Why is the Heat’s developmental program so productive? Javonte Smart’s cousin explains
When guard Javonte Smart went undrafted a few weeks ago, there was a sense of disappointment. But soon after, there was a feeling of excitement and hope.
That’s, in part, because Smart received positive feedback from a very knowledgeable family member regarding his decision to join the Miami Heat for summer league. That family member: cousin Keith Smart, a former NBA head coach who also served as a Heat assistant coach on Erik Spoelstra’s staff for two seasons in 2014-15 and 2015-16.
“I talked to him before I got to Sacramento,” Javonte said, referring to where the Heat opened summer league at the California Classic. “He told me that this is a great organization, he likes these guys. They’re a great developmental team. He gave me good advice.”
When Keith found out Javonte decided to join the Heat’s summer league team as an undrafted free agent, he called Javonte’s mother and reassured her that Miami “is the perfect spot.”
“Because I know what that organization is going to do,” said Keith, who was recently hired as an assistant coach at the University of Arkansas. “I know their developmental program. I know the term that Spoelstra and everybody over there uses, ‘fast-track.’ How do we fast-track a player to get better sooner than everyone expects? And we’ve seen that over and over with those players there.
“I’ve watched it with my own eyes. I’ve watched Tyler Johnson, Justise Winslow. Those guys came in, got in a program and started to develop. Before you know it, they were helping us win games and then were helping us play in the playoffs. So I said, ‘This is the perfect environment for him to be in because his body is going to get transformed.’”
So far, it has been a true learning experience for Javonte. The Baton Rouge, Louisiana, native has averaged 6.6 points while shooting 12 of 49 (24.5 percent) from the field and 5 of 21 (23.8 percent) from three-point range, 2.6 rebounds and 2.2 assists in five summer league games with the Heat.
The Heat closes summer league Tuesday against the Dallas Mavericks at 3 p.m. (ESPNU) in Las Vegas. Miami’s summer team went 2-0 at the California Classic in Sacramento and is 2-2 at Las Vegas Summer League.
“Learning new things every day,” Javonte said of his Heat experience. “I’m willing to learn, I’m working to try to improve my game. ... Being out here, I’ve been learning to play off the ball, getting in the right positions, being in the right positions. So I’ve been taking everything they’ve been telling me and trying to put it all on the court.”
Javonte, who spent three seasons at LSU, is a 6-4, 205-pound guard who’s coming off his best college season.
Javonte, 22, averaged 16 points, 3.7 rebounds, four assists and 1.3 steals in 28 games as a junior last season. He also shot 40.2 percent from three-point range, the best mark in the Southeastern Conference, made 70 threes, second most in the SEC, and led the the conference in minutes played at 35.3 minutes per game to make the All-SEC second team.
Both of the Heat’s two-way slots are open after last season’s two-way contract players, Max Strus and Gabe Vincent, were recently promoted to standard NBA contracts for next season. If Javonte doesn’t get a two-way deal, the Heat could still keep him in its developmental system by signing him to an Exhibit 10 contract that serves as an invite to training camp and could eventually turn into a spot on its G League affiliate’s roster with the Sioux Falls Skyforce.
“I think he’s going to have that chance,” Keith said when asked about Javonte’s chances of sticking in the NBA. “Because one, he’s a ball-handling big guard. Obviously, you got to be able to make open shots and then be able to contain the basketball then rebound. So he fits a little bit of that profile of today’s two, three, somewhat in that position right there when teams go small or using those big wings to handle the basketball a lot, which that’s what you see a great deal of now. So he fits that.”
Even without many picks in recent seasons, the Heat has been able to take advantage of its strong developmental program to help turn undrafted prospects into NBA players. Among the recent examples are Duncan Robinson, Kendrick Nunn, Vincent and Strus, with Robinson, Vincent and Strus on Miami’s roster for next season.
During Keith’s time on Spoelstra’s coaching staff, he was able to learn why the Heat’s system has had so much success in developing undrafted players.
“There’s a program set up, there’s a thing where these young guys are going to come to practice early. They’re going to come to a pre-practice, they call it,” Keith explained. “And they’re going to go through concepts in the pre-practice. So let’s say we’re working on side pick-and-roll and whatever that coverage call is, that’s going to be a highlight that’s going to be used on the pre-practice floor. Now they’re getting those reps in there.
“It’s not just shooting and ball-handling, but they’re fast-tracking them to get better in the pick-and-roll coverage. So if it’s going to be switching on the pick-and-roll, if it’s going to be pushing the ball on the side of a pick-and-roll, if it’s going to be trapping the pick-and-roll, working on rotations. All that is going to become broken down in pieces in the pre-practice work, so by the time Spoelstra gets up to the floor to get ready to go into his practice, these guys have already gone through several reps in that pre-practice environment.”
Then there’s post-practice work, where those same concepts are again drilled with the team’s developmental players and sometimes a few veterans who want to get extra work in.
“Rather than just coming on the floor and shooting shots and things like that, you’re getting better with those things and you see a lot of players do that,” Keith said. “They get better with those individual concepts. You start developing the habits of what’s expected from a Miami Heat player.”
Javonte made the decision to join the Heat’s summer league team on his own, but Keith made sure to let him know that he made the right choice after going undrafted.
“I said, ‘Man, you’re in a great place for your young development,’” Keith said of his message to Javonte, “’because you’re going to develop habits that carry you through your whole career.’”
This story was originally published August 16, 2021 at 9:51 AM.
