Uncertainty surrounding Terry Rozier’s Heat future remains, but he’s expected in camp
While questions remain regarding guard Terry Rozier’s future with the Miami Heat, the expectation is Rozier will be an active participant in Heat training camp next week.
There have been internal discussions about the options the team has with Rozier’s contract and there have even been trade discussions involving Rozier this offseason. But the Heat’s plan, barring something unforeseen, is to begin training camp Tuesday at Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton with Rozier on its roster, according to multiple league sources.
What were the Heat’s offseason options with Rozier, who is due $26.6 million this season in the final year of his current contract?
The Heat could have attempted to negotiate a buyout with Rozier, 31, to shave off some of the money it owes him while also allowing Rozier to become a free agent and find a fresh start elsewhere. But a buyout was never seen as a likely outcome because Rozier’s outside NBA options appear to be limited in part because he remains linked to an ongoing federal gambling investigation.
The Heat could have just waived Rozier to create an additional $1.7 million of room below the tax line because only $24.9 million of Rozier’s $26.6 million salary for this upcoming season is currently guaranteed. But this would have required the Heat to pay $24.9 million to a player — Rozier — not on its roster.
The Heat could have also used the waive-and-stretch provision on Rozier to create more room below the luxury tax. Waiving and stretching Rozier would have lowered his cap hit from $26.6 million this upcoming season to about $8.3 million during each of the next three seasons, but the downside of that option is he would have gone from an expiring salary to one that would be on Miami’s books for the next three years, albeit on a smaller number. The deadline to waive and stretch a player was Aug. 29.
In addition, the Heat could have simply traded Rozier. While the Heat has been and is still open to trading Rozier, it has been hesitant to sacrifice future draft capital or salary cap flexibility just to dump his expiring contract.
Instead, the Heat is currently operating under the expectation that Rozier will be one of the seven guards on its standard roster at the start of the season, along with Tyler Herro, Kasparas Jakucionis, Pelle Larsson, Davion Mitchell, Norman Powell and Dru Smith.
With Herro expected to miss at least the first month of the regular season after undergoing surgery on Friday to alleviate posterior impingement syndrome in his left ankle, Rozier could actually get an opportunity to earn some playing time early in the schedule.
But Rozier has plenty to prove, as he’s coming off arguably the worst season of his NBA career. Rozier began last season as a Heat starter and was expected to be one of the team’s top offensive players, but he instead completely fell out of the Heat’s rotation toward the end of the season.
Rozier averaged 10.6 points per game on 39.1% shooting from the field and 29.5% shooting from three-point range in 64 appearances last regular season. That’s the fewest points he has averaged and the worst field-goal percentage he has recorded in a season since his fourth NBA season in 2018-19, with Rozier’s three-point percentage his worst for a season since his rookie year in 2015-16.
Rozier was one of only four players in the NBA who shot worse than 40% from the field and worse than 30% on threes while playing in at least 60 games last regular season. That list also includes Tidjane Salaun, Ricky Council IV and Jett Howard.
WHERE HEAT’S ROSTER STANDS
After reaching an agreement with big man Precious Achiuwa on a one-year non-guaranteed contract on Wednesday, the Heat is currently at the NBA regular-season limit of 15 players on standard contracts for this upcoming season: Bam Adebayo, Herro, Andrew Wiggins, Rozier, Powell, Mitchell, Simone Fontecchio, Nikola Jovic, Kel’el Ware, Jaime Jaquez Jr., Jakucionis, Larsson, Achiuwa, Smith and Keshad Johnson.
But with the Heat already at the preseason maximum of 21 players signed to contracts (including two-way contracts and Exhibit 10 deals) prior to adding Achiuwa, Miami waived developmental guard Gabe Madsen from his Exhibit 10 deal to make room for Achiuwa. Madsen, who went undrafted this year out of Utah, could still end up with the Heat’s G League affiliate.
The Heat’s two-way contract players are forward Myron Gardner and center Vlad Goldin, with the third two-way slot still open. Two-way contracts, which pay half the NBA rookie minimum and do not count toward the salary cap or luxury tax, 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.
After releasing Madsen, the four players who the Heat currently has signed to Exhibit 10 contracts are forward Dain Dainja, guard Trevor Keels, guard Ethan Thompson and guard Jahmir Young. Exhibit 10 deals essentially represent an invite to training camp and provide a financial incentive for that player to join the organization’s G League affiliate.
While the Heat has until the end of the regular season to avoid the luxury tax, it will need to shed some salary to get under the tax threshold if it keeps Achiuwa on its roster past Jan. 10, when his full salary becomes guaranteed.
With the Heat just about $1.6 million under the luxury tax threshold before adding Achiuwa, guaranteeing his full salary would take the Heat about $700,000 above the luxury tax line if the current roster remains intact.
One way the Heat could dip under the luxury tax is by waiving Rozier to create that additional $1.7 million of room below the luxury tax line before his full $26.6 million salary for this season becomes fully guaranteed on Jan. 10.
The Heat could also make a trade to shed salary to stay out of luxury tax territory or simply not keep Achiuwa around long enough to push above the luxury tax threshold.
This is important because the Heat does not intend to cross the luxury-tax threshold this season unless it’s to add an All-Star talent. After finishing as a luxury tax team in each of the past two seasons, the Heat wants to stay out of the luxury tax this 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 must trim its roster to a maximum of 18 players (15 on standard contracts and three on two-way contracts) before the start of the regular season. Miami, which will hold its annual Media Day on Monday at Kaseya Center, opens the regular season on Oct. 22 against the Magic in Orlando.
This story was originally published September 25, 2025 at 9:49 AM.
