Hoops Rumors is checking in on the 2026 offseason for all 30 NBA teams, recapping the summer’s free agent signings, trades, draft picks, departures, and more. We’ll take a look at each team’s offseason moves and consider what might still be coming before the regular season begins. Today, we’re focusing on the Miami Heat.
Free agent signings
Klay Thompson: Two years, $11,480,000. Second-year player option. Includes trade kicker (15%). Signed using non-taxpayer mid-level exception.
Tim Hardaway Jr.: One year, $6,065,000. Fully guaranteed. Signed using non-taxpayer mid-level exception.
Simone Fontecchio: One year, minimum salary. Fully guaranteed. Re-signed using minimum salary exception.
Nick Richards: One year, minimum salary. Non-guaranteed. Signed using minimum salary exception.
J’Vonne Hadley: One year, minimum salary. Non-guaranteed (Exhibit 9/10). Signed using minimum salary exception.
Acquired the draft rights to Ryan Conwell (No. 37 pick) from the Thunder in exchange for the draft rights to Otega Oweh (No. 41 pick) and cash ($1.5MM).
Acquired Giannis Antetokounmpo and Bobby Portis from the Bucks in exchange for Tyler Herro, Kel’el Ware, Jaime Jaquez Jr., Kasparas Jakucionis, the draft rights to Nate Ament (No. 13 pick), the Heat’s 2031 first-round pick, the Heat’s 2033 first-round pick, the Heat’s 2033 second-round pick, and the right to swap 2030 first-round picks.
Draft picks
2-37: Ryan Conwell
Signed to three-year, $6,346,496 contract using second-round pick exception. Second year partially guaranteed ($1,147,185). Third-year team option.
Two-way signings
Keshad Johnson
One year, $91,000 partial guarantee (will increase to $339,441 at start of regular season).
Departed/unsigned free agents
Trevor Keels (unsigned)
Jahmir Young (unsigned)
Other roster moves
Signed Andrew Wiggins to a two-year, $33,830,356 veteran contract extension that begins in 2027/28. Second-year player option.
Exercised team option on Pelle Larsson ($2,296,271; non-guaranteed).
Salary cap situation
Note: Figures are rounded to one decimal place.
Operating over the cap ($165MM) and below the first tax apron ($209MM).
Hard-capped at first apron.
Team salary: $206.4MM (tax/apron).
Above luxury tax line by $6MM; below hard cap by $2.6MM.
Partial non-taxpayer mid-level exception ($3.4MM) and full bi-annual exception ($5.5MM) available.
The offseason so far
After missing out on several high-end trade targets in recent years, including Donovan Mitchell, Kevin Durant, and Damian Lillard, the Heat finally landed their big fish early in the 2026 offseason, reaching a deal with the Bucks to acquire superstar forward Giannis Antetokounmpo. The addition of the two-time MVP immediately raises Miami’s ceiling and creates one of the NBA’s very best frontcourt duos, with Antetokounmpo joining perennial All-Defensive forward/center Bam Adebayo.
It wouldn’t be quite accurate to say that the Heat beating out the Celtics in the Antetokounmpo sweepstakes was a case of the Bucks choosing quantity over quality, but the Boston offer that Milwaukee reportedly passed on was headlined by All-NBA second-teamer Jaylen Brown, along with a couple draft picks. Brown, a five-time All-Star who finished sixth in last season’s MVP vote, is a far more accomplished player than any the Heat were offering.
However, Miami’s offer featured too many positive assets for the Bucks to turn down, including a former Sixth Man of the Year and All-Star who has averaged at least 20 points per game in five straight seasons (Tyler Herro), a Sixth Man of the Year runner-up still on his rookie scale contract (Jaime Jaquez Jr.), promising young first-round picks from the 2024 and 2025 drafts (Kel’el Ware and Kasparas Jakucionis), a lottery pick in a loaded 2026 draft (which became Nate Ament), and a handful of future draft chips, including two unprotected first-rounders and a first-round swap.
It was a testament to the Heat’s player development program that they could put together a package consisting of so many solid young guys (Herro, the oldest of the outgoing players, is 26) without having to pad out their offer with salary filler.
As part of the agreement, the Heat agreed to take on big man Bobby Portis, who is still a useful frontcourt rotation player but didn’t fit into the Bucks’ plans going forward. Unfortunately, the inclusion of Portis and a contract that will pay him $30.1MM over the next two years ensured the Heat would be hard-capped at the first tax apron as a result of the trade and left the team with limited cap flexibility to fill out its roster around its new star.
