Heat uses one of its two-way contracts on undrafted Kansas guard Marcus Garrett
.JPG "Utah Jazz guard Trent Forrest (3) drives to the basket against Miami Heat guard Marcus Garrett (51) during the first half of an NBA summer league basketball game Friday, Aug. 13, 2021, in Las Vegas.")
Guard Marcus Garrett, considered one of the elite defenders in college basketball the past two seasons at Kansas, signed a two-way contract with the Heat on Thursday, as expected.
The undrafted combo guard was named the Naismith National Defensive Player of the Year as a junior and finished as a finalist for the award that ended up going to No. 9 overall pick Davion Mitchell last season. At 6-5 and 205 pounds, Garrett’s wingspan has been measured at 6-10.
Under terms of a two-way deal, Garrett can be on the Heat’s active list for as many as 50 regular-season games next season. He also assuredly will spend time with the Heat’s G League team in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
NBA teams are permitted to have up to two players signed to two-way deals at a time. The Heat still has available its second two-way contract, but could opt to allow several young players to compete for that spot during training camp.
Undrafted Houston guard DeJon Jarreau impressed as a member of the Heat’s summer league team, but he signed a two-way contract with the Indiana Pacers last week.
During four full games with the Heat in summer league in Sacramento and Las Vegas, Garrett averaged 11 points on 17-of-26 (65.4 percent) shooting from the field and 3-of-7 (42.9 percent) shooting on threes, 5.8 rebounds, 1.5 assists, 3.3 steals and 0.8 blocks during that stretch.
He also had 13 steals and four blocks in his his four full summer league games with the Heat before leaving early in the fifth game with an illness and sitting out the remainder of summer league.
“He’s a hell of a defender,” Heat assistant coach and summer league head coach Malik Allen said. “He’s tough and he has a great feel defensively. His toughness is the first thing. He takes the challenge on the ball and off the ball. Like he likes to play defense. You can just tell he likes to get down and defend and take the challenge.
“He just has a great sense and nose for the ball and anticipation, and he’s always around the ball. We saw it [in practice] when we played a little bit. Right away, it was like: ‘Oh, man. That kid can really, really defend.’ You notice him very, very quickly.”
Garrett said during summer league that he picked the Heat over other NBA offers for summer league because “I just know how great an organization it is. From the coaching staff throughout, knowing they kind of play my style of ball looking to get out and guard and be aggressive defensively. I’m trying to be aggressive, I’m trying to take the ball on every possession and I’m trying to be disruptive.”
He averaged 11 points while shooting 45.9 percent from the field and 34.9 percent from three-point range as a senior at Kansas last season, and he made 30.2 percent of his threes during his four-year college career.
“He’s a really unique on-ball defender, man,” Allen said. “He has a great nose for the ball and he has got great anticipation. I guess that’s what separates him. He just has great anticipation. He’s a presence. As soon as the ball is inbounded, he’s just a presence and guys feel him. So he set the tone. He’s unique on ball, he has grown offensively already. But he’s a really, really talented defender, he really is.”
The Heat’s roster for next season includes 14 players on guaranteed standard NBA contracts: Jimmy Butler, Bam Adebayo, Kyle Lowry, Duncan Robinson, P.J. Tucker, Tyler Herro, KZ Okpala, Markieff Morris, Dewayne Dedmon, Victor Oladipo, Udonis Haslem, Max Strus, Gabe Vincent and Omer Yurtseven. Along using a two-way deal on Garrett, Miami also signed undrafted Mississippi State guard D.J. Stewart to an Exhibit 10 contract.
There’s still work to be done, though, as the Heat still needs to fill its one remaining two-way contract spot and sign other developmental players to Exhibit 10 deals to fill its training camp roster. Those contracts do not count toward the salary cap or luxury tax.
The Heat currently has 16 players under contract for next season, with NBA teams allowed to carry up to 20 players during the offseason and preseason before rosters must be cut to a maximum total of 17 players (15 on standard contracts and two on two-way contracts) before the start of the regular season.
The Heat is expected to open training camp on Sept. 28.
This story was originally published September 2, 2021 at 9:33 AM.
