Heat to send Thomas Bryant to Pacers; move clears tax space, could lead to standard deal for Dru Smith

Ira Winderman, South Florida Sun Sentinel on Dec 13, 2024

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MIAMI — The Miami Heat on Friday set up a small trade that could have a wide-ranging impact across their roster and payroll.

Reaching an agreement with the Indiana Pacers, the Heat will send out center Thomas Bryant once he is eligible to be traded Sunday.

While the Heat will receive the right to swap 2031 second-round draft slots with the Pacers, the move was made to alleviate the Heat’s current position hard against the NBA’s punitive luxury tax and to also better align the roster.

Bryant, 27, signed a one-year contract at the veteran minimum of $2.1 million in July at the outset of free agency to return for a second season. At the time, he waived his right to veto a trade this season. Sunday is the first day players signed in the offseason can be dealt.

Beyond the savings against the luxury tax, the deal allows the Heat to better deploy their resources.

Even with the Bryant deal, the Heat still have starter Bam Adebayo and reserves Kevin Love, Kel’el Ware and even Nikola Jovic to cast at center.

With the open roster spot, the Heat next would be in position to convert one of their players on a two-way deal to a standard contract. Point guard Dru Smith, who currently is playing on a two-way deal, in recent games has emerged as a reliable rotation contributor.

Players on two-way deals can be on the active roster for no more than 50 games over the 82-game regular season and are not playoff eligible.

Should the Heat convert one of their current two-way players, it then would open such a slot for another two-way signing. Among options in that regard is summer and preseason prospect Isaiah Stevens, the point guard who is leading the G League in assists while playing for the team’s affiliate, the Sioux Falls Skyforce.

The open roster spot also could help facilitate a larger trade in which the Heat take back more players than are sent out, perhaps adding additional intrigue to the recent swirl of Jimmy Butler trade speculation.

In the short term, the Heat likely are to go the maximum two weeks allowed to be at fewer than 14 players on standard contracts, saving the team further against the luxury tax.

With the trade, the Heat also will create a $2.1 million trade exception.

Initially signed in 2023 free agency, Bryant never quite gained traction with the Heat, held out of 10 consecutive games during a recent stretch. He now gets to play not far from his college campus, having been drafted out of Indiana University by the Utah Jazz in the second round of the 2017 NBA draft.

The Pacers were in the market for an additional big man after losing big men Isaiah Jackson and James Wiseman to season-ending Achilles injuries.