The Miami Heat have agreed to trade center Thomas Bryant to the Indiana Pacers, according to ESPN’s Shams Charania, opening the door for the Heat to promote a standout two-way player to a standard contract.
The Pacers will send a swap of a future second-round pick to the Heat for Bryant when he becomes trade-eligible on Sunday, per the report.
Bryant signed a one-year, minimum contract to return to the Heat before this season but has seen inconsistent playing time. In 10 appearances this season, Bryant is averaging 4.1 points and 3.2 rebounds in 11.5 minutes per game.
For the Pacers, they acquire a proven backup center after losing Isaiah Jackson and James Wiseman to torn Achilles tendon injuries.
The Heat's open roster spot is expected to go to Dru Smith.
The trade will save the Heat $2 million in cap space and reduce the roster to 13 standard contracts, one short of the league minimum. This opens the door for Dru Smith to be added to the standard roster.
Smith, currently on a two-way contract, has emerged as a key rotation piece for the Heat during their four-game win streak. Smith, 26, is averaging 5.4 points, 3.1 rebounds and 1.6 assists in 17.4 minutes in 10 games this season.
Coaches point to Smith’s defense and willingness to do the things that don’t show up in the box score when they talk about his impact.
Smith played a career-high 34 minutes in Thursday’s win over the Toronto Raptors and has played the entire fourth quarter in three straight games.
“When you find guys that just do winning things on both ends of the court over and over and over that can be consistent to that, that’s a superpower in this league,” Spoelstra said. “Everybody is searching for that, but he’s the glue that fits and can make any unit work.”
If Miami signs Smith to a standard contract, his minimum salary for the rest of the season would be about $1.5 million. The Heat can sign Smith to that deal and remain about $2.2 million under the second tax apron.
Smith’s promotion would create an open two-way contract spot, one the Heat could fill with guard Isaiah Stevens or another standout from their G League affiliate in Sioux Falls.
For Smith, it’s a wonderful full-circle moment. After earning a spot on the standard roster last season, Smith suffered a season-ending ACL injury in the first month of the season when he slipped and fell on the Cleveland Cavaliers court. Smith was waived, but rejoined the Heat on a two-way roster spot in the summer.
Another consequence of this trade is that it will move rookie Kel’el Ware up on Miami’s center depth chart. Ware has played sparingly so far this season and recently spent some time in the G League. Kevin Love remains the primary backup behind Bam Adebayo, but Spoelstra has experimented with others at that spot like Bryant, Ware, and third-year forward Nikola Jovic.