Heat makes flurry of roster moves, retain Cain on two-way deal. And schedule details emerge

With a potential trade for Portland Trail Blazers All-Star guard Damian Lillard still looming, the Miami Heat’s front office has been deliberate in filling the final few spots on its preseason roster.

The Heat took a big step forward in that process on Friday, signing forward Jamal Cain two a two-way contract and signing guards Alondes Williams and Caleb Daniels and forwards Drew Peterson, Cole Swider and Justin Champagnie to Exhibit 10 deals that come with a training camp invitation. These moves left Miami’s roster at the offseason and preseason maximum of 21 players.

The Heat also signed and then immediately waived center Brandon McCoy — a procedural move that permitted Miami to officially sign those five players to Exhibit 10 deals and also opened a roster spot to sign Cain to a two-way contract. McCoy, who spent last season with the Heat’s G League affiliate in South Dakota, is expected to be part of Miami’s G League team this upcoming season even after being signed and waived on Friday.

A team cannot sign a player to an Exhibit 9, which most Exhibit 10 contracts come with, unless it has at least 14 players on its roster. McCoy signed an Exhibit 10 contract that did not include an Exhibit 9 to give the Heat 14 players on non-Exhibit 9 deals (not including two-way contracts), allowing the Heat to sign Williams, Daniels, Peterson, Swider and Champagnie to Exhibit 10 contracts with an Exhibit 9.

Exhibit 10 deals, which usually represent an invite to training camp, do not count against the salary cap or hard cap and can be converted to a two-way contract or standard one-year minimum contract prior to the start of the regular season. In addition, Exhibit 10 contracts offer guarantees of up to $75,000 if the players who signed them are waived by their respective NBA team and then move on to that team’s G League affiliate and stay there at least 60 days.

The Exhibit 9 aspect of a contract limits the team’s liability in the event the player becomes injured.

Cain, who went undrafted out of Oakland University last year, was able to sign his new two-way contract with the Heat after McCoy was released because two-way deals are not subject to Exhibit 10 and Exhibit 9 restrictions. Cain is on track to be a Heat two-way contract player for the second consecutive season after spending his rookie year on a two-way contract with the Heat.

Cain averaged 15.5 points and 4.8 rebounds per game while shooting 51.5 percent from the field and 8 of 21 (38.1 percent) from three-point range in six games during this year’s summer league.

Cain is entering his second season in the Heat’s developmental program after averaging 22.1 points, 9.1 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game in 15 regular-season games with the organization’s G League affiliate, the Sioux Falls Skyforce, last season.

In limited NBA playing time as a rookie, Cain’s best performance came in the Heat’s regular-season finale. He totaled 18 points on 6-of-7 shooting from the field and 4-of-4 shooting from beyond the arc, five rebounds, one assist and two steals in the Heat’s win over the Orlando Magic on April 9 to close the regular season.

Cain was hoping to sign a standard contract this summer to be part of the Heat’s 15-man roster. But he settled for another two-way deal from Miami, with the possibility of being converted to a standard contract if a potential Lillard trade shakes up the Heat’s roster.

Cain joins guard Dru Smith and Jamaree Bouyea as the Heat’s maximum three permitted players with two-way deals. Teams can replace players on two-way deals with other players at any time.

Two-way contracts do not count toward the salary cap or luxury tax and allow for players to be on their NBA team’s active list for as many as 50 regular-season games, with other game action having to come in the G League.

Williams, who went undrafted in 2022 and spent last season with the Brooklyn Nets’ G League affiliate, played for the Heat’s summer league team this year. He averaged 6.8 points, 2.3 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game while shooting 44.4 percent from the field and 44.4 percent on 2.3 three-point attempts per game in four Las Vegas Summer League games with the Heat last month.

Williams, 24, averaged 13.4 points, 4.5 rebounds, three assists and 1.2 steals per game while shooting 51.5 percent from the field and 39 of 103 (37.9 percent) from three-point range in 24 G League games last season with the Long Island Nets.

