Ryan Conwell is starting to make a case that the Miami Heat may have found another second-round gem.
That’s not new territory for this franchise. Over the last decade, Miami has repeatedly squeezed value out of picks and undrafted signings, turning names like Josh Richardson, Duncan Robinson, Max Strus, Nikola Jovic, Jaime Jaquez Jr. and Pelle Larsson into real NBA pieces. The Heat have built a reputation for mining the margins better than most teams can.
Conwell is looking like the next name to add to that list.
Through three preseason games, the Heat’s second-round pick in the 2026 NBA Draft has flashed exactly what made Miami want him in the first place. And in the third preseason game, when the staff and fans got a longer look, the appeal was hard to miss. He looks like a combo guard with real upside.
The numbers backed it up. In 32 minutes, Conwell put up 22 points, five rebounds and nine assists without a single turnover. That kind of line is going to catch attention anywhere, but it carried extra weight after Erik Spoelstra said after the game that Conwell has had some ups and downs over the last couple of weeks.
The cleanest takeaway from that performance is simple: the rookie can help himself by taking care of the ball. That kind of detail matters in Miami, and it’s the sort of thing that earns trust.
It also helps explain why the Heat were so aggressive about him on draft night. Watching him for extended stretches, it’s easy to see why they wanted to trade up for him at the start of the second round.
The skill is real. So are the natural ups and downs that come with a young player.
That part shouldn’t scare the Heat off. If anything, it just reinforces the development path. He may not be set for meaningful minutes right away, but his playmaking has already stood out in preseason, and that gives Spoelstra something to think about.
The backcourt situation matters, too, especially if Dru Smith isn’t back from his injury. If the second unit struggles to create offense, the rookie could be one of the options Spoelstra turns to sooner than expected.
For now, it sounds like there’s a plan in place for Conwell. But if these preseason injuries linger, that plan could change. At the very least, the door is open.
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