Heat trade Lowry to Hornets for Rozier
Cleveland’s Thompson suspended 25 games
MIAMI — Kyle Lowry is in the final year of his contract, spent the last couple of weeks in a slump and just last week lost his spot in the Miami Heat starting lineup.
A trade seemed inevitable — and the Charlotte Hornets helped make it a reality.
Lowry was traded Tuesday by the Heat to the Hornets for Terry Rozier — someone enjoying the best season of his career — in a swap of guards that figures to be a big help for Miami in its playoff push.
The defending Eastern Conference champion Heat also are sending a first-round draft pick to the Hornets to complete the deal. The pick will be lottery-protected for 2027; otherwise, Charlotte gets the pick in 2028.
Rozier is expected to be an immediate upgrade for the Heat. He is averaging 23.2 points and 6.6 assists — both career bests — in 30 games this season and is shooting a careerhigh 46% as well.
Lowry — a six-time All-Star and 2019 NBA champion with Toronto — had started in each of his first 35 appearances with the Heat this season, then was taken out of the starting five last week. He averaged 8.2 points and 4 assists per game for the Heat this season, turns 38 in March and is on a $29.7 million expiring contract.
CAVALIERS: Tristan Thompson, Cleveland’s backup center, was suspended 25 games without pay by the NBA on Tuesday for violating the league’s anti-drug policy, a penalty that will keep him out of the rotation and off the floor for two months.
According to the league, the 32-year-old Thompson tested positive for ibutamoren, a growth hormone, and SARM LGD-4033, commonly used by body builders and weight lifters for muscle enhancement.
The 6-foot-11 Thompson is in his second stint with Cleveland. He’s only averaging 3.8 points and 3.9 rebounds in 12 minutes, but Thompson has helped the Cavs navigate a spate of injuries.
OLYMPICS: There are few surprises in USA Basketball’s men’s player pool for the Paris Olympics that was announced Tuesday, with most of the big names like LeBron James, Joel Embiid, Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant on the list.
The surprise may have been who was missing.
Draymond Green, who helped the U.S. win gold at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games and then another title at the rescheduled Tokyo Olympics in 2021, was not among the 41 names released by USA Basketball as candidates for the team that will compete in Paris this summer in search of a fifth consecutive gold medal.
The naming of the pool is the first official phase in the process of assembling a 12-player Olympic roster that will be coached by Golden State’s Steve Kerr and assisted by Miami’s Erik Spoelstra, the Los Angeles Clippers’ Tyronn Lue and Gonzaga’s Mark Few. Team selection will be finalized this spring, with many of those decisions likely hinging upon player health and how deep their respective teams go in the NBA playoffs.
The pool, which is subject to change, includes 13 players who already have Olympic gold medals — Durant has three, James and Chris Paul each have two, while Anthony Davis, Bam Adebayo, Damian Lillard, Devin Booker, James Harden, Jayson Tatum, Jimmy Butler, Jrue Holiday, Kyrie Irving and Paul George each have one.
Also picked for the pool: Jarrett Allen, Paolo Banchero, Desmond Bane, Scottie Barnes, Mikal Bridges, Jaylen Brown, Jalen Brunson, Alex Caruso, Anthony Edwards, De’Aaron Fox, Aaron Gordon, Tyrese Haliburton, Josh Hart, Tyler Herro, Chet Holmgren, Brandon Ingram, Jaren Jackson Jr., Cam Johnson, Walker Kessler, Kawhi Leonard, Donovan Mitchell, Bobby Portis, Austin Reaves, Duncan Robinson, Derrick White and Trae Young.