MIAMI — For the first time since guard Terry Rozier was arrested in October as part of an FBI gambling investigation and subsequently placed on leave by the NBA, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver on Tuesday directly addressed the impact on the Miami Heat.
Rozier, who was indicted last week, remains listed on the Heat roster, with his $26.6 million salary continuing to count against the team’s payroll. In addition, the Heat still owe the Charlotte Hornets a future first-round draft choice from the teams’ January 2024 trade. Multiple NBA sources have confirmed that neither the league nor the Hornets informed the Heat at the time of the trade that Rozier was already under investigation in the NBA gambling probe.
For the Heat, expediency remains paramount. January 7 is the date Rozier’s salary becomes fully guaranteed for the season, and the February 5 NBA trading deadline is now less than two months away. If the Heat were to receive draft relief, they could then have as many as four future first-round picks to include in a trade, as opposed to their current limitation of two. These issues remain unresolved at a time when stars like Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo and Dallas Mavericks forward Anthony Davis could potentially enter the trade market.
“In terms of Miami, this is an unprecedented situation,” Silver said during a media session in Las Vegas ahead of the NBA Cup championship game, responding to a question from Miami-based Associated Press writer Tim Reynolds. “And I think I’m incredibly sympathetic to the Heat and to their fans. But I think we’re going to try to work something through to work this out with them.”
However, Silver did not offer any concrete solutions. “There’s no obvious solution here,” he said. “I would just say that there is no doubt at the moment they have a player that can’t perform services for them. As to the draft pick they conveyed, obviously he hasn’t been convicted of anything yet, either.”
He added, “This is an unfortunate circumstance. Sometimes there are these unique events and maybe they require unique solutions. So we’ll be looking at this with the Heat and the other teams in the league to see if there’s any satisfactory relief. But, at the moment, there is none.”
The Rozier situation is already being addressed. On Wednesday, a hearing is scheduled between the NBA and the National Basketball Players Association to determine whether the league can continue diverting Rozier’s 2025-26 salary into an escrow-type, interest-bearing account.
Rozier’s next pre-trial hearing is set for March. He remains free on a $3 million bond, posted with his South Florida home as equity.
Silver emphasized that the league must allow the legal process to play out. “First of all, on the timeline, it’s essentially out of our hands,” he said. “These are federal indictments—in the case of Terry Rozier, brought in Brooklyn, New York, the Eastern District of New York. We had investigated him earlier but did not find sufficient evidence to discipline him under league rules. At some point, that investigation was taken over by federal authorities.”
“As I said, it’s in their hands. Obviously, he’s been indicted, and a trial is scheduled,” Silver continued.
He also noted that the league has resumed investigation into related matters. “There are tangential issues we’re looking into in that indictment, which is public record. There were also references to other players and other incidents. Much of that information was new to us,” he said.
“In essence, on a parallel path with federal authorities, we’re using whatever investigative powers we have to look into those instances as well. But we don’t have the leverage or authority that federal investigators have. So, we take a back seat to their work,” Silver explained. “The timeline remains uncertain.”
https://www.sun-sentinel.com/2025/12/16/nbas-silver-says-league-will-try-to-work-with-heat-regarding-rozier-impact/
