Sources: Rozier, Billups won't be paid while on leave - ESPN

Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier and Portland Trail Blazers coach Chauncey Billups will not be paid while on leaves of absence from their teams because of federal charges related to gambling, sources told ESPN's Shams Charania.

Both of their paychecks are expected to be withheld and placed in escrow, pending outcome of FBI cases, per sources.

Rozier's salary is about $26.6 million this season, paid in installments.

If Rozier is cleared and allowed to return to the NBA, which placed him on leave hours after his Oct. 23 arrest, he would receive the held payments in full, per sources.

Rozier's attorney said Wednesday that a federal lien filed with regard to the player's tax bill in 2021 was satisfied.

The Internal Revenue Service filed that lien against Rozier in November 2023, showing an «unpaid balance of assessment» of $8,218,211.70 for the 2021 tax year. But Rozier's attorney, Jim Trusty, said in an email to The Associated Press that the actual amount owed to the IRS at that time was a sliver of that total.

«There was never a debt of $8 million,» Trusty wrote. «Out of his total taxes owed in 2021 ($8m) he actually owed $9000. That was paid but the now-defunct lien still needs to be pulled from the local courthouse.»

ESPN first reported the lien's existence. The lien is a public record, and there is no publicly available document showing it has been removed.

Officials in Broward County, Florida — where the lien was filed — did not immediately respond to a request for comment. A call seeking information from an IRS revenue officer was unanswered. Revenue officers work for the IRS to collect delinquent taxes.

Rozier owns a home in Broward County and records show his property taxes have been paid in full each year. That