Let’s start here: The Heat suing the NBA over the Terry Rozier fiasco appears as likely as snow flurries falling over Coconut Grove.
Heat owner Micky Arison and his son, team CEO Nick Arison, aren’t litigious mavericks, and they have a strong relationship with commissioner Adam Silver, one built on mutual respect.
It also would be somewhat surprising, though certainly not out of the question, if the Heat sues the Charlotte Hornets. There is NBA precedent for one team suing another: The Knicks sued the Nets in 1977 to challenge their planned move from Long Island to New Jersey, then sued the Raptors two years ago, alleging that Toronto improperly obtained confidential proprietary information related to scouting and game strategies.
Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier (2) watches a teammate take free throws during the first half of an NBA preseason game against the Atlanta Hawks at the Kaseya Center on Wednesday, October 16, 2024, in Miami, Fla. D.A. Varela dvarela@miamiherald.com
At the root of the issue is the fact that the Hornets did not inform the Heat of gambling allegations against Rozier when they traded him to Miami in January 2024 for Kyle Lowry and a first-round pick, according to multiple sources with direct knowledge. Those allegations led to Rozier’s recent arrest on charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering.
Rozier is accused of providing inside information to co-conspirators about his intentions to leave a March 2023 Hornets-Pelicans game early due to injury, which enabled them to place large bets that he would not reach statistical thresholds. The FBI alleges that Rozier’s associates won more than $200,000 in wagers.
The NBA was immediately informed of the suspicious betting activity the day it happened and did not inform the Heat at that time or before it approved the trade, according to multiple sources. The NBA has declined to say why Miami wasn’t informed or whether its investigation into the allegations — which found no wrongdoing — was complete at the time of the trade.
The Hornets, for their part, have refused to say if they knew about the allegations — and they haven’t told the Heat, either — but a former Nets front-office official said it’s difficult to believe the Hornets didn’t know.
So if the Heat sued the Hornets to attempt to recoup their draft pick, would the lawsuit be successful?
It might be successful, but it’s not clear-cut, two prominent South Florida attorneys told The Miami Herald last week.
Albert Levin, a 40-year criminal defense attorney, said this is a case of “competing interest: Charlotte’s duty to disclose vs. Miami’s duty to perform proper due diligence under the legal principle of ‘caveat emptor,’ or let the buyer beware.”
Levin said “the league’s bylaws suggest Charlotte had a duty to disclose, but it’s on first blush a close call. The integrity of the league is at stake here. Given that, this is an issue that should have been disclosed.”
If the Heat sued the Hornets, Miami could counter the ‘caveat emptor’ argument by saying it had no reason to ask whether Rozier was the subject of a gambling investigation.
One local attorney noted that someone selling a home is legally required to disclose any known foundation issues or open permit violations to a potential buyer, because it could materially affect the home’s value.
He said the Heat could argue that this situation would be similar, that Miami was acquiring a tarnished asset due to lack of disclosure by the seller.
Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier (2) walks back to the locker room after losing to the Chicago Bulls in the second half of their NBA game at the Kaseya Center on Saturday, March 8, 2025, in downtown Miami, Fla. Photo by Matias J. Ocner mocner@miamiherald.com
The attorney offered his views on the matter; he requested anonymity because he represents several South Florida sports figures:
“The underlying argument is the concept of full disclosure,” the attorney said. “This concept runs through lots of areas — in prenuptial agreements, in real estate sales, in sales of business, etc. Without full disclosure, the parties would be encouraged to conceal negative facts that might kill a deal. If you sell your house, you will be required to give a buyer a disclosure statement, disclosing any defects, liens, leaks, cracks, or other circumstances that might turn off the buyer.
“If Charlotte knew, or should have known, about these gambling issues, and withheld that information from the Heat, that’s the basis of the lawsuit. Charlotte’s defense might be this wasn’t a known fact, just an unsubstantiated rumor — and no reason to repeat every rumor.
“I think the public sentiment would be with the Heat. And if a lawsuit were filed, the longer it goes, the more pressure would be brought vs. Charlotte. The commissioner right now has his hands full with this gambling scandal. This is an existential issue for the league. If they can’t demonstrate a willingness to stop players from gambling on their own games, fans will lose confidence in the league, and him.
“He’s really not in a position to play softball on this Rozier issue. If a lawsuit were filed — they could depose Charlotte and the league. Really a messy issue — one that Silver hopes will die a quick death.”
The attorney said, only somewhat in jest, “if you hid the facts, you must give back the pick.”
Though a lawsuit against the Hornets cannot be entirely ruled out, pursuing the matter in court would run counter to the way Miami does business.
The sense here is that the Heat will decide internally what it prioritizes — getting a draft pick or quick cap relief or both — and quietly approach Silver to discuss it.
The Heat is not commenting on the matter and is not using the media to lobby for a pick. Miami would prefer to operate behind the scenes on this.
