Why is Terry Rozier still on the Heat's roster? The expectation is he won't be soon.

MIAMI — While guard Terry Rozier remains on the Miami Heat’s roster, his release is expected in the coming weeks.

Rozier likely won’t be on the Heat’s postseason roster, according to a league source.

With Rozier away from the team and not expected back this season in the wake of his Oct. 23 arrest stemming from a federal investigation into illegal gambling, the Heat are expected to waive Rozier before the end of the regular season to open a roster spot to add a player for depth in the postseason.

With Rozier still on the roster, the Heat enter Thursday night’s game against the Los Angeles Lakers at Kaseya Center currently at the NBA maximum of 15 players on standard contracts and three players on two-way contracts. The Heat already have enough room to waive Rozier and sign a replacement player for the rest of the season without crossing the luxury tax threshold.

One of the reasons the Heat haven't yet released Rozier — even though he can no longer be used in a trade since the Feb. 5 NBA trade deadline already passed — is because they don't feel the immediate need to add a replacement player because of their current depth. Even with some injury issues along the way, Heat players who were once in the rotation earlier this season like Nikola Jovic, Simone Fontecchio, Dru Smith and Myron Gardner have recently had their playing time cut with the roster moving closer to full health.

Heat forward Keshad Johnson, who is in his second NBA season, also hasn’t played consistent minutes this season.

In addition, the Heat have three two-way contract players — Vlad Goldin, Trevor Keels and Jahmir Young — who have barely played this season.

Having Rozier occupy the 15th roster spot also allows the Heat’s two-way contract players to be on the active list for 150 total NBA games this regular season (50-game limit per player). Teams with fewer than 15 players on standard contracts are only allowed to have two-way contract players on the active list for 90 total games during the regular season.

Delaying Rozier’s release to sign a replacement player also preserves the Heat’s flexibility to use that roster move to address an immediate need if there’s an injury to a key player in the final weeks of the regular season.

The Heat could immediately release Rozier and sign a replacement player to a 10-day contract while still keeping their flexibility to address a need once the 10-day deal is up. But the internal belief is such a move isn’t necessary since the Heat already have more players vying for consistent minutes than it can fit into their rotation.

But Rozier’s release is expected before the end of the regular season. Since Rozier is on an expiring contract, the Heat must release him by Thursday, April 9 at 5 p.m. to waive him prior to close of the regular season.

If no outside option appeals to the Heat to fill the open spot created by Rozier’s eventual release, they could promote one of their current two-way contract players to a standard contract to take that open roster slot. Moving a two-way contract player to a standard deal would make them eligible to take part in the postseason since players on two-way contracts aren’t eligible to play in the play-in tournament or playoffs.

Depending on the result of a few ongoing disputes and grievances, it could be easier for the Heat to eventually get back the money they have paid Rozier this season if he remains on its roster. But the expectation is that won’t stop Miami from waiving him before the end of the regular season to use that roster spot on a player who can add depth for the postseason.

Rozier, who is on a $26.6 million salary for this season, is set to become an unrestricted free agent this upcoming offseason. He was only with the Heat this regular season for the opener before being arrested on the morning of Oct. 23 at the Heat’s Orlando hotel following the team’s Oct. 22 season-opening road loss to the Magic.

The NBA placed Rozier on paid leave shortly after his arrest in October, with the Heat continuing to list him as “not with team” on its injury reports this season. While the NBA was initially having the Heat place Rozier’s salary in an interest-bearing account, his $26.6 million salary for this season was released to him in early February after the arbitrator’s ruling.

It was revealed earlier this month that the Charlotte Hornets are sending a 2026 second-round pick to the Heat to resolve a dispute over Rozier being under NBA and federal investigation over alleged gambling when Charlotte traded him to Miami in January 2024.

At the center of the dispute between Miami and Charlotte is the fact that the Heat were not made aware of the unusual betting activity involving Rozier before trading for him.

The NBA was alerted to the unusual betting activity 10 months before the Heat traded Kyle Lowry and a first-round pick to the Hornets for Rozier in January 2024, but the league did not inform the Heat (or other teams) of that red flag in the months that followed. The NBA went on to clear Rozier in its own investigation of him before a federal investigation later ended with his arrest.

The Hornets also did not inform the Heat, sources said. The Hornets declined to comment when asked in October if they knew of the NBA’s investigation at the time of the trade, whether they had any knowledge of sportsbooks flagging bets involving Rozier and why they did not inform the Heat if they did know.

The Heat, in fact, were unaware that Rozier was the subject of separate NBA and FBI investigations until the Wall Street Journal broke the story in January 2025.

Rozier, 32, made an appearance in a federal courthouse in Brooklyn, New York, in December for his arraignment. Rozier pleaded not guilty at his arraignment and was released on a $3 million bond secured by his home in South Florida.

Rozier has been charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering. He is accused of providing inside information to co-conspirators about his intentions to leave a March 2023 game early due to a foot injury while he was with the Hornets, which enabled them to place large bets on him not reaching statistical thresholds.

Rozier’s attorney, Jim Trusty, has denied the allegations.