According to NBA insider Jake Fischer, the Miami Heat explored trading guard Terry Rozier for defensive ace Marcus Smart before the latter was bought out by the Washington Wizards.
However, the Heat seemingly would have had to give up more than just Rozier in such a move, per Five Reasons Sports’ Greg Sylvander.
Had more to do with attaching draft capital https://t.co/i9EqC7mYJn
https://twitter.com/GregSylvander/status/1950293561758400826?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1950293561758400826%7Ctwgr%5E7b52394a0d99b034edc3a0492b000eee0e89e217%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fheatnation.com%2Frumors%2Freport-heat-wouldve-had-to-attach-draft-capital-in-smart-rozier-swap%2F
Heat would have had to attach
https://twitter.com/GregSylvander/status/1950302436972757159?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1950302436972757159%7Ctwgr%5E7b52394a0d99b034edc3a0492b000eee0e89e217%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fheatnation.com%2Frumors%2Freport-heat-wouldve-had-to-attach-draft-capital-in-smart-rozier-swap%2F
Fischer reported that the Heat couldn’t come to an agreement that Smart, now a member of the Los Angeles Lakers, was a clear upgrade over Rozier. Sylvander’s reporting adds a bit of context to the story.
Smart is a far more accomplished defensive player than Rozier at the highest level, but he’s also a historically streaky scorer who’s shot just 38.8 percent from the field and 32.4 percent from deep in his pro career up to this point.
On top of that, Smart has been plagued by injuries ever since he was traded away from the Boston Celtics following the 2022-23 season. He has suited up in a combined 54 games in his last two seasons in the league and was limited to 34 with the Memphis Grizzlies and Wizards a season ago.
The Heat find themselves in a conundrum with Rozier in the sense that he’s on the heels of his worst NBA season in quite a while and is also set to be paid a lot of money in the 2025-26 campaign. He is slated to earn over $26.6 million in the coming season before he hits unrestricted free agency in the summer of 2026.
It seems well within the realm of possibility that Rozier will be a member of a different team when the 2025-26 season starts up in light of how his first full season in a Heat uniform panned out. However, to this point, the team evidently hasn’t been able to move him in a satisfactory way.
Unfortunately, Miami’s move to acquire him midway through the 2023-24 campaign has not aged well. The Heat traded guard Kyle Lowry and a first-round pick to the Charlotte Hornets in exchange for Rozier, who was a strong scorer during his Hornets stint before hitting a wall with Miami.
