NEW ORLEANS — Trade deadline day came and went without a Miami Heat move.
The Heat’s trade came on the eve of the deadline, when it opened another roster spot, added flexibility under the luxury tax and unlocked additional first-round picks to deal by sending seldom-used forward KZ Okpala to the Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday in exchange for a 2026 second-round pick.
That was the Heat’s only trade before Thursday’s 3 p.m. NBA deadline.
As expected, the Heat decided not to shake things up as it entered the day with the top record in the Eastern Conference at 35-20. Miami closes its six-game trip Thursday night against the New Orleans Pelicans at Smoothie King Center.
But two other East contenders came together and pulled off a blockbuster trade involving James Harden and Ben Simmons. The Nets moved Harden and Paul Millsap to the 76ers for Simmons, Seth Curry, Andre Drummond and two first-round picks.
The 76ers entered Thursday with the fifth-best record in the Eastern Conference, 2.5 games behind the first-place Heat. The Nets are in eighth place in the East, 5.5 games behind the Heat.
Just because the trade deadline has passed, though, doesn’t mean the Heat is done adding to its roster. The Heat is now expected to turn its attention to the buyout market.
Wednesday’s trade with Oklahoma City left Miami with 13 players signed to standard contracts, two fewer than the league-maximum of 15 players. NBA teams can only carry 13 players on standard contracts for up to two weeks before rules force a 14th player to be added.
That means the Heat has until Feb. 23 to add a 14th player.
The good news for the Heat is it now has enough room to immediately fill both empty spots on its 15-man roster with players at the NBA minimum salary while still avoiding the luxury tax. By trading Okpala’s $1.8 million salary to the Thunder without getting salary in return, Miami went from just a little more than $100,000 from the luxury tax to $1.9 million under the luxury tax line.
The Heat will almost assuredly fill one of its two open roster spots by converting Caleb Martin’s two-way deal into a standard contract to make him eligible for the playoffs. Miami can make that move as late as the final day of the regular season and still have Martin eligible for the playoffs.
Once Martin is moved to a standard contract, Miami will be able to fill his two-way contract spot with another prospect.
Miami is expected to shop the buyout market to fill its other open roster spot, as players must be waived by March 1 in order to be playoff eligible elsewhere. They can then sign with a new team up to the final day of the regular season.
Potential buyout candidates include Gary Harris, Goran Dragic, Tristan Thompson, Millsap and Mike Muscala.
The Toronto Raptors traded Dragic to the San Antonio Spurs on Thursday and he’s now expected to negotiate a buyout with the Spurs. Because the Heat traded Dragic during this year’s NBA calendar, he would only be eligible to sign with Miami if he agrees to a buyout with San Antonio.
ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported that the Dallas Mavericks, Milwaukee Bucks, Chicago Bulls and Los Angeles Clippers are expected to be interested in Dragic if he becomes a free agent. As of Thursday afternoon, the Heat had not expressed interest to Dragic’s camp in bringing him back this season, according to a league source.
Serge Ibaka and Thaddeus Young were also considered buyout candidates who could interest the Heat, but they are now unlikely to hit the buyout market after being traded on Thursday. Ibaka was dealt to the Milwaukee Bucks and Young was moved to the Raptors.
With uncertainty surrounding Markieff Morris’ status for the rest of the season and Okpala moved to the Thunder, adding depth at power forward makes sense for the Heat. Millsap (6-7, 257), who has shot 34.1 percent from three-point range over his NBA career, and Muscala (6-10, 240), who has shot 42.9 percent on 3.8 three-point attempts per game this season with the Thunder, would help fill that need if they agree to buyouts.
If the Heat would rather wait to see whether additional options become available on the buyout market in the coming weeks, it can sign a 14th player to a 10-day contract before committing to one for the rest of the season.
The Heat’s current roster includes 13 players on standard deals: Bam Adebayo, Jimmy Butler, Dewayne Dedmon, Udonis Haslem, Tyler Herro, Kyle Lowry, Markieff Morris, Victor Oladipo, Duncan Robinson, Max Strus, P.J. Tucker, Gabe Vincent and Omer Yurtseven. Both of Miami’s two-way contract spots are filled with Kyle Guy and Martin.
The Heat’s big midseason addition could come from within. Oladipo, who has yet to play this season as he continues to rehabilitate from May surgery to repair the quadriceps tendon in his right knee, is expected to return for Miami in the coming weeks.
THIS AND THAT
— Heat coach Erik Spoelstra reflected on Okpala’s three seasons with the Heat ahead of Thursday’s matchup against the Pelicans: “We saw a lot of progress and that’s probably the frustrating thing for him because he wasn’t able to get on the court as much as he would have liked. But just in terms of his professionalism, his work ethic, his commitment to improve. All of those things, we saw it in our doors that he really improved. It’s tough. Injuries are a part of the game and sometimes at different points of your career, you have more of them than you do other times. I think once he gets past this, I think he’s going to have an opportunity to really display his versatility, particularly on the defensive end. ... We definitely wish him the best. Once he gets healthy, I think he has great days ahead of him.”
— Martin, who was downgraded from probable to questionable for Thursday’s game in New Orleans because of left Achilles soreness, was not active against the Pelicans. Morris (return to competition reconditioning) and Oladipo (right knee injury recovery) also remained out for the Heat.
Herro was also downgraded from probable to questionable against the Pelicans because of right knee soreness and he’ll be a game-time decision.
