As the Miami Heat hope to reach a championship standard in the 2025-26 season, the team is still looking to round out the roster heading into training camp and eventually the start of the schedule. With the Heat swirling around in rumors about various moves, one player that remains a mystery is guard Terry Rozier.
Besides Rozier still being investigated surrounding sports betting, though the league found no wrongdoing before, the player has also been vastly disappointing for the team after they traded Kyle Lowry and a first-round pick in 2023 for him. Jake Fischer would report on “The Stein Line” that Miami “still hopes to part” with Rozier.
However, the trade market for Rozier is “scant” as the team does have “some interest” in a buyout for the 31-year-old if a trade can't be made, since he makes 26.6 million this upcoming year.
“Earlier this month, Miami traded Haywood Highsmith to Brooklyn in a move that both got the Heat under the luxury tax and set them up to re-sign Dru Smith on a three-year deal,” Fischer wrote. “That might not be the last of the financial maneuvering on South Beach. Sources say Miami still hopes to part with veteran guard Terry Rozier even though there is said to be scant trade interest in the 31-year-old.”
“Rozier is scheduled to make $26.6 million this season, and the Heat are said to have some interest in buying him out,” Fischer continued. “To be clear, though, no buyout appears imminent.”
Last season, Rozier began in the starting lineup, but fell out of it and eventually the rotation as he averaged 10.6 points per game while shooting 39.1 percent from the field and 29.5 percent from beyond the arc.
A trade involving the Heat's Terry Rozier was discussed
Rumors around the Heat and a Rozier trade made headlines around a month ago when a deal was discussed for a swap with Marcus Smart from the Washington Wizards. Fischer himself would report that and even say that Miami could not come to an “organizational consensus” if that was an upgrade.
“Miami weighed a Rozier-for-Smart swap but could not reach an organizational consensus on whether such a trade was a clear upgrade,” Fischer wrote.
Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald would add on to the report, saying that Miami didn't go through with it “because of the draft capital” that needed to be involved.
“Multiple league sources confirmed those trade talks between the Heat and Wizards took place this summer,” Chiang wrote. “While a Rozier-for-Smart swap would have made sense for the Heat because Smart was on a cheaper expiring contract ($21.6 million salary for this upcoming season before agreeing to a buyout with the Wizards) than Rozier’s expiring deal ($26.6 million salary for this upcoming season), a league source indicated the Heat ultimately did not make the trade because of the draft capital it would have needed to attach to Rozier to faciliate such a deal.”
At any rate, the Heat look to improve after finishing 37-45, which put them 10th in the Eastern Conference, and while the team made it through the play-in tourney, they would be swept by the Cleveland Cavaliers in the first round of the NBA Playoffs.
Miami starts training camp on Sept. 30 in preparation for the preseason opener on Sept. 4 against the Orlando Magic, and then the start of the regular season is on Oct. 22, facing the same team.
