The Miami Heat made several roster changes on Saturday with their 2023-24 season opener against the Detroit Pistons just four days away.
The NBA regular season begins on October 24 when the Los Angeles Lakers take on the Denver Nuggets.
First, the Heat signed guard Dru Smith to a multi-year contract and converted forward Cole Swider to a two-way contract.
Additionally, the Heat waived forward Justin Champagnie and big man Cheick Diallo.
The former played for the Toronto Raptors and Boston Celtics in the 2022-23 season, while the latter has not played a regular season game since the 2021-22 season, when he recorded three shutouts with the Detroit Pistons.
Smith has been inconsistent for the Heat in the preseason.
He had solid games against the Brooklyn Nets on October 18 and the San Antonio Spurs on October 13, finishing with 9 points and 10 assists against Brooklyn as well as 13 points and 3 assist against San Antonio.
But against the Houston Rockets on October 20 and the Charlotte Hornets on October 10, Smith was a non-factor.
The 6-foot-3 guard scored two points and converted just one of his five field-goal attempts against the Rockets.
Against the Hornets, Smith missed all six shots from the field and finished with as many turnovers (three) as assists.
Swider was also inconsistent against the Heat in the preseason, but showed impressive scoring ability from behind the 3-point arc.
Notably, against the Hornets, he knocked down 5 of 9 3-point attempts in just under 14 minutes of play and finished with 17 points in the preseason win.
In addition, he lost to the Nets by 15 points and scored three points 3