Heat promotes Myron Gardner to standard contract, signs Trevor Keels to two-way deal. What it means
The Miami Heat’s standard roster is now full.
The Heat converted forward Myron Gardner’s two-way contract to a standard deal, a league source confirmed to the Miami Herald on Wednesday. Gardner fills the one vacant spot on the Heat’s 15-man standard roster, putting the Heat at the NBA-maximum of 15 players on standard contracts.
Gardner, who went undrafted in 2023, earned this promotion to a standard deal by impressing with his relentless energy and hustle while on a two-way contract with the Heat this season. Gardner’s three-year standard deal is at the minimum salary and runs through the end of the 2027-28 season, with a fully guaranteed salary for the remainder of this season and conditional guarantees in the second and third years of the deal.
Amid the Heat’s injury issues, Gardner played in seven straight games for the Heat before the NBA All-Star break. He logged double-digit minutes in five games and made the first four starts of his NBA career during this seven-game stretch.
Gardner, who turns 25 on May 21, averaged seven points, six rebounds, 1.7 assists and one steal in 17.6 minutes per game while shooting 47.4% from the field and 44.4% from three-point range during this seven-game run before the break.
Gardner has actually played in 20 of the Heat’s last 25 games after playing in just six of the Heat’s first 31 games this season.
“It’s a great thing to watch,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said earlier this month when asked about Gardner’s constant on-court energy. “This guy is just fighting and scrapping for everything and earning everything that he’s getting right now. But he makes you notice him. There’s a relentless energy and spirit to him, and effort and energy is a talent. It’s a skill. And when he’s out there, it becomes contagious. ... And everybody roots for him. So that’s fun to see, including the staff, the players, everybody.”
Heat captain Bam Adebayo added in January: “Myron is our energy bunny, as we call him. It’s literally on the court, off the court. He’s the energy guy. You need somebody like that on the team. He’ll come in and instantly spark the game, offensively or on defense.”
The Heat signed Gardner to a two-way contract in late July after a standout showing for its summer league squad. He spent the last two seasons with the Orlando Magic’s G League affiliate after going undrafted in 2023 out of Little Rock, but never played in the NBA before joining the Heat.
Gardner’s promotion to a standard deal means he’s eligible to play in the playoffs, as two-way contracts do not come with playoff eligibility.
With Gardner’s shift to a standard deal opening a two-way contract spot on Miami’s roster, the Heat also signed guard Trevor Keels to a two-way deal on Wednesday to fill that void.
Keels, 22, spent part of training camp and the preseason with the Heat before being waived by Miami in early October. He has since averaged 18.5 points, 3.4 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 1.2 steals per game while shooting 45.3% from the field and 40% on 7.9 three-point attempts per game in 35 appearances for the Heat’s G League affiliate, the Sioux Falls Skyforce, this season.
Keels, who was drafted by the Knicks in the second round of the 2022 NBA Draft, has played in just three NBA games during his career. All three of Keels’ NBA appearances came with the Knicks.
With NBA teams allowed to have up to three players signed to two-way deals at one time, the other two Heat players signed to two-way contracts are center Vlad Goldin and guard Jahmir Young.
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.
The Heat also has the ability to open an additional roster spot on its 15-man standard roster by waiving guard Terry Rozier, who has been away from the team for all but one game this regular season in the wake of his Oct. 23 arrest stemming from a federal investigation into illegal gambling.
With Gardner’s new guaranteed salary for the rest of the season counting about $700,000 toward the salary cap and luxury tax, the Heat still has $900,000 to work with before reaching the luxury tax threshold. That’s enough to waive Rozier and use that open roster spot to add additional player to a standard deal for the remainder of the season without crossing the luxury tax line.
This is important because after finishing as a luxury tax team in each of the past two seasons, the Heat does not intend to be a luxury tax team 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 (29-27) will reconvene for practice on Thursday in Miami before resuming its schedule on Friday against the Hawks in Atlanta.
