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Miami Heat Roster Decision: Nick Richards' $3.1 Million Question Before Opening Night
Updated: 3 days ago
The Miami Heat roster is about to take its opening-night shape, and one decision looms larger than the rest: whether to keep veteran center Nick Richards before his $3.1 million salary becomes fully guaranteed. With Saturday at 5 p.m. serving as the practical cutoff for most moves and Monday at 5 p.m. as the league-wide deadline, Miami has days, not weeks, to settle its group before Wednesday's season opener against the Minnesota Timberwolves at Kaseya Center.
The timing is the story. Richards signed a non-guaranteed, one-year deal in late August to fill the 14th spot on the standard roster, according to the Miami Herald. His salary locks in if he is on the roster on opening night, unless the guarantee terms are amended first. Because waived players must clear a 48-hour waiver period, Saturday is the date that matters for most cuts. If Miami keeps him past that point, the Herald reports, the club would owe only a few days of salary if it waived him by 11:59 p.m. Tuesday.
Why the Nick Richards decision matters for the Miami Heat roster
Richards, 28, was the 42nd overall pick of the 2020 draft by the New Orleans Pelicans. His best season came in 2023-24 with Charlotte, when he set career highs with 9.7 points, 26.2 minutes and 67 appearances. Last season, split between Phoenix and Chicago, he averaged 5.8 points, 5.1 rebounds and 0.7 blocks in 14.6 minutes over 48 games, shooting 51.2 percent from the field.
His case rests on one elite skill. Through the Heat's first three preseason games, Richards averaged just 2.7 points but 8.3 rebounds, and he led the team at 19.9 rebounds per 36 minutes entering the Brooklyn game. Starting in place of Bam Adebayo in that 144-128 win, he finished with 11 points on 4-of-5 shooting, five rebounds and a block in 16 minutes.
Head coach Erik Spoelstra has been clear about what he values:
"He's a very good rebounder. He can rebound in traffic. He can rebound above the crowd." — Erik Spoelstra, as quoted by the Miami Herald
Richards has been just as candid. "Ultimately, it's their decision," he said before the Nets game. "I just take it one day at a time."
Frontcourt depth and Bam Adebayo's groin tightness
The Richards question is magnified by who else is available. Adebayo has missed the Heat's last two exhibitions with right groin tightness, though Spoelstra called him day to day and said he was not "overly concerned." Beyond Adebayo and Bobby Portis, the only other center on the roster is two-way big man Vlad Goldin, who can be active for as many as 50 regular-season games.
Meanwhile, Giannis Antetokounmpo looks ready. He posted 20 points on 8-of-10 shooting, 15 rebounds, nine assists and three blocks in 24 minutes against Brooklyn, and the Heat outscored the Nets by 15 with him on the floor, per the Herald's game report. For more on his first exhibition in a Heat uniform, revisit our Giannis Antetokounmpo preseason debut story.
There is also a bookkeeping reason to keep a body. NBA teams can carry only 13 standard players for up to two weeks at a time, and for no more than 28 total days, before they must reach the 14-player minimum, the Herald notes. Waiving Richards without an immediate standard-contract replacement would put Miami in that window on day one.
Exhibit 10 moves feed the Heat's G League pipeline
Several of the other cuts are already telling. The Sun Sentinel's Ira Winderman reported that Miami waived forward Ian Schieffelin and signed forward Ezra Ausar, both undrafted in June and both summer-league Heat players. Exhibit 10 deals like these can carry a bonus of up to $91,000 if the player spends at least 60 days in the G League, which is why teams sign and then waive them to stock their affiliate.
Schieffelin averaged 7.7 points and 4.0 rebounds in 14.7 minutes over three preseason games. Ausar started all 32 games at USC last season, averaging 14.8 points and 6.5 rebounds. Once the sign-and-waive process finishes, as many as eight Exhibit 10 players could land with the Sioux Falls Skyforce: Schieffelin, Lester Quiñones, J'Vonne Hadley, Dennis Smith Jr., Kylor Kelley, Gabe Madsen, Bez Mbeng and Ausar. The G League draft is Oct. 24, training camps run Oct. 26 through Nov. 5, and the G League season opens Nov. 6.
Roster math: 21 players, 18 spots
Entering Wednesday's game, Miami carried the preseason maximum of 21 players: 14 on standard contracts, three on two-way deals and four on Exhibit 10 contracts. The regular-season limit is 18, meaning 15 standard players and three two-way players. The Heat's three two-way players are Tre Donaldson, Goldin and Keshad Johnson.
Johnson's situation is a reminder of how quickly the picture changes. After earning $2 million on a standard deal last season, he is now on a two-way contract worth $679,000. "The business part of it is never really easy," Spoelstra said Friday, "but I view him as one of the 15. That's what matters." The Herald also notes Miami has enough room under its first-apron hard cap to sign a 15th player to a minimum deal whenever it chooses.
Availability remains fluid. Per Sports Illustrated's Heat site, Antetokounmpo, Adebayo and Pelle Larsson (illness) were all ruled out for Friday's preseason finale at Orlando, with the Heat 3-1 in exhibitions entering that game. Guard Dru Smith (right calf strain) has also been sidelined.
Analysis: what the roster reveals about opening night
The following is our read, not reported fact. Miami's roster has a clear identity: speed, shooting and a superstar hub. Davion Mitchell, who took six stitches above his right eye against Brooklyn and kept playing, is setting the pace Spoelstra wants, and Klay Thompson chipped in 12 points in 23 minutes in that win. Rookie Ryan Conwell, the 37th pick in June, produced 17 points and nine assists against Minnesota and 13 points with a team-best plus-21 against Brooklyn, making a case for a longer look.
Richards is the opposite kind of roster piece: a role player who does one thing well. If Adebayo's groin is a short-term issue, keeping a rebounder at roughly $3.1 million is a low-cost hedge. If Miami prefers a different skill set at backup center, the front office still has time to pivot. Either way, the choice says plenty about how Spoelstra wants to balance size against pace around Antetokounmpo. For background on how this group came together, see our report on Giannis officially joining the Heat, and Hoops Rumors' Southeast Division roundup for league-wide context on the Richards decision.
What Heat fans should watch next
Saturday, 5 p.m.: the practical deadline for waived players to clear waivers before Monday's cutoff, and the key window for any Richards decision.
Monday, 5 p.m.: the NBA's deadline to trim rosters to the regular-season maximum.
Adebayo's status: whether the groin tightness clears in time for Wednesday's opener against the Timberwolves.
The 15th roster spot: whether Miami adds a minimum-contract player or stays flexible.
Oct. 24: the G League draft, followed by Skyforce training camp on Oct. 26.
The Miami Heat roster will look different by Monday afternoon than it does today, and every cut or signing will say something about Spoelstra's plan for the Giannis era. Follow Remix Sports Media for continuing Miami Heat news, game recaps and roster updates all season long, and bookmark our Miami Heat page so you never miss a move.
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