Heat acquiring Norman Powell as part of three-team trade with Clippers and Jazz. The details
After a quiet start to the offseason, the Miami Heat made its first big move of the summer on Monday.
As part of a three-team trade with the Los Angeles Clippers and the Utah Jazz, the Heat is acquiring veteran guard Norman Powell from the Clippers, a league source confirmed to the Miami Herald on Monday. The Heat is sending center Kevin Love and forward Kyle Anderson to the Utah Jazz to acquire Powell.
The full trade has John Collins going from the Jazz to the Clippers, Powell going to the Heat and Love, Anderson and a 2027 Clippers second-round pick going to the Jazz.
Powell, 32, brings a much-needed scoring punch to a Heat team that has finished with a bottom-10 offensive rating in each of the last three seasons. Powell also helps fill the three-point shooting void that Duncan Robinson leaves behind after Robinson committed to join the Detroit Pistons in free agency this offseason.
Powell produced All-Star caliber numbers last regular season, averaging a career-high 21.8 points to go with 3.2 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 1.2 steals per game while shooting 48.4% from the field and 41.8% on 7.1 three-point attempts per game for the Clippers. Powell was among six NBA players who averaged at least 21 points per game while shooting better than 48% from the field and better than 40% from three-point range last regular season along with Nikola Jokic, Kevin Durant, Karl-Anthony Towns, Zach LaVine and Kawhi Leonard.
Powell also averaged 16 points, 2.4 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 1.1 steals per game while shooting 47.2% from the field and 35% on threes in seven playoff games last season.
Powell, who won an NBA championship with the Toronto Raptors in 2019 before spending the last three-plus seasons with the Clippers, is on an expiring $20.5 million salary for this upcoming season and will be an unrestricted free agent next offseason. He’s currently eligible to sign an extension worth up to $80.6 million over three seasons, with that extension window closing on June 30, 2026.
The Heat’s roster was at the NBA regular-season limit of 15 players on standard contracts for this upcoming season prior to Monday’s trade, but is now back down to 14 players on standard deals after trading two players to acquire Powell: 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), Powell ($20.5 million), Davion Mitchell (estimated $11.5 million), Simone Fontecchio ($8.3 million), Haywood Highsmith ($5.6 million), Nikola Jovic ($4.4 million), Kel’el Ware ($4.4 million), Jaime Jaquez Jr. ($3.9 million), Kasparas Jakucionis ($3.7 million), Pelle Larsson ($978,000 of $2 million salary currently guaranteed) and Keshad Johnson ($2 million).
When including the full salaries for Rozier and Larsson but not including cap holds, the Heat now has about $189.2 million in salaries committed to 14 players for next season. That puts the Heat in luxury tax territory after finding itself out of the luxury tax before the trade for Powell.
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 $1.3 million above the luxury-tax threshold with one open spot on its standard roster for this upcoming season. After finishing as a luxury tax team in each of the last two seasons, the Heat intends to escape the luxury tax for 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.
The Heat has until the end of the upcoming regular season to dip below the tax, as luxury tax bills are determined based on a team’s salary situation at the end of each regular season.
Another consequence of the trade: The Heat is now hard-capped at the first apron of $195.9 million since it took in more salary (Powell’s $20.5 million salary) than it sent out ($13.4 million combined salary for Anderson and Love) in the trade.
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 $191.7 million in salaries committed to 14 players for next season. This has Miami about $4.2 million below the punitive first apron of $195.9 million that it can’t cross until the end of this upcoming season following the trade for Powell.
That doesn’t give the Heat much money to add a 15th player, as it currently can only use a portion of its midlevel exception up to about $4.2 million or a minimum contract to add an outside free agent like three-time All-Star guard Bradley Beal (who is reportedly close to agreeing to a contract buyout with the Phoenix Suns) and/or nine-time All-Star guard Damian Lillard (who was waived and had his contract stretched by the Milwaukee Bucks this offseason). Of course, another trade could further change the Heat’s salary-cap math.
According to a league source, the trade for Powell makes a Heat move for Beal unlikely. But Lillard, who is expected to miss all or most of this upcoming season after tearing his Achilles during this year’s playoff, remains a possibility for Miami, especially if he doesn’t sign with a team before the start of this season and instead waits until midway through this season or next offseason to pick his new team.
“Never thought I’d be a math problem. Welcome to the NBA,” Love tweeted in reaction to Monday’s trade.
The list of players from the Heat’s season-ending roster who remain free agents this summer includes guard Alec Burks (unrestricted free agent), guard Josh Christopher (unrestricted free agent), guard Dru Smith (restricted free agent) and guard Isaiah Stevens (unrestricted free agent).
Love’s Heat tenure ends after 2.5 seasons, joining Miami midway through the 2022-23 season following a contract buyout with the Cleveland Cavaliers. With his on-court role diminished last season (appeared in just 23 games last regular season), the 36-year-old Love took on more of a mentorship role as an accomplished veteran in the Heat’s locker room prior to being traded Monday.
Anderson’s Heat tenure lasted just a few months after joining Miami as part of the Jimmy Butler trade this past February. The 31-year-old Anderson averaged 6.7 points, 3.8 rebounds and 2.6 assists per game in 25 regular-season appearances for the Heat last regular season.
With NBA transactions now able to become official after the league-wide moratorium was lifted Sunday at noon, the Heat formally announced the acquisition of Fontecchio, the trade for Powell and the re-signing of Mitchell on Monday.
While 15 players on standard contracts is the regular-season limit, NBA teams are allowed to carry up to 21 players during the offseason and preseason (including up to three two-way contract players). Along with 14 players on standard deals, the Heat also has undrafted rookie center Vlad Goldin signed to a two-way contract for a total of 15 players on its current offseason/preseason roster.
This story was originally published July 7, 2025 at 11:10 AM.
