The Heat don't have a lot of short-term flexibility. They signed Hassan Whiteside to a huge deal this summer, did the same in matching the Nets' offer for Tyler Johnson, still have Chris Bosh and his uncertain situation on the books, and filled the roster with one-year deals to try and fill the gaps after Dwyane Wade's departure to Chicago.
They do have a number of expiring contracts that after January they can deal, but the one player they want to move... they can't. Miami's been trying to get Josh McRoberts off the roster for two years and now the South Florida Sun-Sentinel reports that they can't even give him away.
But to get to the crux of your question, it's not as if the Heat didn't already attempt to trade McRoberts, when they were looking for additional cap space to at least accommodate Dwyane Wade for 2016-17. If word from a party close to that situation was correct, the Heat quite literally could not even give McRoberts away, that no outside team wanted to take on his salary-cap hits that include a player option for 2017-18. In fact, it will be interesting to see how the Heat approach McRoberts this coming season, given the salary-cap advantages of him bypassing his player option for 2017-18. Because of his player option, if the Heat cut McRoberts this season they automatically would be on the hook for his entire 2017-18 salary counting against their cap.
Source: ASK IRA: Could Heat move Josh McRoberts to thin out roster? - Sun Sentinel.
The McRoberts situation in Miami is a great reminder of how good ideas in free agency can go sideways. His career has been a rollercoaster, but when the Heat signed him, he was coming off a terrific season with Charlotte. He'd shown himself as a brilliant passer who could stretch the floor and rebound. It was a really smart pick up.
He was injured to start the year with the Heat, never really got to 100 percent, and then... just never fit. Sometimes good players don't fit with good coaching staffs. That's much of what has happened with McRoberts. If he gets healthy, there's no reason he can't be a productive member of another team. He's only 29, there's plenty of basketball in front of him. Given that he's on the books for less than $6 million next season with a player option for the one after that, he's a value guy that some team should take a gamble on.
However, at this point, teams are more likely to hold off and wait until Miami waives him, but to do so, the Heat would have to pay his $6 million next year as well, so that's unlikely. It seems that McRoberts may be stuck in limbo for the foreseeable future.