Listed at 6-foot-4 and 205 pounds, Williams was named the ACC Player of the Year in his final college season in 2021-22.

Daniels, who went undrafted out of Villanova in June, played in four Las Vegas Summer League games with the Heat this year, averaging 4.8 points and one rebound per game while shooting 41.2 percent from the field and 40 percent on three-pointers.

Champagnie, a 6-6 small forward, split last season between the Boston Celtics, Toronto Raptors and the Heat’s G League team. He averaged 18.2 points and eight rebounds per game for Sioux Falls while shooting 52 percent from the field. He also appeared in five NBA games (two with Boston and three with Toronto), after appearing in 36 games for the Raptors in 2021-22.

In 42 NBA appearances, Champagnie has averaged 2.2 points per game while shooting 43.9 percent from the field (36 for 82) and 33.3 percent on three-pointers (11 for 33).

With Friday’s signings and the release of McCoy, the Heat’s roster for next season sits at 21 players (13 on standard contracts, three on two-way contracts and five on Exhibit 10 contracts).

The 13 players on standard contracts are 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 and Orlando Robinson.

The three players on two-way contracts are Bouyea, Cain and Smith.

The five players on Exhibit 10 contracts are Champagnie, Daniels, Peterson, Swider and Williams.

Rosters must be cut to a maximum total of 18 players (15 on standard contracts and three on two-way contracts) by the start of the regular season.

None of the signings made Friday impact the Heat’s position against the salary cap or luxury tax since Exhibit 10 and two-way deals do not count toward those thresholds.

MORE SCHEDULE NEWS

Whether the Heat acquires Lillard or not, Miami’s game at Portland next season will be on national television. According to the tentative schedule that has been circulated around the league, the Heat’s game at the Trail Blazers will be on TNT on Tuesday night, Feb. 27.

Miami remains the front-runner to acquire Lillard - at some point - because Lillard want to play for the Heat and the Heat is the only team believed to have made a serious offer. The Feb. 27 game will be after next season’s trade deadline.

Meanwhile, the Heat not only will get a Christmas game, but a prime time Christmas game.

According to a source, the 76ers-at-Heat Christmas game has been scheduled for 8 p.m. on that Monday night, in part because it will be an ESPN-only game. That will not be official until it’s announced publicly.

ABC typically carries a prime time game on Christmas but instead will air a Baltimore Ravens-San Francisco 49ers game at 8:15 p.m. on Christmas night, opposite the Heat-76ers game on ESPN.

ABC’s Christmas games this year will be Golden State-Denver at 2:30 and Boston-Lakers at 5 p.m. The Christmas slate begins with Milwaukee-New York at noon and ends with Dallas-Phoenix at 10:30 p.m., according to a source.

There are two afternoon NFL games on Christmas: Las Vegas-Kansas City at 1 and Philadelphia-New York Giants at 4:30.

The Heat is expected to open its schedule on Wednesday, Oct. 25 and will play at Boston on Friday, Oct. 27 on ESPN.

Also, the Heat is expected to play at Denver on Feb. 29, per The Athletic.

The full schedule is expected to be released as early as late next week. A tentative schedule has been distributed to teams.

The NBA season will open on Tuesday, Oct. 24 with Lakers-Denver and Phoenix-Golden State, both airing on TNT.

THIS AND THAT

▪ Retiring Heat forward Udonis Haslem has counseled Herro as Herro awaits word on whether he will be traded, potentially in a multi-year Damian Lillard trade.

“One thing I told Tyler and one thing we focus on is the time spent, and the time spent here is amazing,” Haslem told WQAM’s Brendan Tobin. “Whatever happens, he can walk away with his head up. Sixth Man of the Year, two NBA Finals, three Eastern Conference Finals. His four to five years here have been equivalent or better than most people’s careers. He has nothing to be ashamed about.”

▪ Northwestern rookie Chase Audige bypassed a training camp offer from the Heat to join another Eastern Conference team where he believes he has a better chance to get playing time.