![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Klay-Thompson-vert-200x300.jpg\")
Klay Thompson<\/a>: Two years, $11,480,000. Second-year player option. Includes trade kicker (15%). Signed using non-taxpayer mid-level exception.\nTim Hardaway Jr.<\/a>: One year, $6,065,000. Fully guaranteed. Signed using non-taxpayer mid-level exception.
\nSimone Fontecchio<\/a>: One year, minimum salary. Fully guaranteed. Re-signed using minimum salary exception.
\nNick Richards<\/a>: One year, minimum salary. Non-guaranteed. Signed using minimum salary exception.
\nJ\u2019Vonne Hadley<\/a>: One year, minimum salary. Non-guaranteed (Exhibit 9\/10). Signed using minimum salary exception.<\/p>\n
Trades<\/p>\n
Draft picks<\/p>\n
2-37: Ryan Conwell<\/a><\/p>\n Signed to three-year, $6,346,496 contract using second-round pick exception. Second year partially guaranteed ($1,147,185). Third-year team option.<\/p>\n Two-way signings<\/p>\n Departed\/unsigned free agents<\/p>\n Other roster moves<\/p>\n Signed Andrew Wiggins<\/a> to a two-year, $33,830,356 veteran contract extension that begins in 2027\/28. Second-year player option. Salary cap situation<\/p>\n Note: Figures are rounded to one decimal place.<\/p>\n Operating over the cap ($165MM) and below the first tax apron ($209MM). The offseason so far<\/p>\n After missing out on several high-end trade targets in recent years, including Donovan Mitchell<\/a>, Kevin Durant<\/a>, and Damian Lillard<\/a>, the Heat finally landed their big fish early in the 2026 offseason, reaching a deal with the Bucks to acquire superstar forward Giannis Antetokounmpo<\/a>. The addition of the two-time MVP immediately raises Miami\u2019s ceiling and creates one of the NBA\u2019s very best frontcourt duos, with Antetokounmpo joining perennial All-Defensive forward\/center Bam Adebayo<\/a>.<\/p>\n It wouldn\u2019t be quite accurate to say that the Heat beating out the Celtics in the Antetokounmpo sweepstakes was a case of the Bucks choosing quantity over quality, but the Boston offer that Milwaukee reportedly passed on was headlined by All-NBA second-teamer Jaylen Brown<\/a>, along with a couple draft picks. Brown, a five-time All-Star who finished sixth in last season\u2019s MVP vote, is a far more accomplished player than any the Heat were offering.<\/p>\n It was a testament to the Heat\u2019s player development program that they could put together a package consisting of so many solid young guys (Herro, the oldest of the outgoing players, is 26) without having to pad out their offer with salary filler.<\/p>\n As part of the agreement, the Heat agreed to take on big man Bobby Portis<\/a>, who is still a useful frontcourt rotation player but didn\u2019t fit into the Bucks\u2019 plans going forward. Unfortunately, the inclusion of Portis and a contract that will pay him $30.1MM over the next two years ensured the Heat would be hard-capped at the first tax apron as a result of the trade and left the team with limited cap flexibility to fill out its roster around its new star.<\/p>\n There were two obvious ways the Heat could generate extra spending ability as the new league year approached. One was to encourage Andrew Wiggins<\/a> to turn down his $30.2MM player option and sign a new multiyear deal with a lower starting salary, while the other was to trade Nikola Jovic<\/a>, whose new four-year, $62.4MM was taking effect, increasing his cap hit from $4.4MM to $16.2MM. Interestingly, Miami didn\u2019t do either one.<\/p>\n The decision to hang onto Jovic didn\u2019t come as a huge surprise, since the Serbian forward\u2019s trade value had plummeted over the course of a disappointing, injury-plagued fourth season in which his shooting line dipped to a career-worst .366\/.269\/.683. The Heat would have been selling for pennies on the dollar if they\u2019d moved Jovic this offseason.<\/p>\n The Wiggins situation was more curious though. The Heat did work out a new contract agreement with the veteran forward and will pay him $64MM over the next three seasons. But instead of having Wiggins decline his option in order to complete that deal as a three-year free agent contract that could begin as low as $19.8MM, the Heat finalized new a two-year, $33.8MM extension with the former No. 1 overall pick after he picked up that $30.2MM option.