MIAMI — The Miami Heat on Thursday filled out their roster ahead of the Sept. 30 start of training camp at Florida Atlantic University by adding four longshot prospects.
Already with 17 under contract, the Heat reached the NBA offseason limit of 21 by signing Jahmir Young, Gabe Madsen, Trevor Keels and Dain Dainja.
Of those three, only Dainja, an undrafted big man out of Memphis, spent previous time with the Heat, on the team’s roster for summer league in July.
Dainja appeared in 35 games as a senior at Memphis last season, averaging 14.6 points, 7.4 rebounds, 1.7 assists, 1.34 blocks in 27.1 minutes, shooting .615 from the field. He helped lead the team to a 29-6 record.
Madsen, a backcourt 3-point specialist who went undrafted in June out of Utah State, played in July for the Golden State Warriors’ summer-league team.
Madsen concluded his collegiate career as the school’s all-time leader in 3-pointers, becoming the first player in program history to record at least 100 3-pointers in consecutive seasons.
Young, who went undrafted out of Maryland in 2024, is a guard who has spent time in the systems of the Denver Nuggets and Chicago Bulls.
Young, who closed out last season on a two-way contract with Chicago, appeared in six Bulls games in 2024-25. He then set a Bulls summer-league record with 37 points in July in Las Vegas against Milwaukee.
Keels, undrafted out of Duke in 2022, is a 6-foot-5 guard who has spent time in the systems of the New York Knicks and Minnesota Timberwolves.
Keels, who was originally drafted in the second round by New York in 2022, solely played in the G League last season after previously appearing in three games with the Knicks.
Each has been signed to an Exhibit 10 tryout contract and invited to training camp, where they can potentially compete for a two-way contract or showcase themselves for time with the Heat’s G League affiliate, the Sioux Falls Skyforce.
The Heat last month signed former Orlando Magic G League guard Ethan Thompson to a similar Exhibit 10 contract.
Under an Exhibit 10 contract, a player can receive up to an $85,000 bonus, if cut during training camp, if he agrees to then spend at least 60 days on that team’s G League roster.
The Heat typically cycle through Exhibit 10 players during the preseason as a means of maximizing the roster for their G League affiliate. The Heat are expected to eventually sign undrafted Temple forward Steve Settle to a similar contract.
For now, though, the Heat are at the NBA 21-player offseason limit.
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Standard contract (14): Bam Adebayo, Tyler Herro, Andrew Wiggins, Norman Powell, Kel’el Ware, Davion Mitchell, Nikola Jovic, Pelle Larsson, Jaime Jaquez Jr., Dru Smith, Simone Fontecchio, Keshad Johnson, Terry Rozier and first-round pick Kasparas Jakucionis.
Two-way contract (2): Myron Gardner, Vlad Goldin.
Exhibit 10 camp tryout contract (5): Young, Madsen, Keels, Dainja, Thompson.
That 21-player roster is expected to be fluid, including the Heat eventually extending an Exhibit 10 deal to Settle. Plus, should the Heat choose to add another veteran to the offseason roster, one of the players signed to Exhibit 10 contracts could be released and directly funneled to the Heat’s G League affiliate.
Because of the Heat’s position tight against the NBA’s punitive luxury tax, they are not expected to add a 15th player to a standard deal, which is the league limit for standard contracts.
However, two-way contracts remain fluid and do not count against the salary cap or luxury tax. So while there currently only is one vacant two-way slot, with a maximum of three such deals allowed per team, it is possible that one or more of the Exhibit 10 prospects could be converted to such a two-way deal ahead of the season.
In another move Thursday, the Heat’s G League affiliate acquired the rights to Young in a G League trade that sent out the rights to former Heat prospect Bryson Warren.
The Heat will hold their annual media day Sept. 29 at Kaseya Center followed by their four-day closed training camp at FAU.
The Heat open their preseason Oct. 4 against the Orlando Magic in Puerto Rico, with their regular-season schedule opening Oct. 22 in Orlando.
Several Heat players already have returned to the practice court at Kaseya Center for drilling ahead of the franchise’s 28th training camp.
