Heat guard Terry Rozier has been placed on indefinite unpaid leave after being arrested on federal charges related to illegal gambling. Rozier (via the players’ union) has an arbitration hearing tomorrow with the NBA to determine whether he should be paid while on leave — his withheld salary is currently being placed in an escrow-type account.
The Heat were reportedly unaware of the unusual betting activity — or the NBA’s investigation — tied to Rozier (he was a member of the Hornets at the time) when they traded for him in January 2024, several months after the incident took place. Miami still owes Charlotte a future first-round pick from that deal — it will be top-14 protected in 2027, and if it does not convey, the Heat will send the Hornets an unprotected first-rounder in 2028.
Multiple reports have indicated that Miami has also not received clarity about whether the team can waive Rozier or use his salary in a trade while he’s on leave. The 31-year-old’s $26,643,031 salary is partially guaranteed for $24,924,126, so the Heat could theoretically create a modest amount of cap savings if they cut him on or before January 7.
At a press conference ahead of Tuesday’s NBA Cup final, NBA commissioner Adam Silver was asked if the league has considered giving Miami some type of salary cap or draft pick relief as a result of Rozier’s arrest, according to stories from Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun Sentinel and Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald.
“This is an unprecedented situation,” Silver said. “And 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 is no doubt at the moment they have a player that can’t perform services for them. As to the draft pick (that has yet to convey), obviously he hasn’t been convicted of anything yet, either.
“But this is an unfortunate circumstance. But sometimes there’s these unique events and maybe sometimes they require unique solutions. So 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.”
Silver said the NBA continues to look into the matter, but there’s no timeline for a resolution.