As expected, Heat releases Terry Rozier on Friday to open roster spot
.jpg "Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier arrives for an arraignment hearing at U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York on December 08, 2025 in New York City.")
Guard Terry Rozier’s tumultuous Miami Heat tenure has officially come to an end.
The Heat waived Rozier before 5 p.m. on Friday, a league source confirmed to the Miami Herald, to part ways with him prior to the end of the regular season.
With Rozier’s release creating an open spot on the Heat’s standard roster, Miami could promote one of its current two-way contract players (center Vlad Goldin, guard Trevor Keels or guard Jahmir Young) to a standard deal before the end of the regular season on Sunday to fill the 15th and final spot on its standard roster. While two-way contracts do not come with postseason eligibility, whoever is moved to a standard deal will be eligible to take part in the postseason this year.
Following Friday’s release of Rozier, the Heat already has enough room to sign a replacement player for the rest of the season without crossing the luxury tax threshold.
The Heat has two games left this regular season — Friday night against the Washington Wizards at Capital One Arena and Sunday against the Atlanta Hawks at Kaseya Center. In the wake of Thursday night’s 128-114 loss to the Raptors in Toronto, the Heat has dropped 10 of its last 13 games and is already locked into the NBA’s play-in tournament for the fourth straight year.
Rozier’s release before the end of the season was expected for months in the wake of his Oct. 23 arrest stemming from a federal investigation into illegal gambling.
Rozier, 32, was only with the team this season for the Heat’s season-opening road loss to the Orlando Magic on Oct. 22 — and he did not play in that contest — before he was arrested at the team’s Orlando hotel the next morning. The NBA placed Rozier on paid leave shortly after his arrest in October, with the Heat continuing to list him as “not with team” on its injury reports this season prior to his release on Friday.
Rozier’s full $26.6 million salary for this season was already guaranteed before the Heat waived him. He will become an unrestricted free agency after he clears waivers on Sunday.
While the NBA was initially having the Heat place Rozier’s salary in an interest-bearing account, his $26.6 million salary for this season was released to him in early February after the arbitrator’s ruling.
Rozier never lived up to expectations after the Heat traded the expiring contract of guard Kyle Lowry and a first-round pick to the Charlotte Hornets to acquire him in January 2024.
Rozier played 31 games for Miami during the 2023-24 season after the Heat acquired him midway through the schedule, but he was sidelined for last few weeks of the regular season and the entire postseason due to a concerning neck injury.
Rozier returned for the start of the 2024-25 season, but his only full season with the Heat didn’t go well. After beginning that season as a starter, Rozier was eventually moved to a bench role and then completely fell out of the rotation amid his struggles.
Rozier finished last season averaging 10.6 points per game while shooting 39.1% from the field and 29.5% from three-point range in 64 games (23 starts). That went down as the fewest points he 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 going down as his worst for a season since his rookie year in 2015-16.
With Rozier never playing in a game for the Heat this season before his October arrest, he averaged 12.5 points, 3.9 rebounds and 3.3 assists per game while shooting 40.4% from the field and 32.3% from behind the arc in 95 games (53 starts) for Miami over two seasons before he was waived Friday. He didn’t play in a playoff game as a member of the Heat.
The Heat still owes the Hornets the first-round pick it dealt for Rozier two years ago. That first-round pick will convey to the Hornets in 2027 if it’s not a top-14 selection. If the Heat’s 2027 first-round pick is a top-14 selection, then Charlotte would receive Miami’s 2028 first-round pick regardless of where it falls in the first round.
It was revealed in March that the Hornets are sending a 2026 second-round pick to the Heat to resolve a dispute over Rozier being under NBA and federal investigation over alleged gambling when Charlotte traded him to Miami in January 2024.
At the center of the dispute between Miami and Charlotte is the fact that the Heat was not made aware of the unusual betting activity involving Rozier before trading for him.
The NBA was alerted to the unusual betting activity 10 months before the Heat traded Lowry and a first-round pick to the Hornets for Rozier in January 2024, but the league did not inform the Heat (or other teams) of that red flag in the months that followed. The NBA went on to clear Rozier in its own investigation of him before a federal investigation later ended with his arrest.
The Hornets also did not inform the Heat, sources said. The Hornets declined to comment when asked in October if they knew of the NBA’s investigation at the time of the trade, whether they had any knowledge of sportsbooks flagging bets involving Rozier and why they did not inform the Heat if they did know.
The Heat, in fact, was unaware that Rozier was the subject of separate NBA and FBI investigations until the Wall Street Journal broke the story in January 2025.
Rozier made an appearance in a federal courthouse in Brooklyn, New York, in December for his arraignment. Rozier pleaded not guilty at his arraignment and was released on a $3 million bond secured by his home in South Florida.
Rozier has been charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering. He is accused of providing inside information to co-conspirators about his intentions to leave a March 2023 game early due to a foot injury while he was with the Hornets, which enabled them to place large bets on him not reaching statistical thresholds.
Rozier’s attorney, Jim Trusty, has denied the allegations.
One of the reasons that the Heat waited until Friday to release Rozier was to use that roster move to address an immediate need if there was an injury to a key player in the final weeks of the regular season.
In addition, having Rozier occupy the 15th roster spot also allowed the Heat’s two-way contract players to be on the active list for 150 total NBA games this regular season (50-game limit per player). Teams with fewer than 15 players on standard contracts are only allowed to have two-way contract players on the active list for 90 total games during the regular season.
Rozier was drafted by the Boston Celtics with the 16th overall pick in 2015. He has made just over $160 million during his NBA career, according to Spotrac.
This story was originally published April 10, 2026 at 10:01 AM.
