Miami Heat Lose Free Agent F to Contract With East Rival

Getty Miami Heat forward Cloe Swider

Over the course of two seasons, former Miami Heat forward Cole Swider has not gotten much of an NBA chance, having played just 25 games between the Lakers and Heat since going undrafted out of Syracuse in 2022. That’s somewhat strange given Swider’s ability as a shooter, which he has never really been able to show at the NBA level.

He has shot just 34.2% in those two years in the league, but his real ability can be seen by looking at his G League numbers: He shot 40.9% in his two seasons in the NBA’s minor league. In college, too, he made his mark as a shooter, making 40.2% of his shots from the arc as a junior at Villanova and 41.1% as a senior with the Orangemen.

Now, it appears, he won’t get the chance to show his wares with the Heat, the team with which he spent last season and for whom he played summer league ball. Swider played six games with the summer Heat and made 45.9% of his 3s, on 6.2 attempts per game. But the Heat did not sign him to a contract.

Instead, on Saturday, the Indiana Pacers did, inking Swider to a minimum deal.

Cole Swider Gets a Chance With Pacers

That bit of news comes from Shams Charania of The Athletic, who wrote on Twitter/X Saturday morning:

“Free agent G Cole Swider has agreed to a one-year, non-guaranteed deal with the Indiana Pacers, sources tell @ThAthletic @Stadium. Swider had an impressive Summer League for Heat, averaging 13.5 points and 49.1 percent 3-point shooting on nearly seven 3s attempted per game.”

Swider certainly has the shooting chops to have a place in the NBA, and perhaps he will get more opportunity with the Pacers. He said he tries to put aside the pressure to get to the NBA in an earlier interview from Summer League, with Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel.

“I try just to focus on my daily progression,” Swider said.. “When you start worrying about all the other things that might be going on around you, it’s tough. I definitely learned the business the hard way last year getting cut. So I’m able to understand teams are going to do the best things that they think are for themselves.

“I think the next step for me is just to continue that development. And if that leads to a contract, that leads to a contract. If that leads to a two-way opportunity here or somewhere else, then that’s the path that it’s going to be. But as of right now, I’m just focused on helping this team and continuing my development during the summer league.”

Miami Heat Roster Is Full

As for the Heat, the roster is full and, barring a major and unlikely trade, what we see is probably what we will get at the start of the season. There was some hope that Miami would make a major move to add another star player this summer, much as there was last year.

But no such move materialized, and the Heat have been publicly selling the February trade for Terry Rozier as their big offseason move, one that they simply executed five months ahead of time. Rozier does not solve many of the issues the Heat roster has, but that’s the best they’ve been able to conjure up.

There was some speculation that Swider would ultimately get one of the Heat’s two-way contract slots, but the Heat gave their third spot—Dru Smith and Keshad Johnson have the others—to Josh Christopher, who was drawing interest from other teams after an impressive summer-league showing.