Heat to sign forward Cole Swider. Details on the deal and what it means for the roster

The Miami Heat has been in a holding pattern for the past month amid the Damian Lillard waiting game.

But the Heat added a new face to its roster over the weekend, agreeing to sign forward Cole Swider to an Exhibit 10 contract, according to multiple league sources. Swider became a free agent after the Los Angeles Lakers waived him on July 26.

Exhibit 10 deals, which usually represent an invite to training camp, do not count against the salary cap or hard cap and can be converted to a two-way contract or standard one-year minimum contract prior to the start of the regular season. In addition, Exhibit 10 contracts offer guarantees of up to $75,000 if they are waived by their respective NBA team and then move on to that team’s G League affiliate and stay there at least 60 days.

Swider, who went undrafted out of Syracuse in 2022 after beginning his college career at Villanova, spent his first NBA season on a two-way contract with the Lakers before he was released in late July. The 24-year-old averaged 15.2 points and 5.6 rebounds per game while shooting 45.6 percent from the field and an impressive 42.5 percent on eight three-point attempts per game in five Las Vegas Summer League games with the Lakers last month prior to being waived.

Most of Swider’s playing time last season came in the G League. He averaged 17.1 points, 4.8 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game while shooting 50.6 percent from the field and 43.6 percent on 7.6 three-point attempts per game in 27 games for the Lakers’ G League affiliate, the South Bay Lakers.

Swider also appeared in seven NBA games for the Lakers as a rookie. He shot 3 of 8 (37.5 percent) on threes during that limiting NBA playing time last season.

Swider also shot 38.1 percent on four three-point attempts per game during his four-year college career.

Swider’s combination of size at 6-foot-9 and standout three-point shooting makes him an intriguing developmental prospect, especially after the Heat lost two of its best three-point shooters (Max Strus and Gabe Vincent) in free agency this summer. There also remains uncertainty surrounding sharpshooter Duncan Robinson’s future with the Heat amid the Lillard trade speculation.

Swider is expected to have a chance to compete for a two-way contract and possibly a spot on the Heat’s 15-man roster in training camp.

But Swider can’t formally sign his new contract with the Heat yet. Why? Until a team has 14 players signed to standard contracts (not including those on two-way deals), teams can’t sign players to Exhibit 10 contracts.

With the Heat currently operating with 13 players under standard deals, it’s not in position to officially lock in developmental prospects to Exhibit 10 contracts.

But as a workaround to that rule, Swider verbally committed to sign an Exhibit 10 contract with the Heat. According to multiple league sources, 6-foot-9 sharpshooting forward Drew Peterson is another who has verbally committed to an Exhibit 10 deal with the Heat this offseason.

Peterson, 23, went undrafted this year out of Southern Cal and played for the Heat’s summer league team.

With Peterson and Swider’s Exhibit 10 deals included, the Heat’s roster for next season sits at 17 players (13 on standard contracts, two on two-way contracts and two on Exhibit 10 contracts).

NBA teams are allowed to carry up to 21 players under contract in the offseason and preseason. Rosters must be cut to a maximum total of 18 players (15 on standard contracts and three on two-way contracts) by the start of the regular season.

The 13 players who the Heat currently has signed to standard contracts for 2023-24: Bam Adebayo, Thomas Bryant, Jimmy Butler, Tyler Herro, Haywood Highsmith, Jaime Jaquez Jr., Nikola Jovic, Kevin Love, Kyle Lowry, Caleb Martin, Josh Richardson, Robinson and Orlando Robinson.

The Heat also signed Jamaree Bouyea and Dru Smith to two-way contracts for next season, but those deals can be swapped out at any time. Two-way contracts do not count toward the salary cap or luxury tax and allow for players to be on their NBA team’s active list for as many as 50 regular-season games, with other game action having to come in the G League.

Forward Jamal Cain is the lone remaining available Heat free agent from last season’s roster. Cain remains a restricted free agent, which gives the Heat the ability to match outside offers to either bring him back on a two-way deal or move him to a standard contract.

Cain, 24, has a standing qualifying offer from the Heat for a two-way deal, which can’t be rescinded by Miami because the July 13 deadline to do so already passed. But Cain is looking for a standard contract for this upcoming season and the Heat has been reluctant to offer him a standard deal up to this point.

But the Heat’s roster could look a lot different in the coming weeks in the wake of a potential trade for Lillard, who requested to be dealt to Miami on July 1. The trade talks between the Heat and Portland Trail Blazers have been slow-moving.