Miami Heat forward Andrew Wiggins (22) reacts to a play during the first half of Game 4 of the Eastern Conference NBA Playoffs against the Cleveland Cavaliers at Kaseya Center on April 28, 2025, in Miami. D.A. Varela dvarela@miamiherald.com
The Miami Herald’s Heat mailbag is here to answer your offseason questions. If you weren’t able to ask this time, send your questions for future mailbags via X (@Anthony_Chiang). You can also email them to achiang@miamiherald.com.
@washedG_: Are the Heat still active on trade front and what is their direction when asking on a return for Terry/Wiggins?
@DADDOISTIRED: Is attempting to obtain future draft picks holding up potential trades for Wiggins and Rozier?
@AshtonSukhdeo: Are they trying to move Rozier and Wiggins and will they keep them until the deadline if the offers aren’t good?
@Jthefox101YT: Now that the Duncan sign-and-trade is done, do you think they can still explore the trade market for Terry and Wiggs?
Joshuan: Do you think that Miami will trade Wiggins or Rozier?
Anthony Chiang: As you can see, this is a popular question. Will the Heat trade Andrew Wiggins and/or Terry Rozier this offseason?
The answer is it’s possible. The Heat has explored trades involving Wiggins and/or Rozier and is expected to continue exploring those types of deals.
The fact is not only would it benefit the Heat to get off of Wiggins’ contract that includes a $30.2 million player option for the 2026-27 season in exchange for an expiring deal and/or to trade Rozier’s $26.6 million for this upcoming season following one of the worst seasons of his NBA career, but making a trade could also help open a spot on the Heat’s 15-man roster. In the wake of the Duncan Robinson sign-and-trade that brought Simone Fontecchio to Miami, the Heat is currently at the NBA regular-season maximum of 15 players on standard contracts:
It helps that the Heat is currently well-positioned to make a trade since it’s below the first and second salary-cap aprons.
The Heat has three trade exceptions at its disposal of $16.1 million (expires on Feb. 6, 2026), $3.1 million (expires on Feb. 6, 2026) and $2.1 million (expires on Dec. 15, 2025). Trade exceptions allow a team to acquire a player in a trade even if their salary would otherwise put the team over the salary cap or the team is already over the salary cap, but utilizing a trade exception hard caps a team at the first apron.
Midlevel exceptions can also now be used to trade for a player whose salary and contract length fit within the exception’s parameters.
And teams under the first and second aprons are permitted to take back more salary in a trade than they send out, aggregate salaries in a trade and acquire a player through a sign-and-trade transaction. However, taking back more salary in a trade than it sends out and/or adding a player through a sign-and-trade agreement would hard cap the Heat at the first apron.
The Heat’s roster may be at the regular-season limit of 15 players on standard contracts, but the expectation is Miami will continue to try to make changes through trades in the coming weeks and months. Whether those moves end up happening or not remains to be seen.
@Magtul1Kristoph: Is Dame Coming??
@Arthurftnn: What do you think about this Lillard situation and if Miami might want him, make an effort for him, could this meeting really happen or is it likely that he will go somewhere else?
@Jthefox101YT: Now that the roster is full, do you still think the Heat would be interested in Dame?
Anthony: This is another popular question.
The Heat does have some level of interest in nine-time All-Star guard Damian Lillard. But the Heat and Lillard have some stuff to figure out when it comes to this situation.
The Heat’s roster is full for this upcoming season. So, the Heat would either have to make a trade or waive a player on a guaranteed salary to make room for Lillard. Is the Heat willing to have a player like Lillard, who could miss all of next season, take up a roster spot?
For Lillard, does he want to sign a multi-year deal with a team this offseason or just begin this upcoming season without a team as he rehabs from injury?
The bottom line is Lillard is expected to miss most or all of next season after tearing his Achilles during this year’s playoffs. He will be 35 on July 15.
The Lillard addition made sense when Jimmy Butler was still on the roster and the Heat was viewed as a legitimate championship contender, but does it make sense now? Lillard is also looking for his first NBA title.
These are all questions the Heat and Lillard need to think about.
Moeez: What is the actual direction of the Miami Heat right now?
Anthony: The Heat is expected to lean on its young players this season, with seven players on its standard roster for next season who are 25 years old or younger. All the while, the Heat hopes it can have enough assets, tradeable contracts and preserve enough salary-cap flexibility to pounce on stars who become available on the trade market.