Heat Re-Sign Vladislav Goldin To Two-Way Contract
The Heat have re-signed center Vladislav Goldin to a new two-way contract, according to the official NBA transaction log (hat tip to Michael Scotto of HoopsHype).
Goldin, 25, initially joined the Heat on a two-way deal last July after going undrafted out of Michigan. The Russian big man spent most of his rookie season in the G League, averaging 12.3 points, 7.6 rebounds, and 1.9 blocks in 23.6 minutes per game across 31 appearances for the Sioux Falls Skyforce, Miami’s affiliate.
Although Goldin played sparingly at the NBA level, logging just 24 total minutes in nine games for the Heat, the team issued him a two-way qualifying offer last month to make him a restricted free agent. As Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun Sentinel confirms (via Twitter), he simply accepted that QO, which is the equivalent of another one-year, two-way deal with a partial guarantee worth $91K.
Having re-signed Goldin, the Heat have now filled two of their three two-way contract slots. Tre Donaldson, a rookie free agent guard who spent his final college season with the Miami Hurricanes, finalized a two-way deal with the club earlier in July.
The Heat could bring in another free agent to fill their third and final two-way opening prior to training camp or they could hold an open competition in camp for that last slot. Any player with fewer than four years of NBA experience who is on an Exhibit 10 contract can have his deal converted into a two-way, and Miami is expected to sign undrafted free agents Tre White, J’Vonne Hadley, and Keyshawn Hall to Exhibit 10 deals.
Not counting those unsigned Exhibit 10 players, the Heat currently have 14 players under contract — 12 on standard deals, plus Goldin and Donaldson.
Heat Notes: Powell, Jaquez, Johnson, Goldin, Haslem
Norman Powell recently signed a two-year deal to join the Bulls, and while he’s excited about his future, he admitted his first choice probably would have been to stick with the Heat, with whom he made his first All-Star team at age 32.
“Did I want to return to Miami? Yeah, I did,” Powell said, according to Anthony Chiang of the Miami Herald. “But obviously, it’s a business. They made their decisions and made their moves and things happen. And it is what it is.”
Powell would have fit the new-look Heat’s needs well, but Miami’s cap situation prevented the team from re-signing him to the type of deal he had earned for himself based on his strong play last year. Now he’s looking forward to bringing his experience and scoring ability to Chicago.
“I know where I’m at in my career,” he said. “Obviously, the whole focal point is winning and wanting to get back to that championship stage. But just looking at the opportunity that was in front of me, that’s going to allow me to be able to play my game of basketball how I want to play it and be able to help pass on knowledge.”
Powell isn’t the only player who is disappointed to no longer be in Miami. Fourth-year wing Jaime Jaquez Jr. will play for the Bucks next season after being included in the trade for Giannis Antetokounmpo, leaving the team that drafted him 18th overall in 2023.
“It was definitely devastating for sure,” Jaquez said of the trade, per Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel. “I love Miami. I love this city. It really felt like home to me.”
Jaquez said that his reaction in the viral video of him discovering the news while playing pickup basketball was genuine, but that he had known it was happening that day and had gone to the gym to occupy his mind. He added that he’s excited for the opportunity to really be able to shine on the new-look Bucks.
We have more from the Heat:
- While some players are mourning their departures from the Heat, others are still waiting to learn their fate, including Keshad Johnson. Despite not receiving a qualifying offer from the team, the 2026 dunk contest champion is hopeful that a reunion could be in the cards. “If the opportunity presents itself, I for sure want to be a Heat. For sure,” he said, adding, “I love the 305 forever.” He added that he’d be willing to consider a two-way deal to stay in Miami, though he also noted that he’s talked to several teams around the league this summer.
- Monday marked the deadline for the Heat to rescind their two-way qualifying offer for second-year center Vladislav Goldin, Chiang notes (via Twitter). Miami declined to do so, which means that offer remains on the table for the 7’0″ center and cannot be withdrawn. Goldin has averaged 8.8 points, 6.4 rebounds, and 2.4 blocks through five Summer League games across Las Vegas and California this offseason.
- After being criticized by Draymond Green on a podcast for a perceived double standard in how he discussed Green’s 2022 altercation with teammate Jordan Poole and Bam Adebayo‘s recent confrontation with Tyler Herro, longtime Heat big man Udonis Haslem responded to Green’s comments on Sunday in a lengthy social media post, Chiang writes. “If you think your big 32 year old, 3 or 4 rings at the time having a– swinging on a 23 year old Jordan Poole at the time is the same then you are even more delusional that I thought,” Haslem wrote. “Anyone who knows Bam knows he’s strong as baby bear. If he would’ve unloaded on Tyler 100% it’s over. You fired off on that young boy like it was a club punch and you never met him before in your life.”
