NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said the league will “try to work something through” with the Miami Heat regarding potentially trading Terry Rozier, who remains on unpaid leave while facing federal charges related to an alleged illegal betting scheme.
Rozier, 31, carries a $26.6 million salary cap hit in the final year of his contract. Miami would need league permission to trade him, and finding a willing partner would be difficult since he cannot play this season.
The Heat acquired Rozier in 2024 and included their 2027 first-round pick in the deal. Rozier’s alleged crimes occurred in 2023 while he played for the Charlotte Hornets. Miami is frustrated by both the lost draft asset and current trade restrictions as the Rozier investigation wasn’t disclosed to them at the time of the trade.
“This is an unprecedented situation,” Silver said Tuesday before the NBA Cup in Las Vegas. “I think I’m incredibly sympathetic to the Heat and to their fans. But I think we’re going to try to work something through, work this out with them. But there’s no obvious solution here. I would just say that there’s no doubt at the moment they have a player that can’t perform services for them. And as to the draft pick they conveyed – obviously he hasn’t been convicted of anything yet, either, but this is an unfortunate circumstance. But sometimes there’s unique events and maybe sometimes they require unique solutions.
“We’ll be looking at this with the Heat and the other teams in the league and see if there’s any satisfactory relief, but at the moment there is none.”
Federal prosecutors charged Rozier in October for allegedly informing a friend he would exit a game early so bettors could place wagers against his statistics. The alleged incident occurred in March 2023. Rozier’s attorneys filed a motion to dismiss, but a federal judge has not ruled.
The league initially investigated Rozier and found no violations. Silver said the NBA lacked subpoena power available to law enforcement.
Silver said investigators are tracking new information from federal indictments involving Rozier, Portland Trail Blazers coach Chauncey Billups, and former player Damon Jones. The league is examining potential participation by other players and personnel.
“We knew, and our betting partners knew there was aberrational activity on that game before it took place,” Silver said. “And in fact, they took bets off the books because something odd was happening, so the system worked from that standpoint.”