The Miami Heat’s trade for Norman Powell has plenty of implications on the team, both now and over the longer term. One of the primary takeaways, though, isn’t being discussed nearly enough. Miami just found out how difficult, if not impossible, it will be to move Terry Rozier.
Jettisoning the 31-year-old as part of the Powell deal would have made far more sense for the Heat. The package may have needed light restructuring, but acquiring one guard while shipping out another promotes better roster balance.
It also would have represented more of an upgrade for Miami. Rozier is coming off a season in which he seldom looked like an NBA player. His future very clearly does not lie with the Heat, who seem more concerned with chasing big fish down the line than retaining anyone already on the team not named Bam Adebayo or Tyler Herro.
Just so we’re clear: This isn’t about the Powell package. Kyle Anderson and Kevin Love weren’t exactly integral to the future. Miami took on money for next season, which it may have preferred not to do. But there’s no arguing with the value. The Heat are getting a better bang for their bucks with Powell.
It just so happens the bargain price paid by Miami is precisely the problem.
Norman Powell trade shows expiring contracts don’t have a ton of value
Powell is coming off a season in which he was a borderline All-Star, having averaged almost 22 points per game while drilling around 54 percent of his twos and 42 percent of his threes. Zach LaVine, Nikola Jokic, Karl-Anthony Towns, and Kevin Durant were the only other players to match those benchmarks.
Despite that breakout, the Clippers accepted someone, in John Collins, who profiles as a backup big man for them.
Speaking of Collins, he’s coming off a solid year that saw him put up 19 points per game, on almost 58 percent shooting inside the arc, and around 40 percent shooting from behind the rainbow. Among everyone who logged at least 500 minutes last year, only Jokic, Durant, and Domantas Sabonis did the same.
Utah ended up accepting two expiring players it doesn’t need and won’t keep and a second-round pick for Collins’ services.
Terry Rozier seems virtually immovable
If this is all that the Jazz and Clippers needed to flip two valuable players on expiring contracts, the Heat cannot hope to successfully offload Rozier. Not without some collateral damage, anyway.
It is one thing if Miami is willing to attach a first-round pick and/or young player to Rozier, or if it’s open to taking back longer-term money another team doesn’t want. Both possibilities appear to be off the table so long as the Heat are prioritizing flexibility on the trade and free-agency markets next summer.
Perhaps something changes midseason that allows them to flip Rozier. Or maybe he accepts a buyout in hopes of landing somewhere he can rehabilitate his value. Failing that, and unless they’re ready to absorb contracts that spill into the 2026-27 campaign, it sure seems like Rozier and the Heat are stuck with one another.