One way for NBA teams to find salary-cap relief is to use the waive-and-stretch provision, but the final day to take advantage of that option is approaching.

The NBA deadline to waive and stretch a player’s contract to create salary-cap relief for this upcoming season is Friday at 5 p.m. According to a league source, the Heat is leaning against using the waive-and-stretch provision before this week’s deadline.

The stretch provision allows for a team to waive a player and stretch his remaining salary on the salary cap twice the number of years remaining on the player’s contract plus one year.

For example, waiving and stretching guard Terry Rozier would reduce his cap hit from the $26.7 million he’s due this upcoming season in the final year of his contract to an $8.9 million cap hit in each of the next three seasons. The downside of using the stretch provision is that a player’s salary remains on a team’s books beyond the initially scheduled year.

The Heat has gone the waive-and-stretch route before, using it on A.J. Hammons in 2018 and Ryan Anderson in 2019.

But that list is not expected to grow this year, with the Heat already under the luxury tax threshold after dumping Haywood Highsmith’s salary in a trade with the Brooklyn Nets earlier this month. This eliminates any sense of urgency the Heat might have felt to get under the luxury tax line that could have led to Miami using the stretch provision.

The Heat actually could just waive Rozier and create an additional $1.7 million of room below the tax line because only $24.9 million of Rozier’s $26.6 million salary for this upcoming season is currently guaranteed. This would give Miami enough space under the luxury tax threshold to add another player to a standard contract before the start of the season.

The Heat currently has 14 players on standard contracts for this upcoming season — one below the NBA regular-season limit of 15 players on standard deals.

The Heat also currently stands about $1.7 million under the luxury tax threshold and about $7.2 million below the punitive first apron of $195.9 million that it can’t cross until the end of this upcoming season following last month’s trade for guard Norman Powell.

After finishing as a luxury tax team in each of the past two seasons, the Heat was determined to escape the luxury tax for this upcoming season in order to avoid the onerous repeater tax that’s triggered when a team crosses the luxury-tax threshold in four straight seasons or four times during a five-season period.

While 18 players (15 on standard contracts and three on two-way contracts) is the regular-season limit, NBA teams are allowed to carry up to 21 players during the offseason and preseason (including up to three two-way contract players). The Heat currently has 17 players to signed to contracts.

The 14 players who the Heat has signed to standard contracts are Bam Adebayo, Tyler Herro, Andrew Wiggins, Rozier, Powell, Davion Mitchell, Simone Fontecchio, Nikola Jovic, Kel’el Ware, Jaime Jaquez Jr., Kasparas Jakucionis, Pelle Larsson, Dru Smith and Keshad Johnson.

The two players who the Heat has signed to two-way contracts are Myron Gardner and Vlad Goldin.

The only player the Heat currently has signed to an Exhibit 10 contract is guard Ethan Thompson. Exhibit 10 deals essentially represent an invite to training camp and provide a financial incentive for that player to join the organization’s G League affiliate.

The Heat is scheduled to hold its annual Media Day on Sept. 29 before opening training camp on Sept. 30 at Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton to kick off the 2025-26 NBA season.

This story was originally published August 28, 2025 at 10:01 AM.