The pick due Charlotte is a big deal in part because it ties up four Heat draft picks. That draft choice will convey to the Hornets in 2027 if the Heat makes the playoffs next season. If the Heat misses the playoffs next season, then Charlotte would receive Miami’s 2028 first-round pick, no matter where it falls in the first round.
But because teams cannot trade picks in consecutive years, the terms of that deal would prevent Miami from trading first round picks in 2026, 2027, 2028 and 2029. Until the draft next June, the Heat only can trade first-round picks in 2030 and 2032, or in 2031.
If the Heat received its pick back — which ESPN front-officer insider Bobby Marks portrayed as unlikely — Miami would have all of its future first-round picks and immediately would be able to trade four of them (2026, 2028, 2030 and 2032 in one scenario).
Here’s why that’s important: The Heat’s strong start to the season suggests Miami might be somewhat closer to top four seed caliber than it appeared after the first-round playoff loss to Cleveland.
Let’s say a star player asks for a trade. A hypothetical trade involving, say, Andrew Wiggins, one or two of the Heat’s past four draft picks (Kel’el Ware, Nikola Jovic, Jaime Jaquez Jr., Kasparas Jakucionis) and three or four first-round picks (including a 2026 pick) would be far more compelling than any offer built around 2030 and 2032 first-round picks. A trade involving Tyler Herro, other assets and three or four picks for a star might be even more compelling.
So in many ways, Silver’s decision about whether to give the Heat back its pick — or a compensatory first-round pick — will determine how competitive an offer the Heat can make when a star player becomes available in the trade market.
The view here: If the Hornets indeed knew of the gambling allegations and didn’t tell the Heat, which some people in the league believe but are unable to prove, the NBA should take the first-round pick from the Hornets and give it back to the Heat because of the “affirmative duty to disclose” standard that attorney Levin mentioned.
But here’s the problem with that: How can the NBA punish the Hornets for not disclosing the investigation to the Heat when the NBA also did not disclose it to the Heat before approving the trade?
A league office official, speaking anonymously last week, purportedly told Meadowlark Media’s Pablo S. Torre: “Terry’s investigation was never closed, so he was not cleared of anything… It is true we did not find a violation of our rules, but we did not close our investigation.”
That’s why it’s difficult to envision Silver taking the pick from Charlotte and giving it back to the Heat. Whether he would even be willing to give the Heat a compensatory pick remains very much in question, as does the extent to which the Heat will push for this outcome privately.
What’s clear is the Heat was wronged in all of this. When two parties are aware of a major issue that diminishes an asset and do not inform the third party of that asset, that’s strong grounds for a lawsuit.
Former Marlins president David Samson, on a Meadowlark Media podcast with Torre and former ESPN president John Skipper, said if this had happened to him with the Marlins, “I would be calling my attorney to read over my franchisee agreement I signed with baseball to see where and if did I agree not to sue Major League Baseball, because I definitely agreed to it when I signed a deal. I would see if there’s an exception or some sort of loophole I could find because I’m pretty pissed.
“They’re not going to file a lawsuit against Adam. If I were Micky, I would want to, but they’re not going to.”
So let’s review:
1). Though Rozier will not be paid, for now, after an NBA decision last week, the Heat soon will begin placing his salary in an interest bearing account, in 24 installments of $1.1 million each beginning Nov. 15 – even though he’s on leave and even though he is not permitted to play. That salary won’t be available to Rozier until his case has been adjudicated, though the players union is challenging that decision.
2). Miami’s next four draft picks are essentially frozen — unavailable to trade — because the Heat wasn’t informed of a federal investigation into a player it acquired.
3). The Heat is operating with 13 players available (12 factoring in Tyler Herro) and doesn’t have the cap relief to add another player without surpassing the luxury tax threshold, something it prefers not to do after paying a tax the past two seasons.
The NBA needs to do the right thing and that means giving the Heat both cap relief and a 2027 first-round pick.
Even if Silver does not want to void Rozier’s contract before the case goes to trial, he can give the Heat a hardship exception to sign a player to the minimum and remain under the tax.
Samson noted that “you can’t terminate [Rozier’s contract] for cause based on an indictment.”
But if the NBA, which cleared Rozier, can obtain information from the feds that lead the league to believe that Rozier broke NBA rules, Silver has the authority to void his contract immediately, removing his $26.6 million salary from Miami’s books and giving the Heat $28 million in room under the luxury tax line.
After all, the NBA voided Jontay Porter’s contract with the Toronto Raptors after its own investigation found he violated league gambling rules – two months before he was charged in federal court.
The NBA has declined to say whether Silver would consider voiding Rozier’s contract before the case is adjudicated. But the league’s decision to place his salary in an interest-bearing account suggests the NBA might wait until the matter is adjudicated before voiding Rozier’s contract.
This story was originally published November 3, 2025 at 9:25 AM.
