The Miami Heat may be willing to go to great lengths to be able to turn the page on the Scary Terry era.
Miami is seriously considering cutting ties with veteran guard Terry Rozier before training camp starts later this month, Brett Siegel of ClutchPoints reported on Friday. Siegel notes though that there is no trade market for Rozier and that Rozier has informed the team that he is not interested in a buyout. Thus, the only option for the Heat to part ways with Rozier would be to waive him and eat the $26.6 million that he is owed next season as dead money.
Rozier, 31, is a former first-round draft pick who arrived in Miami as part of a 2024 trade with the Charlotte Hornets. But Rozier has been a nightmare ever since the Heat acquired him, averaging an underwhelming 12.5 points per game on an inefficient 40.4 percent from the field and 32.3 percent from deep over his one-and-a-half seasons in Miami.
On top of that, Rozier remains under federal investigation in relation to his alleged involvement in an illegal betting scheme. Despite reports earlier this summer claiming that Rozier had been cleared, he is still the subject of an active investigation potentially linking him to the illegal betting ring associated with banned former NBA forward Jontay Porter (full details here).
In July, we learned some wild details about the alleged wagers involving Rozier, all of which were related to his under props for a particular game in March 2023. Rozier was still on the Hornets at the time and left the game in question early due to an injury. Meanwhile, the NBA conducted its own investigation into the veteran guard and found no evidence of a violation of league rules.
As for the Heat, they are in a bit of a tough situation since they also just got some brutal injury news on fellow guard Tyler Herro. But regardless of what happens, it appears Rozier no longer has a place on the team and that Miami will roll with a combination of veterans Davion Mitchell and Dru Smith, newly-acquired Norman Powell, and first-round rookie Kasparus Jakucionis as their backcourt rotation in Herro’s absence early next season.