QO Decisions: Goldin, Keels, Plowden, Johnson, Dickinson, Crawford
The Heat have tendered a two-way qualifying offer to Vladislav Goldin, according to Spotrac contributor Keith Smith (Twitter link). The undrafted seven-footer out of Michigan appeared in nine games with Miami this past season but only averaged 2.7 minutes in those outings. He’ll now be a restricted free agent.
Goldin’s qualifying offer is equivalent to another one-year, two-way deal and would include a modest partial guarantee (projected to be worth $91K).
The Heat are planning to pass on a two-way qualifying offer for guard Trevor Keels, making him an unrestricted free agent, the Miami Herald’s Anthony Chiang tweets. The 2022 second-round pick out of Duke made eight cameo appearances for the Heat this past season.
Here’s more qualifying offer decisions:
- The Kings have made a two-way qualifying offer to guard Daeqwon Plowden, making him a restricted free agent, Smith tweets. Plowden saw quite a bit of action for Sacramento in 2025/26, appearing in 32 games (seven starts). He averaged 10.8 points, 3.0 rebounds and 1.3 assists in 26.4 minutes per game.
- The Nets have tendered a two-way qualifying offer to forward Chaney Johnson, Smith tweets. Johnson appeared in 12 games for Brooklyn this past season, averaging 8.2 points, 4.6 rebounds and 2.1 assists in 20.5 minutes per game.
- The Pelicans have tendered a two-way qualifying offer to center Hunter Dickinson, Smith tweets. The former Michigan and Kansas standout, who appeared in five NBA games this season after going undrafted, is one of three New Orleans two-way players eligible for free agency this offseason.
- The Rockets have tendered a two-way qualifying offer to Isaiah Crawford, Smith tweets. After going undrafted in 2024, Crawford played 15 games for Sacramento. This past season, Crawford appeared in 14 Rockets games, averaging 2.0 points in 6.6 minutes.
Heat’s Adebayo Out Friday; Jakucionis Available
Heat big man Bam Adebayo underwent an MRI on Thursday and has been diagnosed with a left big toe sprain, as Anthony Chiang and Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald relay.
While Adebayo was forced to leave Wednesday’s loss in Denver and will also be out for Friday’s game vs. Charlotte, it doesn’t sound like the three-time All-Star will miss much time beyond that — he’s considered day-to-day moving forward, per Chiang and Jackson.
With Adebayo sidelined, two-way center Vlad Goldin has been recalled from a G League assignment and will be active on Friday against the Hornets, tweets Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press.
Another rookie, first-round pick Kasparas Jakucionis, will be available as well — it could mark the NBA debut of the former Illinois guard, who missed the first eight games of the season with a right groin strain.
The Heat also announced that Erik Spoelstra will coach Friday in the wake of the fire that severely damaged his home, Chiang and Jackson add. The league’s longest-tenured head coach will address the media before the game.
Heat Notes: Center Spot, Rozier, Goldin, Johnson
Do the Heat need to add another center? Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel believes so.
While they have Kel’el Ware and Bam Adebayo to play that position, the Heat’s options are limited if either has to miss a game or gets in foul trouble. Nikola Jovic would be playing out of position if he’s utilized as the third option and rookie Vladislav Goldin, who is on a two-way deal, lacks agility to make defensive switches. However, the Heat are already over the luxury tax, which complicates any effort to bring in a veteran for depth, Winderman notes.
We have more on the Heat:
- Terry Rozier‘s trade value is practically non-existent, according to Winderman, who doubts any other team would look to acquire him without a sweetener. The Heat aren’t in a position to do that, since they still owe a first-round pick to Charlotte for the Rozier acquisition. The only other trade scenarios involving Rozier, in Winderman’s estimation, would be a team looking to acquire his expiring contract for a player signed beyond next season or his salary being packaged as part of a bigger deal.
- One thing about Goldin that endeared him to the coaching staff during Summer League appearances was his motor, according to the Miami Herald’s Anthony Chiang. “Vlad was really good for us,” Heat assistant coach and Summer League head coach Eric Glass said. “He plays so freakin’ hard out there. He plays so physically. You’d like to have him on the floor even longer, but he goes so hard, sometimes he burns himself out. That’s why we love him.” The former University of Michigan big man, who was undrafted, averaged 9.2 points and 4.8 rebounds in six games this month.
- Keshad Johnson has a guaranteed $1.955MM contract for next season and he doesn’t want to wind up at the end of the bench. “The goal is to crack the Heat’s rotation and prove that I belong on the floor,” Johnson said entering his second NBA season. Johnson’s Summer League outings were generally positive, according to Chiang, but somewhat inconsistent. Johnson would likely have to leapfrog two or three other players at the small forward spot to get minutes.
Vlad Goldin Discusses Signing Two-Way Deal With Heat
Viewed as a potential second-round pick heading into last month’s draft, former Michigan center Vladislav Goldin didn’t hear his name called, making him an unrestricted free agent. He quickly agreed to sign a two-way contract with the Heat, a move that became official earlier this week.