<\/p>\n The move signaled that the Heat weren\u2019t operating under the expectation that they\u2019ve got to win right away in 2026\/27 \u2014 they\u2019re taking the long view and want to maintain flexibility to continue to build around Antetokounmpo and Adebayo for years to come. Next summer, they\u2019ll be in a better position to pursue upgrades around that star duo, as Wiggins\u2019 cap hit drops from $30.2MM to $16.5MM. And the hope is that by that time Jovic will have rebuilt his value with a bounce-back year, either reestablishing himself as a long-term cornerstone or at least making himself more tradable.<\/p>\n Miami\u2019s lack of cap flexibility cost the team 2026 All-Star Norman Powell<\/a>, who signed a two-year, $44MM contract with the Bulls that the Heat wouldn\u2019t have been able to fit below the first apron. But the front office did a decent job filling out the back end of its roster with low-cost rotation players.<\/p>\n That included splitting about $11.7MM of its mid-level exception between Klay Thompson<\/a> and Tim Hardaway Jr.<\/a>, who will bring floor-spacing and consistent three-point shooting to a roster that badly needed it. Simone Fontecchio<\/a>, another solid outside shooter, accepted a minimum-salary contract to return to Miami, while center Nick Richards<\/a> signed a non-guaranteed minimum deal and will provide frontcourt depth, assuming he makes the team.<\/p>\n The Heat are also enthusiastic about No. 37 overall pick Ryan Conwell<\/a>, who knocked down 38.4% of 7.9 three-point attempts per game during his final three college seasons. Bringing him aboard on a rookie-minimum deal helped Miami maximize its limited breathing room below the hard cap.<\/p>\n Up next<\/p>\n With 14 players on standard contracts and roughly $2.6MM in room below the first apron, the Heat have the ability to add a 15th man before the start of the regular season, since a minimum-salary free agent would carry a cap charge of about $2.45MM. And the team could use another ball-handler.<\/p>\n Still, unless they\u2019re able to land a player who projects to have a regular rotation role, the Heat may simply leave that spot open for the time being, maintaining a bit of roster and cap flexibility for in-season moves.<\/p>\n It\u2019s also worth noting that the team isn\u2019t necessarily locked into its 14 current players, since Richards\u2019 salary is non-guaranteed and Myron Gardner<\/a> has a $500K partial guarantee. If necessary, Richards could be swapped out for a newcomer before opening night, which is when his salary becomes fully guaranteed, while Gardner could be replaced at some point before the league-wide guarantee date in January.<\/p>\n
\nExercised team option on Pelle Larsson<\/a> ($2,296,271; non-guaranteed).<\/p>\n
\nHard-capped at first apron.
\nTeam salary: $206.4MM (tax\/apron).
\nAbove luxury tax line by $6MM; below hard cap by $2.6MM.
\nPartial non-taxpayer mid-level exception ($3.4MM) and full bi-annual exception ($5.5MM) available.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/giannis-antetokounmpo-bucks-1-200x300.jpg\")
However, Miami\u2019s offer featured too many positive assets for the Bucks to turn down, including a former Sixth Man of the Year and All-Star who has averaged at least 20 points per game in five straight seasons (Tyler Herro<\/a>), a Sixth Man of the Year runner-up still on his rookie scale contract (Jaime Jaquez Jr.<\/a>), promising young first-round picks from the 2024 and 2025 drafts (Kel\u2019el Ware<\/a> and Kasparas Jakucionis<\/a>), a lottery pick in a loaded 2026 draft (which became Nate Ament<\/a>), and a handful of future draft chips, including two unprotected first-rounders and a first-round swap.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Pelle-Larsson-vert-200x300.jpg\")
I\u2019ll be more curious to see what happens in the coming months with Miami\u2019s extension-eligible players. The two most notable guys who are eligible for new deals are Antetokounmpo and third-year wing