4:48pm: In exchange for Bryant, the Heat will acquire the right to swap 2031 second-round picks with the Pacers, according to Chiang.
3:47pm: The Heat have agreed to trade veteran center Thomas Bryant to the Pacers, sources tell Shams Charania of ESPN.
The deal will have to wait until Sunday, as that’s when Bryant becomes trade-eligible. Indiana will send Miami a second-round pick swap to complete the transaction, according to Charania.
Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald (Twitter links) confirms the news, noting that by dumping Bryant’s salary, the Heat will soon have just 13 players on standard contracts and more financial flexibility to potentially convert a player on a two-way deal to a standard contract — this morning we identified Dru Smith as a possible candidate to be promoted.
Ian Begley of SNY.tv hears the Pacers discussed sending James Wiseman to the Heat in the deal, but he won’t be included in the final version (Twitter link). Wiseman is out for the season after sustaining a torn Achilles tendon on opening night.
The Pacers won’t have to send out matching salary to acquire Bryant, since his contract can be taken on using the minimum-salary exception. Since Indiana has an open standard roster spot, the team also won’t need to waive anyone to add Bryant.
According to ESPN’s Bobby Marks (Twitter link), the Heat will save $4.7MM toward their project luxury tax payment by moving off Bryant’s $2,087,519 salary. They’ll also create a traded player exception worth the exact amount of Bryant’s outgoing contract. Miami will be approximately $3.7MM below the second tax apron once the deal is finalized, Marks adds.
Charania reported a few days ago that Indiana was “actively pursuing” a backup center in the wake of season-ending injuries to Wiseman and fellow big man Isaiah Jackson, who also suffered a torn Achilles tendon this fall. Jake Fischer confirmed that report today, with league sources indicating a deal would likely be completed shortly after Dec. 15, when many players around the NBA become eligible to be traded.
Assuming the trade is completed on Sunday, the Heat will have until Dec. 29 to add a 14th player to their standard roster. The club will also now have the ability to add a 15th man while staying below the second apron, if it so chooses.
Bryant, 27, is an eight-year veteran, having previously played for the Lakers, Wizards and Nuggets prior to joining Miami. He won a title with Denver in 2023, though his role was very limited. The big man played his college ball in Indiana with the Hoosiers from 2015-17.
After being in and out of Miami’s rotation in 2023/24, Bryant’s role fluctuated once again fluctuated this season. He averaged 4.3 points and 3.2 rebounds in 11.5 minutes per game across 10 outings with the Heat this fall after re-signing on a one-year, minimum-salary deal over the offseason.
Bryant’s one-year deal with Miami would typically have given him the right to veto a trade, but he agreed to waive that right as part of his contract agreement.
Hat tip to Luke in the chat yesterday that called this one
Anybody else wondering why Shams clearly had no idea this trade was in the works????
The HEAT FO has always been the one franchise that Shams, Woj or anyone else, had no access to.
Shams reported earlier this week that the Pacers were actively pursuing a backup center, then was the first to break the story that they were acquiring Bryant. Not really sure what else you expect from him.
Indiana Pacers got Myles Turner a nice backup Center and a guy that played college ball at Indiana. So he has a chance to revive his career.
Miami Heat made a great move getting rid of him and his contract to get them under the second tax apron.
Kevin Love is still backing up Bam Adebayo but this move will eventually free up minutes for the rookie Center out of Indiana Kel’el Ware.
Trade news coming out of Miami right now people might think it’s about Jimmy Butler. I honestly think if the Miami Heat decide to trade Jimmy Butler it will be closer to the NBA Trade Deadline. Then I think the team that can and will trade for him will be the Golden State Warriors.
Then can turn Dru Smith contract from a two way contract into a standard deal.
So wheres the multi team trade that one guy was calling for?
I was wondering this when they were looking for a big. Opens up the spot for the Heat to give to Dru Smith, and even though they’ve lost sooo many guys, they can bring someone else in there
He was there to backup Kevin Love in certain matchups, and he did that against Cleveland a few days ago. The Heat wasted a roster spot on drafting Ware, so they had to lose Bryant, and they also probably expected him to get a better deal somewhere as a FA, but he stayed…
They’ve buried Richardson and Burks on the bench, which I’m not really understanding at all, especially Richardson…the rotation is a little better than it was, but it’s still a little wonky for what it could be
I feel like Rozier is on the table, as well as Ware, those guys, and Jovic. I don’t know what 4/5 they can get with that, or a better 2/3, but I can see those as possibilities. Super outside shot of Duncan Robinson or Herro, if it’s so thing significant (time to trade Herro past, in my opinion).