gordon, Dante Exum, Marvin Bagley, Cam Reddish, Josh Richardson, Alex Len, Torrey Craig, Moe Wagner, Lonnie Walker IV, Johnny Juzang, Bol Bol, Tre Mann and James Wiseman.
Lillard is expected to join that list as an unrestricted free agent once he clears waivers after being released by the Bucks on Tuesday. The Heat has been interested in Lillard in the past and pursued him when he requested a trade to Miami in the 2023 offseason, but the question is what will the market be for a player who will turn 35 on July 15 and is expected to miss most or all of next season after tearing his Achilles during this year’s playoffs.
Lillard averaged 24.9 points, 4.7 rebounds, 7.1 assists and 1.2 steals per game while shooting 44.8 percent from the field and 37.6 percent on threes this past regular season. The Heat could use one of its exceptions to sign Lillard to a two-year contract, allow him to rehab in its facilities this upcoming season and then hope to have a healthy Lillard for the 2026-27 season.
According to a source close to the situation, Lillard will spend some time deciding whether he wants to sign a multi-year deal with a team this offseason or just begin this upcoming season without a team as he rehabs from his injury.
The Heat is expected to have interest in Lillard and Lillard continues to have interest in playing for Miami, according to multiple league sources.
Among the top restricted free agents available are Jonathan Kuminga, Josh Giddey, Cam Thomas, Quentin Grimes and Isaiah Jackson.
While some of the top free agents in this year’s class are off the board, the Heat does have some flexibility to make changes to its roster through trades.
The Heat has three trade exceptions at its disposal of $16.1 million (expires on Feb. 6, 2026), $3.1 million (expires on Feb. 6, 2026) and $2.1 million (expires on Dec. 15, 2025). Trade exceptions allow a team to acquire a player in a trade even if their salary would otherwise put the team over the salary cap or the team is already over the salary cap, but utilizing a trade exception hard caps a team at the first apron.
Midlevel exceptions can also now be used to trade for a player whose salary and contract length fit within the exception’s parameters.
The Heat’s salary-cap position also could help facilitate a potential trade, as teams under the first and second aprons are permitted to take back more salary in a trade than they send out, aggregate salaries in a trade and acquire a player through a sign-and-trade transaction.
However, taking back more salary in a trade than it sends out and/or adding a player through a sign-and-trade agreement would hard cap the Heat at the first apron. And aggregating salaries in a trade would hard cap the Heat at the second apron.
Could the Heat’s quiet start in free agency and this flexibility to execute a trade all be part of a plan to wait on a potential trade demand from Milwaukee Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo? The Heat would assuredly be interested in Antetokounmpo, but there’s still no indication that he will try to push his way out of Milwaukee this offseason and other teams have more assets to throw at the Bucks in a potential trade for Antetokounmpo.
In fact, the thought was the Bucks’ aggressive and surprising move to land Turner, who was one of the top players in this year’s free agent class, would lead to Antetokounmpo staying in Milwaukee. But according to longtime NBA reporter Chris Haynes, Antetokounmpo is “not pleased with the team’s decision to waive Damian Lillard” that was necessary to add Turner on a four-year deal worth $107 million.
Whatever happens, the Heat knows it needs to make changes to its roster. Those changes just haven’t happened yet.
“Run it back, we’re not going to do that,” Riley said in May. “We’re going to try to stay away from that. … We probably won’t run it back. But players aren’t just going to show up. You have to make deals, you have to look at the board. You got to try to do something that’s going to benefit something with your team.”
This story was originally published July 1, 2025 at 12:54 PM.
