Ira Winderman: NBA can't undo lax Terry Rozier investigation, but it can do right with Heat pick

MIAMI — You have to start here: The NBA, with its investigative limitations, could not have fully appreciated the scope of what became, in the words of Terry Rozier’s attorney, an orchestrated “perp walk” by the Miami Heat guard on Thursday morning in Orlando.

The only thing that kept Rozier out of Wednesday’s season-opening loss to the Orlando Magic at Kia Center was the reality that he had fallen out of Erik Spoelstra’s rotation, with Rozier and Keshad Johnson the only Heat players under standard contract not to see action that night.

Otherwise, you could have had Rozier in action on the court Wednesday night, in shackles in court on Thursday afternoon — hardly the preferred NBA timeline.

That said, Rozier was arrested, charges were filed in the federal gambling investigation, and all was not as benign as the NBA determined in that wake of the March 23, 2023 Charlotte Hornets-New Orleans Pelicans matchup when Rozier pulled himself out of the game and under-palooza provided its now-infamous payoff.

In regard to the Rozier situation, there is no going back for the NBA, which can claim that the feds can move with means simply not at the disposal of a private business entity.

But that does not, or should not, mean the NBA simply can make the next logical moves and then call it a day: eventually ban Rozier, eliminate his salary from the Heat’s payroll.

Because there also is more at play, more in play for the Heat front office.

As part of the Heat’s January 2024 trade for Rozier, in addition to the expiring salary of Kyle Lowry being dealt, so was a future Heat first-round pick. It will convey to the Hornets as lottery protected (No. 1-14) in 2027 or unprotected in 2028.

The NBA can’t undo what Terry Rozier is alleged to have done.

It can’t deny the depth and detail of the federal indictments.

It can’t revoke a trade years after the fact.

And while it can afford potential luxury-tax relief now, in the form of a Rozier banishment and salary removal, it can’t get the Heat back to the point when such leeway months ago could have facilitated a trade for Kevin Durant.

But it still can at least make right part of the wrong, with a considerable runway in terms of timetable.

The draft pick due the Hornets has not been exercised yet.

The NBA simply could turn to the Heat with a “caveat emptor” shrug and further distance itself from the league investigation of Rozier that wasn’t much of an investigation at all.

Or it could right a wrong.

For now, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver is stressing diligence was done.

“Terry at the time cooperated,” Silver said during an interview amid Prime’s inaugural NBA coverage on Friday night, “and we ultimately concluded that there was insufficient evidence.”

He also said, “We were very transparent about it, and while there was that aberrational betting, we frankly couldn’t find anything. Terry at the time cooperated, he gave the league office his phone. We sat down for an interview, and we ultimately concluded that there was insufficient evidence, despite that aberrational behavior.”

That was then.

Now it’s real — as is what still remains at stake for the Heat.

In the wake of the Rozier arrest and his separation from the Heat, the Sun Sentinel forwarded these questions Friday to the NBA regarding the first-round pick sent out in the Rozier trade, so far without response at the time of this publication:

— In light of the NBA investigation into Terry Rozier and then the further work by the government, were the Miami Heat made fully aware by the Hornets of any and all aspects of the NBA’s Rozier investigation at the time of the Jan. ’24 trade? Is there evidence of such?

— Further, does the NBA fully know that all aspects of the NBA investigation were revealed to the Heat at that time?

— Further, does/can the status of that first-round pick due the Hornets from the Heat now or potentially change?

— Is there any recourse available to the Heat in light of a pre-existing act by Rozier that now has left him temporarily and potentially permanently unavailable to the Heat?

— Where does the NBA stand on this matter, and is that aspect of the trade formally and permanently closed?

— Is there potential recourse from the NBA for the Heat to recoup such a pick, potentially with a compensatory selection?

Yes, a tricky one for the league and Silver.

The potential solution that doesn’t directly rescind the pick portion of the deal or punish the Hornets for Rozier’s alleged misdeeds entails adding a compensatory Heat first-round pick in whatever year the Heat first-rounder is forwarded to the Hornets. Such an action would then free up all available future Heat first-round picks to be packaged in trades.

While draft position would be at issue, even No. 31 would technically leave the Heat a first-rounder in that year’s draft and alleviate some of the limitations of Stepien Rule (the banning of being without first-round picks in successive future drafts).

Yes, such a move would require sign off from both the NBA and National Basketball Players Association. With the NBA, it would be a way of righting what appeared to be a flawed Rozier investigation. For the union, it would be another player able to secure a guaranteed first-round contract.

The irony of the Rozier situation is that if he had picked up with the Heat where he left off with the Hornets as a reliable streak scorer, this might have been a moment of lamenting losing a leading man because of a scandal, left with little recourse to replace a rotation component in midstream.

Instead, the Heat were left at a loss with an ineffective Rozier.

Now, are they going to be left with another loss?

There still is time to at least partially right a wrong, with a long runway until that draft pick to the Hornets comes due.

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