Heat roster currently full, but uncertainty still remains amid Damian Lillard waiting game

Training camps around the league open in less than two months on Oct. 3 and the Miami Heat’s preseason roster is full. But there still remains uncertainty about who will be in a Heat uniform this upcoming season.

With a potential trade for Portland Trail Blazers All-Star guard Damian Lillard looming over the Heat, there remains the possibility of a major shakeup in the coming weeks despite Miami already being at the offseason/preseason roster limit of 21 players.

Lillard made it known he wants to be traded to the Heat and nowhere else on July 1, but trade talks between the Trail Blazers and Heat have been slow-moving with the NBA currently in the middle of one of the quietest periods of the league’s calendar.

The expectation is that trade talks between the Heat and Trail Blazers could pick up as training camp nears and the motivation to get a deal done increases for both teams. But the reality is Portland does not love what Miami has to offer and hopes other teams eventually put in their own bids for Lillard.

So, where exactly does the Heat’s roster stand as the Lillard waiting games continue to drag?

The Heat has 13 players signed to standard contracts: 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 Heat has three players signed to two-way contracts: Jamaree Bouyea, Jamal Cain and Dru Smith.

The Heat has five players signed to Exhibit 10 contracts, which essentially represent an invite to training camp: Justin Champagnie, Caleb Daniels, Drew Peterson, Cole Swider and Alondes Williams.

The Heat is limited in how it can add to its roster, though, if it doesn’t come through a trade. Because of Miami’s salary-cap situation and the new collective bargaining agreement’s punitive rules, the Heat currently only has minimum contracts to offer outside free agents.

Here are some things to look out for ahead of training camp and the start of the season:

▪ With only 13 players on its 15-man roster, the Heat needs to add at least one more player to a standard contract. The new CBA makes it even tougher for teams to consistently carry fewer than 14 players under standard contracts.

Starting this season, teams can have fewer than 14 standard contract players for no more than 28 total days during the regular season and 14 consecutive days at a time.

Among the best free agents still available are forward Christian Wood and wing Kelly Oubre Jr.

▪ The Heat has one player on a partially guaranteed standard contract who it needs to make a decision on.

Only $75,000 of Orlando Robinson’s $1.8 million salary for next season is guaranteed, with his full salary becoming guaranteed if he’s still on the Heat’s roster on Jan. 10.

The next guarantee date in Robinson’s contract is opening night of the 2023-24 regular season, when $425,000 becomes guaranteed if he’s still on the Heat’s roster.

▪ The Heat’s three two-way contract slots are filled, but those deals can be swapped out at any time. So there’s very little stopping Miami from releasing a two-way contract player to sign another player to a two-way deal this offseason.

The Heat could also promote a two-way contract player to the 15-man roster, an option that would become a bigger possibility if a potential Lillard trade leaves Miami with a bunch of open roster spots.

▪ Adebayo is eligible for an extension this offseason, a window that began on July 1 and ends at the start of the 2023-24 regular season.

The maximum the Heat can offer is an additional two years and $97 million, according to ESPN front office insider and former Nets executive Bobby Marks. The extension would begin in 2026-27 when Adebayo’s current contract is up.

If Adebayo passes on an extension this offseason, he could sign a four-year, $243 million supermax extension next offseason if he’s voted to an All-NBA team in 2023-24, according to Marks.

▪ But the Heat’s salary-cap math and roster numbers will likely change if it trades for Lillard.

Adebayo and Butler are obviously off the table in trade negotiations for Lillard. The Heat also wants to keep Martin out of a deal.

In addition, the Heat can’t trade recent free-agent signees Richardson, Bryant, Love and Orlando Robinson until Dec. 15.

That leaves Lowry, Herro, Duncan Robinson, Jaquez, Jovic and Highsmith as players who the Heat could put into play for Lillard this offseason if it’s able to keep Martin out of the potential deal.