According to Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald, the 24-year-old Russian said he didn’t work out for the Heat leading up to the draft because the team didn’t have a second-rounder and he thought he’d be selected. While he drew interest from other teams, Goldin was happy to land with Miami.
“As soon as I talked to my agent and he explained to me how things are going, he explained to me that we’re probably going to sign a two-way and we’re probably going to look for the best opportunity,” Goldin said. “Then Miami came into the conversation and that was the best option I could dream about.
“Everybody knows about Miami and how they develop their players and they give chances to young players. It’s something that they’re known for. So it wasn’t the hardest decision of my life, but there were different options.”
Goldin started his college career at Texas Tech and then played three years at Florida Atlantic before finishing up at Michigan. His time at FAU gave him a level of familiarity with the Heat, Chiang writes.
“I’ve kind of been around Miami because they had training camp at Florida Atlantic,” said Goldin. “So that’s something that we’ve been watching, to be honest, all their practices and how they practice and how they act. It was definitely something that taught me and taught probably a lot of guys on that team — how the NBA looks like and what it takes to be in the NBA.
“We could watch it from the stands. So the only thing we could do was watch and take pictures after.”
Goldin is expected to make his Heat debut on Saturday afternoon against San Antonio when Miami plays its first summer league game at the California Classic, Chiang notes.
Heat Rumors: Young Core, Adebayo, Herro, Rozier, Wiggins
It has been a relatively quiet free agency period so far for the Heat, who agreed to re-sign Davion Mitchell on Saturday and worked out a sign-and-trade deal sending Duncan Robinson to Detroit, but haven’t made any veteran roster additions outside of Simone Fontecchio, who will be sent to Miami in that trade with the Pistons.
According to Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald, Miami are content to “let our young guys show what they can do” this fall, with a full training camp together. As Jackson explains, the Heat believe they can’t accurately judge the current group based on last season’s results due to the Jimmy Butler chaos, changing roles, and Andrew Wiggins‘ health issues, among other factors.
The team also believes that its young prospects – Kel’el Ware, Jaime Jaquez, Nikola Jovic, Pelle Larsson, and Kasparas Jakucionis – all have a chance to be “really good players,” with some of them set to take on increased roles this season, Jackson writes.
The Heat are remaining open to taking a bigger swing if a star hits the trade market, but would only be aggressive if a player in his prime is available, Jackson continues. That’s why Miami wasn’t willing to go all-in for Kevin Durant, with multiple sources telling the Herald that the team never thought it was close to landing the 36-year-old forward.
Whether or not the Heat have the assets to beat out rival suitors if an in-his-prime star such as Giannis Antetokounmpo is on the trade block is a fair question, Jackson notes.
Here’s more on the Heat:
- Miami haven’t considered the idea of trading Bam Adebayo and/or Tyler Herro in order to launch a rebuild, a source with knowledge of the situation tells the Herald. The Heat believe that tanking fails more often than it works and doesn’t plan to rethink that philosophy, according to Jackson.
- The Heat also aren’t weighing the idea of waiving and stretching the final year of Terry Rozier‘s contract, which will pay him $26.6MM this season, Jackson says. Unlike Milwaukee with Damian Lillard, Miami doesn’t need the immediate cap savings, so the plan is to either trade Rozier at some point or simply keep him for next season, Jackson adds.
- Although the Heat are entertaining inquiries on Wiggins, there’s no urgency to move him, according to Jackson, who says the club acquired him from Golden State in February because it likes his game, not to use his contract in a subsequent deal. The Heat view him as a player who can complement Adebayo and Herro.
- The Heat officially signed undrafted rookie Vladislav Goldin to a two-way contract on Wednesday. Our story on the deal can be found here.
Vlad Goldin Signs Two-Way Contract With Heat
July 2: Goldin has officially signed his two-way contract, tweets Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press.
June 26: Former Michigan center Vladislav Goldin is signing a two-way deal with the Heat, sources tell Shams Charania of ESPN (via Twitter). Goldin had been an unrestricted free agent after going unselected in this year’s draft.
The 7’1″ big man bounced around in the NCAA, kicking off his career at Texas Tech in 2020/21, then transferring to Florida Atlantic for the subsequent three seasons. During his fifth collegiate season, 2024/25, the Russian-born center notched averages of 16.6 PPG, 7.0 RPG, 1.4 BPG, 1.1 APG, and 0.5 SPG.
The 24-year-old earned a host of honors during his various college stints, including an All-Big Ten First Team accolade and Big Ten Tournament MVP honors with the Wolverines this past season.
Sam Vecenie of The Athletic had ranked Goldin as the year’s No. 51 prospect in his final big board.
