Heat Reportedly Remain 'Open' to Terry Rozier Trade Before Season amid NBA Rumors

The Miami Heat "remains open" to trading Terry Rozier this offseason, Anthony Chiang reported on Wednesday for the Miami Herald.

The report comes after NBA insider Jake Fischer said on a Bleacher Report livestream that the Washington Wizards had discussed a trade for Rozier, potentially including Marcus Smart.

The Wizards ultimately bought out Smart, who went on to sign a two-year, $11 million deal with the Los Angeles Lakers.

Chiang confirmed that these talks had taken place, and that Heat backed off because of the draft assets the Wizards were looking for in return for taking on Rozier's contract.

The Heat remains "hesitant to sacrifice future draft capital or salary cap flexibility" in any deal involving Rozier, Chiang noted.

Rozier is currently set to make $26.6 million next season before hitting unrestricted free agency in 2026, per Spotrac. His contract currently sits as the fourth-most expensive deal on the Heat's 2025-26 roster.

That's a steep price to pay for a player who began his first campaign in Miami as a starter but slipped out of the rotation down the stretch of the 2024-25 campaign.

Rozier finished the season having averaged 10.6 points per game, his lowest production rate since 2019, while shooting from 39.1 from the field and 29.5 percent from deep.

That's a far cry from what the Heat were hoping for when the team traded Kyle Lowry and a protected 2027 first-rounder to acquire Rozier during the 2023-24 time.

At the time, Rozier was averaging a career-best 23.2 points per game with the Hornets while making more than 45 percent of his shots from the field.

Rozier missed the 2024 postseason because of a neck injury and has not since returned to that level of production, but he told the South Florida Sun Sentinel's Ira Winderman in March that he did not believe his slump was due to an "outside factor."

“I think it’s just my style of play hasn’t been the best fit for what we want to do,” Rozier told Winderman at the time.

A team interested in Rozier could bet change of scenery and a new style of play will help the veteran rebound next season, but trade suitors might not be willing to take that risk without adding draft picks or getting rid of salary in the deal.

Winderman wrote last week that one possible trade scenario would involve a team getting rid of a longer-term contract by taking on Rozier's expiring deal.