The Heat’s search for value got a promising update in Summer League, and their second-round pick Ryan Conwell left a strong impression even with the shot not always falling. Miami got four games out of him across the California Classic and Las Vegas, and he kept firing away from deep, taking 36 threes and knocking down 11. The volume was there, but so was the confidence, and Summer League coach Wayne Ellington said the impact went beyond the jumper.
“ Defensively, he competes his butt off,” Ellington said. “ And then, obviously, offensively he’s a force and he makes tough shots.
He makes plays for others. He has a very strong offensive game and it’s only going to continue to grow.
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Miami also got useful showings from a pair of unrestricted free agent guards, Trevor Keels and Jahmir Young, both of whom are still eligible for two-way contracts. Vladislav Goldin and Tre Donaldson already landed two-way deals this offseason.
Another name that stood out for the Heat was undrafted wing Tre White, who put together one of the better statistical runs on the roster in Las Vegas. He averaged 17.3 points, 5.8 rebounds, and 1.8 steals while hitting 40% of his threes, and Anthony Chiang notes he could be in line for a two-way or Exhibit 10 contract. Ellington was just as bullish on White’s long-term upside.
“ He’s got all the intangibles,” Ellington said of White. “ He’s got size.
He’s got the shooting ability. He’s got the IQ.
So, he’s a guy that is going to continue to get better. He showed some flashes as well during the summer league, and I look forward to seeing what he can do in the future.”
Around the league, Jalen Slawson put together a Summer League that was impossible to ignore for Indiana. The restricted free agent led the Pacers in scoring at 20.8 points per game and also topped the team in blocks at 3.2 per game, even while shooting just 29.0% from three.
Dustin Dopirak described his penultimate game as the full Slawson experience, with the kind of mistakes that can make you wince and the kind of recovery plays that keep you watching. In his final outing, he posted 22 points and four blocks, and Akeem Glaspie wrote that he continued to show the outline of an NBA rotation wing.
The Pacers’ decision won’t be simple, because the upside is obvious even with the rough edges still showing.
Boston brought four featured players into the summer: Hugo Gonzalez, Chris Cenac Jr., Dillon Mitchell, and Amari Williams. Souichi Terada reported that the first three clearly helped themselves, while Williams held steady. John Tonje, who spent last season on a two-way contract, didn’t boost his stock, but he did enough to stay in the mix for another two-way spot next year.
For Sacramento, Nique Clifford’s Summer League wasn’t about gaudy numbers. It was about growth in the areas the Kings wanted to see. He told Sean Cunningham of KCRA News that the focus was on being more assertive and sharper with his decisions.
“ I would say just more assertiveness, being aggressive, not questioning plays,” he said of what the Kings were looking for from him this year as compared to last year. “ If I see something, go make the play… [last year] you could mess up a little more, this year being a little sharper.”
Clifford also said he needed to be more aggressive defensively, instead of staying back and letting opponents come at him.
In Other News...
Heat Shooting Panic Is Getting Way Out Of Hand
The panic over Miamis shooting has gotten a little ahead of the roster reality. The Heat do have room to add another veteran spacer or two before the season, but the idea that they are suddenly bereft of perimeter threats does not hold up when you look at the group already in place. Davion Mitchell, Andrew Wiggins, Simone Fontecchio, Bam Adebayo, Pelle Larsson, Tim Hardaway Jr. and Bobby Portis all give Miami at least some credible three-point options, which is a far cry from a team that cannot stretch the floor at all.
The bigger point is that the Heat were still 11th in three-point shooting last season, and they did it while dealing with injuries to key players. So while there is a reasonable argument for more depth, especially from a veteran shooter, this does not look like the kind of emergency that requires a full-scale roster overhaul. Miami may not be finished building out the back end of its shooting rotation, but the current narrative is making the problem sound much larger than it really is. [Read more 🡒]
LeBron Just Sparked A New Wave Of Heat Free Agency Buzz
LeBron James managed to stir up another round of offseason chatter during a podcast appearance while talking about his free agency, and the ripple effect was immediate. Any time he starts leaning into vague language about his future, fans across the league start reading between the lines, and for the Heat crowd, it is another reminder of how quickly one comment can send the rumor mill spinning.
Meanwhile, Miami had its own basketball to evaluate in Summer League, where Tre Donaldson gave the front office a promising look with a steady all-around showing over four games. The Heat did not make a run to the title game, but Donaldsons play stood out as one of the more encouraging developments, giving Miami at least one young name worth tracking as the offseason buzz keeps building. [Read more 🡒]