The recent Kawhi Leonard trade twist, which states the blockbuster swap between the Toronto Raptors and LA Clippers won't be completed until the league's investigation is concluded, just makes the league's decision to allow the Miami Heat's trade for Terry Rozier (with the Charlotte Hornets) back in 2024 look that much worse.
If the league wasn't comfortable in approving this trade without giving full consent to the Raptors regarding a potential Kawhi punishment on the way, how could they let the Heat and Hornets execute a trade while Rozier was at the center of some "unusual betting activity?"
Even though, in the end, there wasn't enough evidence for the NBA to push any further back in 2024 (before the swap), it does bring into question who knew what and when before the Rozier trade to Miami.
The Heat weren't given the same 'alert' with Rozier as the Raptors for Kawhi
Had the Heat been made aware of these "red flags," even, you'd have to wonder whether they still would've gone through with the deal. It's part of the reason why the Heat was awarded a second-round pick as compensation. Why would the league "award" the Heat with the pick if there weren't any nefarious notions?
“10 months before the Heat acquired Rozier from the Hornets through a trade midway through the 2023-24 season, the NBA was alerted to unusual betting activity involving Rozer in the hours before the Hornets’ home against the New Orleans Pelicans in March 2023. This sparked an investigation by the NBA, with the league determining Rozier did not violate NBA rules. - Miami Herald.
Even though the Heat may have gotten the short end of the stick, I suppose this entire Kawhi situation does prove that progress has been made by the league. In a way, this shows the league has learned its lesson, even if it did come at the cost of the Heat.
And maybe bygones can be bygones for the Heat, especially after they were able to acquire Giannis Antetokounmpo this summer. That has certainly helped cushion the initial outrage.
Nevertheless, it does make the Rozier situation look that much worse and, perhaps even unforgivable, for Heat fans.
It will certainly be interesting to see how this all plays out. There's still hope that the Kawhi deal will be completed at some point, even if it does come with a slap on his hand for "circumventing the salary cap."
Even with Giannis, Heat fans won't forget. The way they handled the Rozier situation was an absolute disservice to Miami.
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