Ira Winderman: A blueprint needed in Rozier-Heat-NBA conundrum? Here's one rendering.

Ira Winderman, South Florida Sun-Sentinel on Nov 2, 2025

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LOS ANGELES — You start here with the reality that the Miami Heat most likely were going to carry into the season before the FBI patted itself on the back by creating the moniker “Operation Nothing But Bet”: Terry Rozier was not going to play for the Miami Heat this season while counting $26.6 million against the salary cap and luxury tax.

And where do the Heat stand at the moment in the wake of Rozier’s gambling arrest?

Terry Rozier not playing for the Miami Heat this season while counting $26.6 million against the salary cap and luxury tax.

Yes, the federal gambling charges and his arrest have cast Rozier’s lack of availability in more concrete terms.

But the immediate consternation of the Heat being forced to deal with a duality of lack of availability and ongoing cap hit seems a bit rash, considering we are one week removed from the almost incomprehensible sight of an NBA player appearing in shackles to face gambling charges in Orlando federal court.

For Commissioner Adam Silver to immediately turn to payroll minutiae hardly would have been the best look. Imagine: “Yes one of our players got caught up in an alleged gambling scheme, but we first must consider the salary cap.”

Already there has been the initial NBA step of stopping payment on Rozier’s salary, instead holding it in an interest-bearing account, what some might consider escrow. Rozier cashing in on paydays hardly would have been the best of looks.

But this also is a nascent stage of the season. Teams typically fall in love with their rosters early, hardly are looking to snap into action on the trade market. And the luxury tax is not computed until season’s end, with wiggle room at least currently in place.

Plus, also consider that when the Rozier trade was made in January 2024, the Heat seemingly were desperate to offload Kyle Lowry in the wake of his flailing play and rebuke of Erik Spoelstra benching him.

It can’t be taken for granted that the trade would have been scuttled if the Heat were told of a gambling investigation of Rozier that Silver has since said had been closed by the NBA.

Think back to January 2024, with the Heat seven months removed from an NBA Finals appearance, scrambling to maintain contending relevance. Also consider that Terry Rozier was averaging 23.2 points per game for Charlotte at that time.

Now moving forward, also keep in mind that had the Heat prior to training camp agreed to a buyout with Rozier or even waived him to recoup the small amount of non-guaranteed money on his contract, then all this immediate consternation would be moot. The money would have been paid, remained on the Heat books, on the cap, on the tax, in Rozier’s pocket. And, yes, all of that was on the table prior to training camp, including discussions of a buyout, according to an NBA source.

What has been most aggrieved in this case is the NBA’s reputation, which is Silver’s priority when it comes to all 30 teams.

Eventually, he can get around to the Heat, who play on without Terry Rozier just as they intended to play on (even with word of Rozier having been impressive in training camp).

Yes, a week ago in this space there was a call for the league to come to some type of compromise with the draft pick still due from the Heat to the Hornets to complete that Rozier-Lowry trade, one that could come due as soon as 2027. Logic still points to some sort of compensatory selection in that first round, since the Hornets, as trade dynamics dictate, revealed only what they needed to reveal about Rozier at the time.

As for the Heat’s cap, tax and even roster situation, the NBA Constitution has ample leeway regarding “absolute and sole discretion of the Commissioner.”

So in the short term, as the next steps from Silver, what should follow:

— Immediate relief to allow the Heat to fill the 14th (Rozier) and 15th (vacant) spots on the standard roster with salaries at the veteran minimum, with assurances that such signings would not impact the cap, tax or aprons.

The union hardly should have an issue there, since it would be adding salary and jobs into the player pool.

The precedent also would provide teams with a blueprint in case their rosters would be so impacted by such matters going forward.

— The listing of the Heat as holding the No. 31 pick in the 2027 first round of the NBA draft.

That would allow the Heat the opportunity to then trade up to four future first-round picks ahead of the February trading deadline, should such an opportunity arise.

As for the actual placement of that 2027 first-rounder — including how the Hornets might factor into such an action — the league would have almost two years to adjudicate the intricacies of such an unprecedented move.

— At worst, turning Rozier’s leave into a league suspension (in this case with pay), which, in turn, returns 50% of each Rozier game check into the Heat’s cap, therefore offering incremental cap/tax relief leading up to the trading deadline, perhaps as other aspects of the Rozier case surface.