MIAMI — The most recent entry for the Miami Heat on the NBA’s official transaction page was on July 16, with the listing, “Miami Heat re-signed center Vladislav Goldin to a Two-Way Contract.”

But that doesn’t mean the Heat are done, even as we’re about to hit the one-month mark of the NBA’s 2026-27 transaction calendar.

Because there still is money to be spent.

Roster spots to be filled.

Needs to be addressed.

While the July 16 gala at Kaseya Center welcoming Giannis Antetokounmpo felt like a crescendo to years of waiting for a whale, at least two spots on the standard roster and one two-way deal remain to be filled.

Technically, the Heat have three open spots on their standard roster, but because of their position against their $209 million payroll hard cap due to the machinations for the Antetokounmpo trade, the 15th and final roster spot is not expected to be filled until well into the season.

In a perfect world, the Heat would round out the roster this summer with minimum-scale deals to preserve maximum flexibility for February’s trade deadline or even the buyout market that follows in March.

Such contracts would count only $2.5 million each against the salary cap, leaving the Heat the ability to utilize a larger salary-cap exception otherwise.

Among the remaining exceptions the Heat hold are:

— $9 million remaining of their mid-level exemption ($6.1 million was utilized for the signing of Tim Hardaway Jr.).

— $5.5 million bi-annual exemption.

— $5.6 million trade exception (from last summer’s Haywood Highsmith deal to the Brooklyn Nets that expires on Aug. 15).

Because of the Heat’s position against their hard cap, only a portion of those exceptions can be utilized, with none allowed to be aggregated.

In the end, exception money could be the pathway toward landing a player on this summer’s buyout market, with Dallas Mavericks guard Klay Thompson a prime target. In such an instance, Thompson could leave on the table a portion of his $15.9 million 2026-27 salary on the final year of his Dallas contract, with the Heat then to make up the difference with exception money.

The Heat also could utilize exception money if needed to bid for a remaining free agent who finds multiple offers, such as is expected with DeMar DeRozan.

The other question is the degree of sacrifice a veteran would be willing to make, along the lines of LeBron James taking a minimal deal with the Philadelphia 76ers, with the Heat having been positioned to offer more.

That raises the curious case of Bradley Beal, who opted out of his $5.6 million 2026-27 salary with the Los Angeles Clippers to become a free agent, with the question of whether he would be willing to drop down to something less.

Heat roster

— Standard contracts (12 filled, 15 allowed): Bam Adebayo, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Ryan Conwell, Simone Fonteccho, Myron Gardner, Tim Hardaway Jr., Nikola Jovic, Pelle Larsson, Davion Mitchell, Bobby Portis, Dru Smith, Andrew Wiggins.

— Two-way contracts (2 filled, 3 allowed): Tre Donaldson, Vlad Goldin.

Offseason moves

— Acquired: Antetokounmpo (trade), Hardaway (free agent), Portis (trade).

— Departed: Tyler Herro (trade), Kasparas Jakucionis (trade), Jaime Jaquez Jr. (trade), Norman Powell (free agent), Kel’el Ware (trade).

— Re-signed: Fontechhio, Goldin (two-way), Wiggins (extended).

— Unsettled: Trevor Keels (not tendered two-way offer), Jahmir Young (option declined).

Potential additions

— Buyout possibilities: Buddy Hield (Hawks), Zach LaVine (Kings), D’Angelo Russell (Grizzlies), Klay Thompson (Mavericks).

Of those four, Thompson would be the primary target, with LaVine not as likely to shake free, while due $49 million from the Kings (unless Sacramento would accept a giveback along the lines of the Heat’s exception money). Russell figures to be available, with the overstocked Grizzlies having just worked out a buyout for Kentavious Caldwell-Pope to join the 76ers.

— Minimum-scale free-agent possibilities: Nicolas Batum, Bruce Brown, Amir Coffey, Aaron Holiday, Maxi Kleber, Kevin Love, Kelly Olynyk, Cam Payne, Gary Payton Jr., Dwight Powell, Nick Richards, Jeremy Sochan, Dalen Terry, Cam Thomas, Gabe Vincent, Russell Westbrook, Brandon Williams.

Bargains are possible here, but few meet the Heat desires of either a combination of playmaking and shooting or shooting and rim protection.

Exception-money free-agent possibilities: DeMar DeRozan, Jonathan Kuminga.

While not necessarily the floor spacer that the Heat would prefer, DeRozan would provide the type of shot creation this roster largely lacks.

The trade option: The Heat also could hunt for something bigger by putting Nikola Jovic’s $16.2 million salary into play. But note that salaries cannot be aggregated with exception money in trades.

The Heat, including Antetokounmpo, have been saying all the right things about Jovic this offseason, but his salary remains the obvious pathway to something bigger on the personnel market than the remaining second-tier free agents.

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