Terry Rozier hasn’t appeared in a game for the Miami Heat this season. In October, he was arrested and indicted as a result of an expansive federal gambling investigation that unearthed two separate cases that altogether feature 34 total defendants.
But the 32-year-old guard is still on the Heat’s roster with just 13 games remaining in the regular season. He reportedly won’t be for much longer, however.
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The Heat are expected to waive Rozier before the end of the regular season, in order to make room for a playoff roster spot, according to reports from the Miami Herald and ESPN on Thursday.
Rozier was charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money laundering. He pleaded not guilty in December.
Prior to a March 2023 game, in which he played a mere nine minutes and change for the Charlotte Hornets due to a foot injury, Rozier is alleged to have shared inside information about his early exit, allegedly leading to his co-conspirator bettors wagering more than $200,000 on his under prop bets.
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Rozier is one of six defendants, along with former NBA guard and Cleveland Cavaliers assistant Damon Jones, in that illegal gambling case, which is centered around the trading of non-public information about the health and availability of NBA players.
The other case, which focuses on a rigged poker ring backed by the Mafia, also includes Jones as a defendant as well as several others, most notably Portland Trail Blazers head coach and Pro Basketball Hall of Famer Chauncey Billups.
The NBA placed both Billups and Rozier on leave, but Rozier won his salary dispute with the league in February. While his $26.6 million salary for the 2025-26 season was initially placed in escrow, it was reportedly released to him. That change came when an arbitrator determined that, under the terms of the NBA’s collective bargaining agreement, players can’t be placed on unpaid leave, unless they are involved in cases of domestic or child abuse, per a Feb. 2 ESPN report.
Rozier is in the final year of a four-year, $96.2 million deal. Since that contract is expiring, he has to be waived by 5 p.m. on April 9 to clear waivers prior to the end of the regular season on April 12, as reported Thursday by both the Herald and ESPN.
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The Heat acquired Rozier in January 2024, before it learned about the unusual betting activity involving Rozier. The NBA, which eventually cleared Rozier in its own investigation of him, didn’t give the Heat a heads-up, and reportedly neither did the Charlotte Hornets, who declined to comment in October when faced with questions about if they knew of the NBA’s investigation at the time of the transaction, per the Herald.
To resolve that issue, the Hornets agreed earlier this month to send a 2026 second-round pick to the Heat. More than two years ago now, Miami traded Charlotte veteran guard Kyle Lowry and a first-round pick in exchange for Rozier.
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Rozier appeared in 31 games for the Heat after being dealt ahead of the deadline during the 2023-24 season. Last season, he played in 64 games, starting 23 of them, and averaged 10.6 points, 3.7 rebounds and 2.6 assists per contest.
With Rozier currently still on the roster, the Heat have a maximum 15 players on standard contracts. Although Miami won’t eclipse the luxury tax threshold if it waives Rozier and signs a replacement player right now, waiting to do so allows the Heat to remain flexible if a player is lost to injury down the stretch, as reported by the Herald, which noted another benefit of keeping Rozier in that 15th spot. Teams with fewer than 15 players on standard contracts can have two-way contract players on the active list for only 90 total NBA games in the regular season, 60 fewer than if a team is at that 15-player standard contract mark.
Regardless, Miami is reportedly expected to waive Rozier in the lead-up to the postseason and, in effect, will be able to fill his roster spot with either a signee or a promoted two-way player.
