MIAMI – Just shy of two months from the start of training camp, the Miami Heat already have an almost full preseason roster, with Monday offering another example of how fluid NBA offseason rosters can be. Waived two weeks ago from a Heat two-way contract so the Heat could sign summer-league standout Josh Christopher to a two-way contract, undrafted Florida guard Zyon Pullin was re-signed Monday to a Exhibit 10 camp tryout contract. The signing of Pullin, 23, puts the Heat offseason roster at 19, two shy off the NBA maximum.
Teams then must cut down to no more than 15 players under standard contract and three under two-way contract by opening night. Pullin had been signed in the immediate wake of the draft to a two-way contract , but then struggled during the Heat’s summer schedule, eventually losing his starting role in those games to undrafted Colorado State guard Isaiah Stevens. Based on the Heat’s position against the highly punitive second-tier of the luxury-tax apron, Pullin’s best – and likely only – opportunity to make the opening-night roster would be to supplant one of the three players currently on two-way contracts, contracts that can be subbed out at any point, as Pullin learned last month.
Due to their position against the luxury tax, the Heat are expected to only carry 14 players under standard contract to open those season, with 14 players already under guaranteed contract: Jimmy Butler, Bam Adebayo, Tyler Herro, Terry Rozier, Nikola Jovic, Jaime Ja.