Heat Waiving Terry Rozier

The move has long been anticipated, with reports in March indicating that Miami still planned to move on from Rozier at some point before the postseason began. The 32-year-old has been on leave for nearly the entire 2025/26 season after being arrested in October in connection with a federal investigation into illegal gambling. He pleaded not guilty in December to charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering.

The Heat kept Rozier on their 15-man roster through the trade deadline due to the possibility that they might be able to use his expiring $26.6MM contract in a deal for matching purposes. However, no appealing trade opportunities arose.

Presumably, the Heat would also still like to recoup some of Rozier’s $26.6MM salary — they may be able to do so, depending on how his case plays out in the courts. But with the guard’s contract set to expire and no chance that he’ll contribute to the Heat in the play-in tournament, it didn’t make sense to keep him on the roster any longer.

Typically, the deadline to waive a player on an expiring contract would have been Thursday, but because none of Sunday’s games are starting before 6:00 pm Eastern time, a player waived before 5:00 pm ET on Friday will clear waivers in time to give all 30 teams a shot at him before their final game of the season (though, of course, no team will be signing Rozier).

The Heat will have an open roster spot after waiving Rozier and local beat writers have suggested as of late that elevating a two-way player to a standard contract is a real possibility. None of Miami’s three players on two-way deals have played significant roles this season, with Jahmir Young appearing in 12 games, Vladislav Goldin playing in seven, and Trevor Keels seeing action in six, but the club may like the idea of locking up one of them to a favorable multiyear contract.