2 for 1 officially achieved! Butler finally got strong reinforcements, and the Heat won the championship in one fell swoop
On January 24, Beijing time, this is definitely a big day for all Heat fans to collectively celebrate, because their team has just acquired a super strong championship helper through a 2-for-1 trade. In addition, the Heat's success in getting rid of veteran Lowry's remaining big contract while also saving a lot of money on luxury taxes and getting a trade exception will go a long way toward continuing to upgrade their championship roster at the trade deadline. Obviously, this is a lot of money!
According to Shams of The Athletic, multiple sources have revealed that the Miami Heat are close to trading for Titanic Rozier from the Charlotte Hornets. Subsequently, ESPN reported that the Heat and Hornets have officially reached a deal, with the Heat sending veteran Kyle Lowry and a protected first-round pick in 2027 to get Rozier from the Hornets. At this point, Rozier, who is in his playing year, will officially end his Hornets career and settle in Miami to join forces with Jimmy Butler to start a new chapter in his career!
It is reported that Rozier's four-year, 96 million contract with the Hornets in the summer of 2021 will expire in 2026, with an annual salary of 23.21 million this season and 26.64 million in the last season, the 2025-26 season (partially guaranteed). With the deal officially struck, it means that Rozier will play for the Heat for the next three seasons. Lowry, who was sent away by the Heat, has 1 year and 29.68 million left, but the Hornets do not plan to immediately reach a contract buyout with Lowry, and they will try to trade Lowry away at the trade deadline. If they can't send Rory away, they will consider a contract buyout at that time!
After the Heat traded Rozier, who was in his prime of play, it can be said that Jimmy Butler finally waited for the championship helper of his dreams. Although the Heat have reached the Finals twice in the past four seasons, they have missed out on the championship in the end. The reason for this is that they are nothing more than a fierce general who can provide Butler with super firepower support at critical moments.
Now they finally have Rozier, who can average 23.2 points, 3.9 rebounds, 6.6 assists and 1.1 steals per game this season, which is undoubtedly the last link to strengthen, which will bring the Heat, which already has the strength to rush to the championship, to a higher level! In this way, the Heat will form a championship quartet of Butler + Adebayo + Rozier + Herro. You must know that his four brothers are all fierce generals with an average of 20+ points per game, which is bound to greatly improve the Heat's championship strength and quickly become a huge threat to Eastern teams and even the entire league!
There's no doubt that the Heat will be the big winners in the Rozier trade, and in addition to getting the final piece of the championship puzzle to form the Big Four, they also saved a whopping $15.4 million in luxury tax on this deal, as well as an extremely valuable $6.4 million trade exception, which opens up more possibilities for them at the trade deadline. Sending away the aging Kyle Lowry in exchange for Rozier, who is in the prime of life, cleaning up the garbage contract can also save a lot of luxury tax and get a 6.4 million transaction exception, and it is also a successful formation of a 20+ championship quartet, the Heat can be said to have made a lot of money in this 2-for-1 deal!
It's no exaggeration to say that the Heat deal has every chance of impacting the championship landscape in the East this season. Next, Butler, who has Rozier's aid, is bound to lead the Heat to completely disrupt the Eastern Conference and aim for the championship!