Ten months before the Heat acquired Terry Rozier from the Charlotte Hornets, the NBA was alerted to unusual betting activity involving the veteran guard in the hours before the Hornets’ game against the New Orleans Pelicans.
But following its own protocol, the NBA did not inform the Heat (or other teams) of that red flag in the months that followed, nor did it inform the Heat prior to the league approving the January 2024 trade that sent Rozier to the Heat for Kyle Lowry and a first round pick, multiple sources told The Miami Herald this week.
The Hornets also did not inform the Heat, sources said, though the Hornets are refusing to say if they were even aware of the matter at the time of the trade.
Mike Cristaldi, the Hornets’ chief communications officer, said the team would not say if the Hornets knew of the NBA’s investigation at the time of the trade, whether it had any knowledge of sportsbooks flagging bets involving Rozier and why it did not inform the Heat if it did know.
The Heat, in fact, was unaware that Rozier was the subject of separate NBA and FBI investigations until the Wall Street Journal broke the story this past January.
All of that has left the Heat seeking answers in the immediate aftermath of Rozier’s Thursday arrest stemming from his alleged involvement in a sports betting scheme.
Rozier was charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering. He is accused of providing inside information to co-conspirators about his intentions to leave a game early due to injury, which enabled them to place large bets on him not reaching statistical thresholds.
Rozier’s attorney has denied the allegations. The NBA placed Rozier on paid leave shortly after his arrest on Thursday.
As of Friday afternoon, the Heat was still in the information gathering mode, and it was undetermined if the team would attempt to recoup the first-round pick that it sent to the Hornets in the trade.
That pick will convey to the Hornets in 2027 if the Heat makes the playoffs next season. If the Heat misses the playoffs next season, then Charlotte would receive Miami’s 2028 first-round pick, no matter where it falls in the first round.
After the Wall Street Journal report in January, the NBA said that it cleared Rozier in its own investigation. But the league declined to say this week whether its investigation was completed before Heat traded for him.
The Heat didn’t know about the investigation at the time of the trade and as of Friday, had not been told whether the investigation had concluded when the trade was made.
In his first public comments since Rozier’s arrest, commissioner Adam Silver told Amazon on Friday “We looked into that situation and while there was that aberrational betting, we frankly couldn’t find anything. Terry at the time cooperated. He gave the league office his phone. He sat down for an interview. And we ultimately concluded that there was insufficient evidence, despite that aberrational behavior, to move forward.
“We then worked directly with law enforcement. The league has been cooperating. That was obviously over two years ago. The federal government has subpoena power, can threaten to put people in jail, can do all kind of things a league office can’t do.... They have extraordinary powers the league office doesn’t have...
“We’ve been working with them since then. And what they announced [Thursday] was an indictment. Two and half years later, he still hasn’t been convicted in fairness to Terry. Obviously, it doesn’t look good. There’s a balance of protecting peoples’ rights and investigating.”
On March 23, 2023, sportsbooks in multiple states flagged unusual betting activity involving how Rozier would perform in that night’s Hornets-Pelicans game. In the span of 46 minutes, there were 30 wagers from a professional sports bettor that totaled $13,759 on the under for Rozier’s points, rebounds and assists, which caused several sportsbooks to close down prop betting on his statistics.
The FBI’s indictment alleges that more $200,000 of wagers were placed, resulting in tens of thousands of dollars in profits.
The NBA immediately was alerted to the suspicious betting activity that day, but the league typically does not inform teams when it receives such notifications from sports books.
Two NBA spokesmen declined to answer when asked why the league does not tell all teams when unusual betting activity is flagged, or when it launches an investigation into a player. That information might have dissuaded the Heat from pursuing a trade for Rozier.
The Heat is unsure if the Hornets were aware of the NBA investigation at the time of the trade; then-Hornets basketball operations president Mitch Kupchak did not mention the matter to Heat officials.
Twenty days after the trade, Kupchak stepped down from his position and transitioned into an advisory role, coinciding with the Hornets hiring former Nets executive Jeff Peterson as their new general manager.
The NBA has declined to say whether Silver would consider voiding Rozier’s contract, thus removing his $26.6 million salary from Miami’s books, before the case is adjudicated in federal court.
“We are in the process of reviewing the federal indictments announced today,” the NBA said in a statement. “Terry Rozier and [Portland Trail Blazers coach] Chauncey Billups are being placed on immediate leave from their teams, and we will continue to cooperate with the relevant authorities. We take these allegations with the utmost seriousness, and the integrity of our game remains our top priority.”
The labor agreement gives commissioner Adam Silver the immediate power to suspend or expel Rozier from the league if NBA has reason to believe the charges against him are true. Expelling him immediately would leave the Heat about $2 million over the $154.6 million salary cap, but about $28 million below the luxury tax threshold, giving it the flexibility to sign two players.
Rozier, who is in the final year of his contract, is owed 24 payments of $1.1 million beginning Nov. 15, according to ESPN’s Bobby Marks. The Heat would avoid that payment, and subsequent regular payments, only if Silver voids his contract and expels him from the league.
If the Heat hadn’t traded a future first-round pick to Charlotte for Rozier, Miami would have all its future picks and four tradable first-round picks (2026, 2028, 2030 and 2032). Instead, the Heat can currently trade no more than two future first-round picks (2030 and 2032). If the Heat deals its 2031 first-round pick, it can trade no other first-round pick until draft night next June.
One potential recourse for the NBA would be awarding the Heat a compensatory first round pick in 2027, which would allow Miami to trade four first-round picks. But there’s no indication if the NBA would consider doing that; the league isn’t commenting on that, either. And as of Friday, the Heat had not yet sought clarity on the matter. The team is declining comment on possible courses of action.
The NBA’s chief communications director said several league officials have been tied up with the matter and as a result, he could not provide answers to several questions, including why the Heat wasn’t informed of the NBA investigation and when it was completed.
The NBA office responded only to one question, regarding the accuracy of ESPN commentator Brian Windhorst’s comment that the league benched Rozier for the final eight games of the 2023-24 season after he left that March 2023 game. The league said that report was inaccurate and that Rozier had a foot injury confirmed by an MRI, and that’s why he missed the final eight games.
In its indictment, the FBI alleges that Rozier told Deniro Laster, a childhood friend, that he planned to remove himself from Charlotte’s game against the Pelicans. Laster allegedly sold this information to two betters for about $100,000.
Rozier left the game after just nine minutes, with five points, four rebounds and two assists. The indictment alleges that he paid for Laster to travel to Philadelphia to collect the proceeds from the scheme, and that Laster then drove to Rozier’s home in Charlotte to count the money with him. The indictment does not detail the evidence against Rozier.
Rozier’s attorney, Jim Trusty, said in a statement that his client is “not a gambler” and “looks forward to winning this fight.”
Trusty also denied that Rozier faked the injury and said he spoke with doctors after the game.
This story was originally published October 25, 2025 at 9:32 AM.