It hasn’t even been a week since the arrests of former Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups and Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier on federal gambling-related charges. Yet somehow, the news keeps getting worse for the pair.
Neither Billups nor Rozier will receive any of their NBA salaries while they are on leave during the FBI’s ongoing investigation, a person with direct knowledge of the situation confirmed to USA TODAY Sports on Wednesday, Oct. 29.
The person spoke under the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to comment publicly on the matter.
Rozier’s salary will be held in escrow. If he is eventually cleared in the federal investigation, he will receive all missed payments in full, while Billups’ leave will be unpaid.
This decision has sparked outrage from the NBA Players’ Association, while the attorneys for both Billups and Rozier have denied any involvement with the gambling operations being investigated.
Will this affect NBA team spending/salary caps?
It will not.
Although Rozier will no longer receive installments of his $26.6 million salary, the first of which Rozier was set to receive later this week, the Heat will not receive any sort of salary cap benefits as a result.
Billups, meanwhile, will simply be on unpaid leave. He signed a multi-year extension in April this year.
The NBA Players’ Association is concerned with the NBA’s decision to withhold Rozier’s salary. The union released a statement announcing it would be filing a grievance on Rozier’s behalf:
‘While we are in agreement with the league that upholding the integrity of the game is of the utmost importance, their decision to place Terry [Rozier] on leave without pay is counter to the presumption of innocence and inconsistent with the terms of our Collective Bargaining Agreement.’
The statement continued, ‘We plan to challenge their decision via the proper channels.’
Will Terry Rozier get his money back?
Should Rozier be cleared of the charges he is facing and reinstated into the NBA, he could receive all of his missed payments back in full.
Whether he gets any of the money will hinge on the results of his legal case.
Rozier is not only facing charges regarding the illegal gambling operations being investigated by the FBI, but according to ESPN, he is also facing an $8,218,211 federal income tax lien filed in November 2023.
Rozier’s attorney, Jim Trusty, says Rozier does not owe that money.
Trusty told ESPN on Wednesday, ‘He owed $9,000 of the total $8 million in taxes from 2021, and it has been paid. We just need the IRS to help remove the now-defunct lien. … Terry never owed anyone $8 million.’
ESPN writes that Trusty was unable to answer follow-up questions on the matter.