Miami Heat make move for ex-Los Angeles Laker Cole Swider
MIAMI – The Miami Heat will be adding 3-point insurance to their training-camp roster with an agreement with former Los Angeles Lakers forward Cole Swider.
The agreement, an Exhibit 10 contract, can only become finalized once the Heat add a 14th player under standard contract. The Heat currently have 13 such players: Bam Adebayo, Jimmy Butler, Tyler Herro, Kyle Lowry, Caleb Martin, Kevin Love, Josh Richardson, Duncan Robinson, Haywood Highsmith, Nikola Jovic, Jaime Jaquez Jr., Orlando Robinson and Thomas Bryant.
Swider could provide insurance in case the Heat’s 3-point shooting is further depleted. The Heat already have lost 3-point shooters Max Strus and Gabe Vincent in free agency this offseason, with Herro, Lowry and Duncan Robinson potentially in play for a trade for Portland Trail Blazers point guard Damian Lillard.
Swider went undrafted out of Syracuse in 2022 and spent last season on a two-way contract with the Lakers, appearing in seven NBA games. He then was waived last month.
Swider shot .425 on 3-pointers during summer league, after shooting .425 on 3-pointers last season in the G League.
Swider split his college career between Syracuse and Villanova, shooting a combined .381 on 3-pointers over those four seasons.
An Exhibit 10 contract allows a team to provide a nominal guarantee for training camp, able then to either sign such a player to a standard contract, a two-way contract or funnel him to their G League affiliate, which in the Heat’s case is the Sioux Falls Skyforce.
The Heat have a similar Exhibit 10 agreement in place with undrafted USC forward Drew Peterson, who also stands as a 3-point option after a solid summer-league run with the Heat last month in Sacramento and Las Vegas.
The Heat currently have two of their three available two-way slots filled with guards Jamaree Bouyea and Dru Smith, but those spots remain fluid, leaving open the possibility of Swider and/or Peterson being moved into such a role.
Still undecided by the Heat is the status of forward Jamal Cain, who spent last season with the Heat on a two-way contract. Cain remains unsigned, with the Heat with the right to match outside offers.
