Max Strus and Omer Yurtseven shine for Heat in summer league win over Warriors
After spending last season on the fringes of the Miami Heat’s rotation on a two-way contract, wing Max Strus is ready for a bigger role as one of the only players on the Heat’s summer league team with prior NBA experience.
“It’s definitely a heightened sense of responsibility for me,” Strus said. “But I think it’s a good thing for me to grow my game, grow my leadership and get in a different role that I’m not used to. It will be a good challenge for me, and I’m ready to accept it and help out all these younger guys.”
After being held out of Tuesday’s win over the Los Angeles Lakers to open summer league, Strus finished with a game-high 27 points on 8-of-16 shooting from the field and 5-of-11 shooting on threes during the Heat’s 94-87 win over the Golden State Warriors on Wednesday at Sacramento’s Golden 1 Center. The Heat won both of its games at the California Classic.
But his summer role isn’t the only thing that will require an adjustment from Strus in the coming weeks and months. The 25-year-old will also have to adjust to a new set of expectations after receiving a bit of a promotion, as he’s on track to be a member of the Heat’s 15-man roster after agreeing to a two-year minimum contract worth $3.5 million on the first day of free agency Monday.
“It feels great that they believe in me and I earned it, and I’m happy to be back with the Heat,” Strus said of his new contract. “Very happy to be back with the Heat. So I thank them for that. But it also gives me a sense of responsibility for the summer league. Having that contract and being one of the guys that’s on the team, I got to step up and be a leader for this group because I’ve done it before. I’ve been playing in the games in regular-season minutes and things like that.”
Strus (6-5, 215) lived the NBA experience even as a two-way player last season, as the Heat didn’t field a G League team because of the challenges stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic. He averaged 6.1 points while shooting 45.5 percent from the field and 33.8 percent on threes in 39 games (zero starts) with the Heat last regular season, and logged six minutes in the playoffs.
Strus’ shooting is what impressed Heat coaches early on, but he showed off other parts of his game along the way. He was efficient around the basket to finish 33 of 36 (91.7 percent) on shots from inside the restricted area last season.
“Max is a talented offensive player overall,” said Heat assistant coach Malik Allen, who is serving as the team’s summer league head coach. “Listen, anytime you get in these environments where you’re going to be a focal point on the offensive end, you’re only going to benefit from it.
“I know he will get better, just by how he approaches each and every day, just from the season and his attitude being here so far.”
Prior to the start of summer league, Strus split his offseason between his hometown of Chicago and Miami. During his workouts with Heat coaches in Miami, the focus was on expanding his offensive game.
“Being more consistent from three, shooting it on the move and off the dribble more consistently, and then finding other ways to score,” said Strus, who went undrafted out of DePaul in 2019. “People are going to understand who I am now. I got a little reputation that I can shoot in the league, so people are going to run me off the line. It’s just making decisions off of that and scoring in the midrange, scoring at the basket or making better decisions with the ball in my hands.”
Strus’ offensive growth was on display Wednesday. He used the dribble on the way to a few creative finishes around the rim, including a drive to the basket that ended with a spinning finger-roll layup.
“I’ve always been able to do that,” Strus said when asked Wednesday about his off-the-dribble repertoire. “But during the regular season with the big team, you got to play your role and do what the team asks for you. That wasn’t my role last year, but I know that I’m capable of doing it. I believe in myself to do it and the Heat believes I can do it. So they’re putting me in these situations now to go out and showcase that, and to make me get more comfortable to be in those situations.”
The Heat’s other two-way contract player from last season, guard Gabe Vincent, was held out of a second consecutive summer league game. Vincent, who also agreed to a two-year minimum contract with Miami on Monday, just recently joined the Heat’s summer league team in Sacramento after representing Nigeria in the Tokyo Olympics.
Forward KZ Okpala, who was Vincent’s teammate on the Nigerian national team, and undrafted Houston guard DeJon Jarreau were also unavailable for the Heat on Wednesday.
The Heat now moves on to Las Vegas Summer league. Miami opens its five-game schedule in Las Vegas with a matchup against the Denver Nuggets on Sunday at 10 p.m. (NBA TV).
YURTSEVEN CONTINUES TO IMPRESS
How did center Omer Yurtseven follow up his impressive summer league debut for the Heat? With another standout performance.
Yurtseven, who is an unrestricted free agent and can leave to sign a contract elsewhere at any time, finished Wednesday’s win with 25 points on 9-of-17 shooting from the field and 2-of-4 shooting on threes, eight rebounds and three blocks.
“It was another positive building block for him,” Allen said. “He just has to keep going. It’s just like he’s still learning and young and his attitude has been great. So we just have to keep helping him, pushing him along and teaching him. But, again, it was a positive for him tonight coming off last night.”
Could a two-way contract, or even a standard NBA contract, offer from the Heat come soon for Yurtseven? Miami has three empty spots on its 15-man roster and has not yet used either of its two-way contract slots for next season.
▪ Marcus Garrett, an undrafted guard out of Kansas, again stood out on the defensive end. After racking up five steals in Tuesday’s summer league opener, he recorded four steals on Wednesday.
▪ The Heat added center Brandon McCoy (7-0, 250) to its summer league roster. McCoy played Wednesday against the Warriors, finishing with two points and two rebounds in five minutes.
McCoy, who went undrafted out of UNLV in 2018, replaces center Precious Achiuwa on the Heat’s 15-man summer league roster. The sign-and-trade transaction bringing Kyle Lowry to Miami isn’t completed yet, but Achiuwa is expected to be part of the Heat’s trade package along with Goran Dragic.
This story was originally published August 4, 2021 at 11:05 PM.
