With things in a holding pattern, what are Heat’s options with free agent Caleb Martin?

As the Kevin Durant sweepstakes continue, the Miami Heat’s roster for next season remained a work in progress on Day 5 of free agency Monday.

The Heat has not made a move in free agency since negotiations were allowed to begin on Thursday, when it agreed to deals to bring back center Dewayne Dedmon and guard Victor Oladipo. Forward P.J. Tucker also left Miami to join the Philadelphia 76ers on the first day of free agency.

Since then, the Heat has looked to be in a holding pattern.

All the while, a glaring hole remains at the starting power forward spot following Tucker’s departure and three players from the Heat’s season-ending roster remain available on the open market: Udonis Haslem and Markieff Morris are unrestricted free agents, and Caleb Martin is a restricted free agent.

The Heat’s roster for next season currently stands at 12 players on standard contracts: Bam Adebayo, Jimmy Butler, Dedmon, Tyler Herro, Haywood Highsmith, Nikola Jovic, Kyle Lowry, Oladipo, Duncan Robinson, Max Strus, Gabe Vincent and Omer Yurtseven. NBA teams are allowed to carry up to 15 players on standard contracts in the regular season and playoffs.

The question is: How long can the Heat wait before rounding out its roster?

The good news for the Heat is Martin can address the need at power forward and he can’t simply sign outright with another team. As a restricted free agent, Miami holds the right to match outside offers up to the $10.5 million midlevel exception to re-sign him this offseason.

But the Heat is not expected to spend more than the $6.5 million taxpayer midlevel exception to bring back Martin or sign any outside free agent. That’s because the Heat, which does not hold cap space, would prefer not to use the $10.5 million non-taxpayer midlevel exception since doing so would trigger the $157 million hard cap and limit the team’s flexibility in the trade market during the NBA’s 2022-23 calendar.

Martin’s twin brother, Cody Martin, committed to a four-year deal worth $32 million to return to the Charlotte Hornets in free agency on Sunday, according to The Athletic’s Shams Charania. Cody also was a restricted free agent.

The biggest contract the Heat could offer to retain Martin using the $6.5 million taxpayer midlevel exception is a three-year deal worth about $20.5 million.

Restricted free agency also buys the Heat more time to wait out Durant while also making sure Martin remains an option.

Even if Martin does receive an offer sheet with another team, the Heat’s two-day clock to match it doesn’t begin until Wednesday. So Miami has until at least Friday to make a final decision on Martin if an outside team extends an offer sheet to him.

As it stands at the moment, the Heat has a $2.1 million qualifying offer out to Martin that he can accept at any point to return to Miami for one season. But the expectation is Martin won’t do that because he’s projected to receive a bigger contract in free agency.

The Heat also has until July 13 to unilaterally withdraw its qualifying offer to Martin, which would make him an unrestricted free agent.

After earning a total of about $2.9 million in salary during his first three NBA seasons, Martin is expected to sign the biggest contract of his young career this offseason.

Martin, who turns 27 in September, averaged career-highs in points (9.2) and rebounds (3.8) this past regular season. He also shot a career-best 50.7 percent from the field and raised his three-point percentage from last season’s 24.8 percent to 41.3 percent in 60 regular-season games (12 starts) in his first season with the Heat.

There was mutual interest between Martin and the Heat in getting a deal done entering free agency. But Durant’s trade demand has seemingly complicated matters.

As for Haslem and Morris, they can commit to a new contract with any team at any point and there’s nothing the Heat can do about it because they’re unrestricted free agents. But if Haslem does choose to continue his playing career for a 20th NBA season, he’s expected to return to the Heat.

JOVIC’S SUMMER START

Summer league is an opportunity for Jovic to learn and grow after coming over from Serbia and turning 19 just last month.

Through the Heat’s first two summer league games, the rookie forward has totaled nine points on 4-of-14 (28.6 percent) shooting from the field and 1-of-7 (14.3 percent) shooting from three-point range, seven rebounds, one assist and two turnovers in 49 minutes of action.

Those are underwhelming numbers, but Jovic looked a bit more comfortable in his second summer game. He made an impressive step-back midrange jumper and backed down a smaller defender for an easy layup during Sunday’s loss to the Sacramento Kings’ summer league team.

“He’s starting to get a feel for the switches and the way teams are playing,” said Heat assistant coach Malik Allen, who is serving as the team’s summer league head coach. “It’s a little bit different. ... You can see he’s processing the game and trying to get it to slow down a little bit is the biggest thing for him.”

Jovic, who was drafted by the Heat with the 27th overall pick in this year’s draft, has already impressed his summer teammates with his skill and attitude.

“He’s a great guy,” said Heat guard Javonte Smart, who is on the summer roster and also holds one of Miami’s two-way contracts. “I love how he passes the ball. His IQ is unbelievable. I love how he passes the ball, he sees the floor. He’s a big that can pass the ball and he listens. He might mess up here and there, but you can correct him and he’ll listen. That what I like about him.”

The Heat’s summer team, which has lost its first two games, was idle Monday before closing its three-game stint at the California Classic on Tuesday against the Golden State Warriors at Chase Center (3 p.m., NBA TV). The Heat then heads to Las Vegas to play five games, a schedule that begins on Saturday against the Boston Celtics (5:30 p.m., NBA TV).