(Photo via Miami Herald)
With just over two days into the 2025-26 NBA season, there have already been several storylines headlining the league. Arguably the biggest one came early on Thursday morning, when it was announced that the FBI had arrested three names with ties to illegal gambling probes and even mafia involvement.
Those names included Portland Trail Blazers’ head coach Chauncey Billups, assistant coach Damon Jones and most notably— the Miami Heat’s Terry Rozier.
The full detailed ESPN story can be found here.
Initially reported by ESPN’s Shams Charania, it was stated that the FBI had stormed into Rozier’s hotel room the morning following Miami’s season opening loss to the Orlando Magic. He was put in handcuffs and later on made a court appearance, where federal prosecutors pushed for a $10 million bond.
Rozier had to give up his passport, put up his $6 million Florida home as collateral and was not allowed to gamble after the judge denied the prosecutor’s request to do so. Even more strangely, Rozier had shown up to court reportedly wearing a Charlotte Hornets hoodie— despite being a member of the Heat— while handcuffed and wearing ankle shackles.
Shortly after the Thursday morning arrest, Rozier’s attorney Jim Trusty released the following statement:
“We have represented Terry Rozier for over a year. A long time ago we reached out to these prosecutors to tell them we should have an open line of communication. They characterized Terry as a subject, not a target, but at 6 a.m. this morning they called to tell me FBI agents were trying to arrest him in a hotel. It is unfortunate that instead of allowing him to self surrender they opted for a photo op. They wanted the misplaced glory of embarrassing a professional athlete with a perp walk. That tells you a lot about the motivations in this case. They appear to be taking the word of spectacularly in-credible sources rather than relying on actual evidence of wrongdoing. Terry was cleared by the NBA and these prosecutors revived that non-case. Terry is not a gambler, but he is not afraid of a fight, and he looks forward to winning this fight.”
— Jim Trusty, lawyer for Terry Rozier (via Pablofindsout/X)
Terry Rozier was placed on an immediate leave by the NBA.
Moving forward, Rozier will not be with the Heat. Charania reported shortly after this dilemma went down that the NBA issued Rozier and Portland’s Billups on immediate leave. The league also issued a formal statement on the situation:
What’s next for Rozier and the Heat?
Well, his $26 million expiring salary for this season will remain on Miami’s books— for now.
However, expect a lot more league investigation into the matter that could lead to the Heat possibly getting Rozier’s contract voided and off their cap sheet, and/or even receive their future 2027 first-round draft pick back from their trade with Charlotte to acquire the veteran guard.
It has been speculated that the NBA was alerted to suspicious activity from Rozier well before the Heat traded for him. The initial investigation is from a game he had played as a member of the Hornets. And Miami was unaware of any sort of investigation or suspicious gambling behavior prior to doing so.
It will be interesting to see where things go from here, especially with the timeline on Rozier’s legal fate and whether the league will step in to compensate the Heat accordingly. Most importantly, Miami won’t need to deal with this headache much longer once his contract expires next summer.
The one thing certain, is that Rozier’s acquisition will undoubtedly go down as the worst trade in franchise history.
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Its funny how the FBI can bust an alleged NBA gambling ring, but can’t open the Epstein files and complete list of celebrity clients.
Getting the 2027 first round draft pick back from Charlotte would be sweet. But I don’t think that’s gonna happen, it just seems too good to be true.
Has anyone put together a compilation of Butler’s alleged “quiet quitting” during Heat games in the 2023-2024 and 2024-2025 seasons? I wonder if any bets were placed on the games when Butler underperformed? I wonder if the FBI & NBA are currently investigating him? Hmm?
That is an excellent question. His effort, at times, was so lethargic and frustrating to watch. The question I always had about the game 5 Denver finals is Butler had 8 points in 3 quarters. He scored 13 in the 4th and kept it close, but in a close out game, your ss has to score more than 8 in 3 quarters.
I was thinking more of the games when he started underperforming after Riley refused to give him an extension.
Because Rozier was placed on leave rather than suspended, The Miami Herald’s Barry Jackson reports that he’ll continue to occupy a roster spot and receive his full $26.6 million salary. The Heat would only gain cap relief if the NBA voids his contract — a step the league hasn’t taken.
Anybody else notice that New Orleans just signed DeAndre Jordan to a one year, $3.6M contract?
P.S. The NBA cleared Rozier before the Heat traded for him giving up their 2027 first round pick. Since it was NBA’s error, Miami should have the pick returned.
pels get dandre jordan
We back!
One angle I heard that I was not thinking of was using the $16 million trade exception from the Butler trade. We would be able to resign Precious, then once teams start realizing they should tank, we can take in a player and absorb their salary in to that exception. Wes from Locked on Heat gave the example of Sam Hauser.
Yes, instead of having a net loss of draft picks, we can realize a net gain. And maybe get a player who can help.
This turned out to be a huge story, with implications far beyond the Heat. Until all the facts come in, we should all be careful not to jump to conclusions.
I will say, the trade we made that necessitated the trade to bring Rozier in was equivalently horrendous. Lowry was a pudgy mercenary who, although slightly more subtle, engaged in similar quiet quitting tactics to that of his promoter. It was that trade and the amount of salary it tied up, and his inadequate play, that started the downturn of this organization from just about the pinnacle of the league. And to those who think he was good for awhile and then fell off, I remind you that he took “personal” time off shortly after we acquired him. The truth is that by the time we offloaded him, he was practically untradeable, and we were amazed we got anything back for him, even with the first round pick we sweetened the trade with.
And let me remind everyone that people on this site were calling for this trade and everyone was happy when we traded for him.
Not me, because of Goran. That trade practically finished his career. But he had another year in him at that time.
Still, Lowry was about 3-4 month the best player of the team, I remember that clearly.
In retrospect, I totally agree. Keeping Dragic and Precious on probably would have been the better scenario.
That’s true. I was one of those applauding the move. I just needed to vent about Lowry. Everyone has a certain player that you find super aggravating. Lowry was that for me.
Everybody wasn’t calling for his trade. I followed Goran from Phoenix to Miami and was sad to see him go. He’s still one of my favorite players. I hope he decides to accept a position with the Heat this season.
I was happy to be getting Rozier at the time based on his career to that point. Not so happy about the first round pick, but to offload that albatross of a contract, I was for the trade. I agree the Lowry trade was a huge mistake at the time – not because of his ability, but because of the money. He has been a minimum contract player ever since. It is important to note, that for those who felt Riley & co should have given quitter anything he asked for, that is how Lowry and that bloated contract got here. Riley gave in to his superstar. I would’ve been okay with Lowry at $15m per year. That would have allowed the team to bring in another rotation player that might have made a difference.
I agree. More folks on this site were calling for the Rozier trade than the Lowry one. Unfortunately, we didn’t know at the time he was being investigated by the FBI for illegal betting. Otherwise, Miami could have saved the first round pick. In the end, I think Charlotte may have concealed what they knew at the time and could be required to give the pick back. Miami sure could use it.