Duncan Robinson opts out of final season of Heat deal into NBA free agency

Ira Winderman, South Florida Sun Sentinel on Jun 29, 2025

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MIAMI — In a somewhat surprising but also likely strategic move, Miami Heat guard Duncan Robinson on Sunday invoked the early-termination clause on his contract, moving into NBA free agency.

The immediate ramification is Robinson’s $20 million salary for 2025-26 being removed from the Heat books.

In essence, Robinson effectively opted out of the $10 million guaranteed money for 2025-26, with the second half of his 2025-26 salary non-guaranteed until July 8.

With the move, it positions Robinson to move on to another contract with the Heat, one that would replace the $10 million bypassed by opting out, plus allow for additional seasons to be added to his Heat tenure.

Sunday’s move also leaves open the possibility of a sign-and-trade deal moving Robinson elsewhere, perhaps to a team in need of shooting that then could compensate the Heat with assets.

As part of the five-year, $90 million contract signed by the 3-point specialist in the 2021 offseason, Robinson negotiated the right to terminate his contract ahead of the $20 million salary deadline on the final year, with that deadline at 5 p.m. ET Sunday.

With Robinson invoking his termination option, it allowed the Heat to move below the luxury tax for next season, even with the two-year, $24 agreement reached Saturday with guard Davion Mitchell.

It is against the backdrop of Robinson’s move that the Heat will enter Monday’s 6 p.m. start of NBA free agency, standing as a team more likely to trade than outright sign a free agent.

When it comes to trade capital, the Heat’s primary asset at the moment appears to be Andrew Wiggins, the forward acquired along with Mitchell and Kyle Anderson in the Feb. 6 deal at the NBA trade deadline that sent forward Jimmy Butler to the Golden State Warriors.

Already Wiggins has been linked to numerous potential trade possibilities, including ones for Sacramento Kings guard DeMar DeRozan, Phoenix Suns guard Bradley Beal and Golden State Warriors forward Jonathan Kuminga, a restricted free agent who is expected to be on the move in a sign-and-trade agreement.

While teams can open negotiations with outside free agents Monday, such deals cannot become official until the July 6 close of the NBA offseason signing moratorium.

That nonetheless will have Monday as the starting point of a busy offseason stretch, with Tuesday the first day the Heat can negotiate an extension with forward Nikola Jovic and Saturday the start of Heat summer-league play.

The Heat got ahead of free agency on several levels, with teams allowed to negotiate with their own free agents in advance of Monday’s start of the leaguewide period. That not only had the team reaching the agreement with Mitchell that will be finalized on July 6, but also guaranteeing the salary of 2024 undrafted forward Keshad Johnson and extending a qualifying offer to Dru Smith, the guard who spent last season on a two-way contract.

Among the incumbent free agents from the Heat’s season-ending roster eligible to be signed elsewhere beginning on Monday are Alec Burks, Josh Christopher and Isaiah Stevens, with the latter two finishing last season on two-way deals.

While the NBA utilizes the upcoming week to finalize the 2025-26 salary cap, certain agreements are allowed to be consummated in the interim starting Tuesday, including agreements with first-round picks on the pre-set rookie scale, minimum-scale contacts and the extending of offer sheets to restricted free agents.

For the Heat, factoring into any moves will be a standard roster already at 14 players against the NBA regular-season limit of 15 players under standard contract: Mitchell, Wiggins, Anderson, Jovic, Johnson, Bam Adebayo, Tyler Herro, Kel’el Ware, Jaime Jaquez Jr., Haywood Highsmith, Kevin Love, Terry Rozier, Pelle Larsson and Wednesday night’s first-round pick Kasparas Jakucionis. A Robinson return would make that total 15, as would a return by Burks.

Teams also are allowed to carry up to three players under two-way contracts during the regular season, with former Florida Atlantic University center Vlad Goldin agreeing to such a Heat deal after going undrafted out of Michigan on Thursday. Smith also is expected to return on such a deal once his qualifying offer is converted into a contract.

Teams are allowed to carry a maximum of 20 players under contract during the offseason, a total that does not include those on summer tryout deals, such as a significant portion of the roster the Heat will take into summer-league play.

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