The brutal reason Heat will miss out on a golden opportunity

Malik Beasley is back on NBA teams' radar now that he's no longer the target of a federal gambling investigation, and the Miami Heat are among the squads best positioned to sign him. But they won’t. 

And it (mostly) comes back to Terry Rozier.

Now, Beasley can be considered somewhat redundant with both Tyler Herro and Norman Powell already on the roster. But the Heat have struggled to reliably stretch defenses in the half-court for years. With head coach Erik Spoelstra clearly planning to favor smaller lineups, adding Beasley’s high-volume flame-throwing could take Miami’s offense to a whole new level, immediately giving it three of the Association’s most lethal shooters. 

The Heat also have a realistic path to scooping up the 28-year-old marksman. Beating the Detroit Pistons’ best possible offer of $7.2 million in Year 1 is the bar. As Keith Smith of Spotrac notes, Miami is one of eight teams with the tools necessary to top that dollar figure:

If Beasley is looking to balance the opportunity of getting reasonably paid with the chance to play in meaningful games, the Heat could make a convincing sales pitch. They just won't.

Terry Rozier's contract remains a financial roadblock for Miami

The Heat have already made it clear they won’t pay the luxury tax. That’s why they made the baffling decision to send Haywood Highsmith and a 2032 second-round pick to the Brooklyn Nets. It allowed them to sign Dru Smith, and remain beneath the tax line.

Offering Beasley the $7.3 million they can spend would vault them right back into the tax. They are just inside $2 million of the threshold, so they’d be around $5.5 million over the line when all’s said and done. 

Shedding that kind of money isn’t impossible. It’s actually pretty easy…so long as you have an expendable salary that’s not immovable. Make no mistake, Miami has an expendable salary. It just isn’t movable.

Rozier will be on the books for $26.6 million in any prospective deal. The Heat have so far found it impossible to offload him, and are kidding themselves if they think that’s about to change. It cost a 2032 second-rounder to get off Highsmith’s $5.6 million salary, and he actually looked like an NBA player last year! Imagine what teams will want to take on Rozier, who’s making almost five times more. 

The Heat don’t have other salaries to offload

Granted, Miami doesn’t have to dump all of Rozier’s money. It can look to take back someone earning $6 million or so less, and then offer that $7.3 million to Beasley. But going that route will still require attaching an asset, and potentially taking back money that eats into the flexibility earmarked for a star next summer or in 2027.

Though the Heat could unload other salaries, they aren’t brimming with dispensable alternatives. Herro, Powell, Bam Adebayo, and Andrew Wiggins aren’t going anywhere just to make room for Beasley. Punting on younger players would be shortsighted, and mandates Miami trade multiple names to save enough money.

Simone Fontecchio’s $8.3 million expiring contract is the lone realistic option. While that’s worth a discussion, the Heat are small enough without exchanging a 6’7” wing for a 6’4” guard. 

Subbing out Rozier for Beasley, on the other hand, would be ideal. It’s also not going to happen. Just in case you needed another reminder the Heat never should have made that trade, well, here you have it.