Miami selected former Illinois guard Kasparas Jakucionis with the No. 20 pick in the draft. The Heat did not have their own second-rounder this week.
Draft Workouts: Jazz, Wolves, Kings, Broome
The Jazz are hosting a pre-draft workout on Friday featuring Colorado State wing Nique Clifford, North Carolina wing Drake Powell, Creighton center Ryan Kalkbrenner and Tennessee guard Chaz Lanier, multiple league sources tell Tony Jones of The Athletic (Twitter link).
Clifford is the top-ranked prospect of the group, according to ESPN’s big board, coming in at No. 22. Powell (No. 31), Kalkbrenner (No. 33) and Lanier (No. 37) are also viewed as strong bets to be drafted, either late in the first round or early in the second.
Utah currently controls four picks — Nos. 5, 21, 43 and 53 — in June’s draft.
Here are a few more notes regarding pre-draft workouts:
- The Timberwolves, who control the 17th and 31st picks, are holding a workout Thursday that includes Asa Newell (Georgia), Jamir Watkins (Florida State), Keshon Gilbert (Iowa State) and Steven Crowl (Wisconsin), reports Darren Wolfson of 5 Eyewitness News and SKOR North (via Twitter). Newell, who was invited to the green room, is ranked No. 21 on ESPN’s board, while Watkins is No. 39. The other two players are unranked.
- The Kings will be hosting six players for a workout on Friday, the team announced (Twitter link via Jason Anderson of The Sacramento Bee). The six are Ryan Nembhard of Gonzaga, Curtis Jones of Iowa State, Koby Brea of Kentucky, Kadary Richmond of, Norchad Omier of Baylor, and Vladislav Goldin of Michigan. All six prospects appear on ESPN’s board, ranging from No. 47 (Brea) to No. 95 (Omier). Sacramento currently only controls the 42nd pick, but is rumored to be interested in moving into the first round.
- Big man Johni Broome, the 40th-ranked prospect on ESPN’s list, had a workout with the Warriors today, tweets Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic. The former Auburn star said he has previously worked out for the Clippers, Pistons, Hawks, Nets, Raptors and Celtics, and has upcoming workouts scheduled with the Thunder, Timberwolves and Suns, according to Rankin. Golden State controls the 41st pick.
Draft Notes: Raynaud, Coward, Combine, Chinyelu, Demary
In the wake of the NBA’s 2025 draft combine, ESPN’s Jonathan Givony and Jeremy Woo have updated their mock draft, taking into account which prospects saw their stock rise – or decline – as a result of their performances in Chicago.
While there weren’t any major changes at the top of ESPN’s latest mock, there were some movers further down the draft order. Stanford big man Maxime Raynaud, for instance, was considered one of the big winners of the combine due to his strong play during scrimmages. After coming in at No. 34 in ESPN’s mock draft last Monday, Raynaud has jumped to No. 24 in the newest version.
Forward Cedric Coward was another prospect who moved up from the second round (No. 35) in ESPN’s previous mock draft to the first round (No. 30) in today’s update. Although Coward has committed to transferring from Washington State to Duke, signs are pointing to him keeping his name in the draft and going pro, according to Woo.
Coward, whose 2024/25 season was cut short due to a shoulder injury, has limited reps against high-level competition despite spending four seasons in college, which is a concern for some NBA teams who are “hesitant about his surprising rise,” Woo adds.
Here are a few more draft-related notes:
- A panel of ESPN draft experts and analysts share their takeaways from last week’s combine, while Cyro Asseo de Choch of HoopsHype identifies his winners and losers from the event. His list of winners includes prospects like UNC’s Drake Powell, UConn’s Liam McNeeley, and Rasheer Fleming of St. Joseph’s, while Maryland’s Derik Queen, Michigan State’s Jase Richardson, and Michigan’s Vladislav Goldin are among his losers.
- John Hollinger of The Athletic has also shared his impressions from the combine, including the best and worst performers in scrimmages, as well as the player measurements that stood out for better (like Thomas Sorber‘s 7’6″ wingspan) or worse (Richardson’s height coming in below 6’1″).
- After declaring for the 2025 NBA draft as an early entrant, Florida center Rueben Chinyelu has decided to pull out and return to school for his junior season, per Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports (Twitter link). Chinyelu was a full-time starter for the national champions in 2024/25, averaging 6.0 points, 6.6 rebounds, and 0.9 blocks in 19.0 minutes per game across 40 outings.
- According to Rothstein (Twitter link), sophomore guard Silas Demary Jr. is also withdrawing from the draft after testing the waters as an early entrant. Demary, who is transferring to UConn for his junior year, spent his first two college seasons with Georgia, averaging 13.5 points, 3.9 rebounds, 3.1 assists, and 1.7 steals per game in 33 starts for the team last season. He made just 39.6% of his shots from the floor, but had a solid 37.4% mark on three-pointers.