Heat fills final spots on opening night roster by promoting Dru Smith and Cole Swider

The Miami Heat’s roster for opening night appears to be set.

The Heat entered the preseason with four roster spots up for grabs — the 14th spot on its standard roster and the three two-way contract slots.

With Friday night’s 110-104 loss to the Houston Rockets at Toyota Center marking the end of Miami’s five-game preseason schedule, the Heat finalized those spots just before the league-wide deadline to set rosters for the start of the regular season.

Takeaways from Heat’s preseason finale against Rockets, and a look at the decision at hand

The Heat announced Saturday that it awarded the 14th spot on its standard roster to guard Dru Smith, moving him from a two-way contract to a standard deal. This marks the first standard contract of the 25-year-old Smith’s NBA career after going undrafted in 2021 out of Missouri.

Smith is a familiar face, taking part in his third consecutive Heat training camp and preseason this year. He spent a chunk of his first season in the Heat’s player development program in the G League before beginning last season on a two-way deal with the Heat and then returning to the Heat on a two-way deal this past summer, doing enough in recent weeks to have that two-way contract switched to a standard contract entering his third season with the organization.

“I think it’s just, one, their developmental program, and two, just the way that they go at things,” Smith said to the Miami Herald recently of why he has kept returning to the Heat after being waived by the organization multiple times in the last two seasons. “I think that they give you real opportunities no matter what your name is, no matter where you came from. I think that they truly evaluate talent and evaluate how you affect winning. If you’re doing that in a positive way, then you’re going to get a chance to play.”

Smith’s promotion created one empty two-way slot that the Heat then filled with three-point sharpshooter Cole Swider, converting his Exhibit 10 contract to a two-way deal to keep him in its development program.

The 6-foot-8 Swider, who spent last season on a two-way contract with the Los Angeles Lakers and went undrafted out of Syracuse last year, hopes to follow in the footsteps of Duncan Robinson and Max Strus as three-point shooters who developed in the Heat’s program on two-way deals. Robinson turned his two-way opportunity into a $90 million contract with the Heat and Strus turned his two-way opportunity into a $60 million contract with the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Swider, 24, averaged 11.2 points, two rebounds and two assists per game while shooting 13 of 35 (37.1 percent) from three-point range in five games for the Heat this preseason.

The Heat also waived guard Justin Champagnie and forward Cheick Diallo on Saturday to comply with NBA regular-season roster limits. Both Champagnie and Diallo could still end up with the Heat’s G League affiliate, the Sioux Falls Skyforce.

NBA teams have a 5 p.m. deadline on Monday to cut rosters to the regular-season maximum of 15 players (not including the three two-way contract slots). But most of those moves actually need to be made by 5 p.m. Saturday because of the 48-hour waiver period.

The Heat, which returns to practice on Monday, opens the regular season on Wednesday night against the Detroit Pistons at Kaseya Center.

The Heat’s standard roster for the start of the regular season now includes 14 players: Bam Adebayo, Thomas Bryant, Jimmy Butler, Tyler Herro, Haywood Highsmith, Jaime Jaquez Jr., Nikola Jovic, Kevin Love, Kyle Lowry, Caleb Martin, Josh Richardson, Duncan Robinson, Orlando Robinson and Smith.

Smith signed a two-year non-guaranteed contract with the Heat to join the standard roster. His contract includes a $425,000 guarantee on opening night, with the rest of his $1.7 million salary for this season becoming guaranteed if he’s still on the roster later in the schedule.

Smith and Orlando Robinson are the only two players on the Heat’s 14-man standard roster with non-guranteed contracts. Both of their contracts become fully guaranteed for this season on Jan. 10, when all contracts around the NBA become guaranteed for the remainder of the season.

The Heat’s roster remains one short of the regular-season limit of 15 players under standard contracts. But Miami is expected to open the regular season with 14 players on standard deals because of its luxury tax position.

As presently constructed, the Heat would pay a luxury tax of more than $20 million for this season. A 15th standard contract would add to that bill.

The Heat’s three two-way contract slots just days before the start of the regular season are occupied by Jamal Cain, RJ Hampton and Swider.

Two-way contracts, which pay half the NBA rookie minimum and do not count toward the salary cap or luxury tax, allow for players to be on their NBA team’s active list for as many as 50 regular-season games but do not come with playoff eligibility. While two-way deals can be swapped out at any time and provide little long-term security, most standard contracts come with at least partially guaranteed money.

Hampton and Swider are entering their first season as Heat two-way contract players, but Cain is entering his second season on a two-way deal with the Heat after going undrafted out of Oakland University last year.

Cain, who was not able to play in Friday’s preseason finale because of an illness, challenged for the open roster spot and impressed in the preseason. He totaled 45 points while shooting an efficient 18 of 32 (56.3 percent) from the field and 8 of 12 (66.7 percent) from three-point range and 31 rebounds (15 offensive and 16 defensive) in 81 minutes over the Heat’s second, third and fourth preseason games.

But that wasn’t enough to earn the 14th roster spot, as the Heat opted to promote a player who fills a position of need. Smith joins Lowry as the only true point guards on Miami’s standard roster following the departure of guard Gabe Vincent in free agency this past summer.

The Heat has also been encouraged by how Smith has fit around the Heat’s best players in practices, enough to feel comfortable to play him spot minutes in the regular season if the situation calls for it.

Smith averaged 6.5 points, 2.3 rebounds, 5.3 assists and 1.8 steals per game while shooting 10 of 33 (30.3 percent) from the field and 1 of 8 (12.5 percent) from beyond the arc in four games this preseason. He totaled 21 assists to 12 turnovers in the preseason.

“I would definitely say pass first, more defensive minded,” Smith said recently of how he would describe his point guard skill set. “Just going to try to make solid plays and make the right plays, get other guys involved. But also, be aggressive when that time comes and not pass anything up.”

One line of thought is the Heat acted with foresight in keeping Cain on a two-way contract. Because of the Heat’s salary cap situation, the Heat may need to expose the player who it signed to fill the 14th roster spot (Smith, in his case) to the waiver wire later this season for roster and financial flexibility.

By keeping Cain on a two-way contract, the Heat can keep him under team control and still switch his contract to a standard deal at any point.

But it’s clear that Smith impressed the Heat this past offseason with his work in the development program and he then carried that momentum into training camp and the preseason. Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said during the week of training camp practices in Boca Raton earlier this month that Smith has “improved considerably” and he has “quietly or not so quietly had a very good camp.”

“He tends to make the right play that the team sees, whether it’s a shot, a pass or getting off it early,” Spoelstra said recently of Smith. “He can get our group organized. A lot of it is really under the radar, it’s not spectacular stuff. But it’s winning stuff.”