Miami Heat Announce Roster Cuts Following Final Preseason Game

The Miami Heat's regular season begins Wednesday when the team hosts the Minnesota Timberwolves. The preseason concluded Friday night and the Heat have until Monday evening to reduce their roster to the 15-player standard contract limit. With that out of the way, Miami made an announcement regarding roster cuts on Saturday morning.

The Heat announced the team will be waiving four players: Ezra Ausar, Kylor Kelley, Gabe Madsen and Bez Mbeng. However, all players are expected to join the Sioux Falls Skyforce for the upcoming season.

Ausar, 23, was signed to an Exhibit 10 deal on Friday and finds himself waived from the standard roster only a day later. For Ausar to be an NBA-level player, he needs to develop his perimeter shooting drastically and the Heat are one team who can help him work on those skillsets while in the G-League. If there is ever a coach or organization to trust to unlock a raw prospect's potential, it's Erik Spoelstra and the Heat's developmental system.

Kelley, 29, has been around the NBA for seven seasons, mostly playing for G-League affiliates throughout his career. He only has 11 NBA appearances, all taking place throughout the 2024-25 campaign for both the Dallas Mavericks and the New Orleans Pelicans. At seven feet tall, the Heat broughr him in simply to seemingly add backup center competition but it seems like he'll be taking his talents to the developmental roster.

Madsen, 25, went undrafted last year before joining the Skyforce for the season. He appeared in 50 games, averaging 9.6 points, 4.6 rebounds and 2.7 assists while shooting an impressive 42.3 percent from three-point range. He spent the Summer League with the Atlanta Hawks before returning to Miami's developmental system.

Mbeng, 23, may be the most interesting player of the bunch to be waived. He had a successful college career with the Yale Bulldogs, which encouraged him to enter the draft in 2025. However, he went undrafted. He was actually picked up by the Heat on an Exhibit 10 deal prior to last season but was quickly placed on waivers. He was then picked up by the Utah Jazz, signing a 10-day contract with the team in March. With Utah, Mbeng actually received a good amount of playing time, even recording a 27-point triple-double against the Memphis Grizzlies in April.

All of these players should get some solid run with the Skyforce and if the Heat suffer injuries on the standard roster, they could see a call-up.