There were two obvious ways the Heat could generate extra spending ability as the new league year approached. One was to encourage Andrew Wiggins to turn down his $30.2MM player option and sign a new multiyear deal with a lower starting salary, while the other was to trade Nikola Jovic, whose new four-year, $62.4MM was taking effect, increasing his cap hit from $4.4MM to $16.2MM. Interestingly, Miami didn’t do either one.
The decision to hang onto Jovic didn’t come as a huge surprise, since the Serbian forward’s trade value had plummeted over the course of a disappointing, injury-plagued fourth season in which his shooting line dipped to a career-worst .366/.269/.683. The Heat would have been selling for pennies on the dollar if they’d moved Jovic this offseason.
The Wiggins situation was more curious though. The Heat did work out a new contract agreement with the veteran forward and will pay him $64MM over the next three seasons. But instead of having Wiggins decline his option in order to complete that deal as a three-year free agent contract that could begin as low as $19.8MM, the Heat finalized new a two-year, $33.8MM extension with the former No. 1 overall pick after he picked up that $30.2MM option.
The move signaled that the Heat weren’t operating under the expectation that they’ve got to win right away in 2026/27 — they’re taking the long view and want to maintain flexibility to continue to build around Antetokounmpo and Adebayo for years to come. Next summer, they’ll be in a better position to pursue upgrades around that star duo, as Wiggins’ cap hit drops from $30.2MM to $16.5MM. And the hope is that by that time Jovic will have rebuilt his value with a bounce-back year, either reestablishing himself as a long-term cornerstone or at least making himself more tradable.
Miami’s lack of cap flexibility cost the team 2026 All-Star Norman Powell, who signed a two-year, $44MM contract with the Bulls that the Heat wouldn’t have been able to fit below the first apron. But the front office did a decent job filling out the back end of its roster with low-cost rotation players.
That included splitting about $11.7MM of its mid-level exception between Klay Thompson and Tim Hardaway Jr., who will bring floor-spacing and consistent three-point shooting to a roster that badly needed it. Simone Fontecchio, another solid outside shooter, accepted a minimum-salary contract to return to Miami, while center Nick Richards signed a non-guaranteed minimum deal and will provide frontcourt depth, assuming he makes the team.
The Heat are also enthusiastic about No. 37 overall pick Ryan Conwell, who knocked down 38.4% of 7.9 three-point attempts per game during his final three college seasons. Bringing him aboard on a rookie-minimum deal helped Miami maximize its limited breathing room below the hard cap.
Up next
With 14 players on standard contracts and roughly $2.6MM in room below the first apron, the Heat have the ability to add a 15th man before the start of the regular season, since a minimum-salary free agent would carry a cap charge of about $2.45MM. And the team could use another ball-handler.
Still, unless they’re able to land a player who projects to have a regular rotation role, the Heat may simply leave that spot open for the time being, maintaining a bit of roster and cap flexibility for in-season moves.
It’s also worth noting that the team isn’t necessarily locked into its 14 current players, since Richards’ salary is non-guaranteed and Myron Gardner has a $500K partial guarantee. If necessary, Richards could be swapped out for a newcomer before opening night, which is when his salary becomes fully guaranteed, while Gardner could be replaced at some point before the league-wide guarantee date in January.
I’ll be more curious to see what happens in the coming months with Miami’s extension-eligible players. The two most notable guys who are eligible for new deals are Antetokounmpo and third-year wing Pelle Larsson.
Giannis is subject to certain restrictions related to the length of his contract and his annual raises until the six-month mark after his trade to Miami, so we probably shouldn’t expect him to sign a new deal until at least January 6. Interestingly though, if he does sign during the season, he’d have to decline his 2027/28 player option as part of the agreement, and exercising that option might be the best way to maximize his long-term earnings.
Whether it happens in January or next summer, it seems pretty safe to assume that Antetokounmpo will sign a long-term, maximum-salary contract with his new team. Certainly, the Heat don’t seem worried about it.
Getting Larsson’s signature on a new multiyear contract isn’t as crucial as locking up Giannis, but the 25-year-old Swede emerged last season as an important part of Miami’s rotation, as he made 54 starts and ranked fifth on the team in total minutes played. He’s entering the final season of the three-year deal he signed after being selected in the second round of the 2024 draft.
Larsson will be eligible for restricted free agency in 2027 if he isn’t extended at some point on or before June 30, but it’s worth pointing out that getting a deal done sooner rather than later would ensure the Heat have the ability to include him in trade discussions next summer. Depending on the terms of his next contract, a six-month trade restriction could apply, so if he were to complete an extension in, say, October, that restriction would have expired by next June.
While I certainly don’t believe the front office will be looking for the first opportunity to move Larsson, having another mid-sized contract on the books would give the Heat more options next July if there’s an impact trade target they want to pursue.