Miami Heat Waive Justin Champagnie, Cheick Diallo While Signing Cole Swider and Dru Smith

The Miami Heat make some roster moves ahead of their season debut Wednesday night.

The Miami Heat made a few final transactions to solidify their lineup for the NBA season.

They waived forwards Justin Champagnie and Cheick Diallo. Champagnie averaged 7.5 points on 45 percent shooting with 5.5 rebounds. Diallo was released after playing just 20 minutes in the preseason.

Meanwhile, the Heat signed guard Cole Swider to a two-way deal and guard Dru Smith to a multi-year contract.

Smith averaged 6.5 points on 30.3 percent shooting and 5.3 assists. He struggled with ball handling and fouling, averaging three turnovers and four personal fouls. Still, Smith said he wants to fight for a spot in Miami's rotation.

"I just have to do whatever is asked of me," Smith said. "I think a lot of situations, at least right now in the preseason, that's what's asked of me."

Swider shined in his Heat preseason series, which featured a 17-point fourth quarter performance in their comeback win against the Charlotte Hornets. He averaged 11.2 points on 37 percent shooting from 3-point range. Hopefully, Swider can replicate Max Strus' sharpshooting from the arc.

"If you come into an environment like this and you have role models or the vision of what it could look like, and you add the work ethic, you add the environment where everyone is being pushed like that, it probably inspires him," coach Erik Spoelstra said about Swider after the Hornets victory.

The Heat open the season against the Detroit Pistons Wednesday at 7:30 p.m.

Jayden Armant is a contributor to Inside the Heat. He is a student at Howard University.

He can be reached at or follow him on Twitter @jaydenarmant.

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