Marcus Garrett on his G League goals and development. Also, the importance of rebounding
Marcus Garrett is officially living the life of a Miami Heat two-way contract player.
After totaling 13 points, four rebounds, six assists and three steals in the Sioux Falls Skyforce’s win over the Grand Rapids Gold on Saturday night, Garrett was told he would be joining the Heat in Oklahoma City the following day. He took a commercial flight that took him through Dallas to get there.
“It was great,” Garrett said to the Miami Herald. “I really just started flying probably a couple years ago once I got to college. The flights are nothing for me. Because I’m used to taking buses and driving everywhere we had to be. So taking flights is actually way easier than what I’m accustomed to growing up.”
Garrett, 23, did not play in the Heat’s win over the Thunder in Oklahoma City on Monday because of right wrist tendinitis. But the rookie guard traveled with the team to Miami and is available for Wednesday night’s game against the New Orleans Pelicans at FTX Arena.
Players on two-way contracts such as Garrett can be on their NBA team’s active list for as many as 50 regular-season games this season. Entering Wednesday, Garrett has been active in three of the Heat’s first 14 games.
Most of Garrett’s playing experience this season has come in the G League with the Heat’s developmental affiliate in South Dakota.
Garrett was sent down to the G League on Oct. 27. The results have been solid, as the undrafted guard out of Kansas has averaged 14.3 points on 44.9 percent shooting from the field and 4-of-12 (33.3 percent) shooting on threes, 9.3 rebounds and 6.5 assists in his first four games with the Skyforce.
Garrett even finished with a triple-double stat line of 14 points, 15 rebounds, 10 assists and four steals on Nov. 11 against Grand Rapids.
“Just keep working on things I need to work on and developing confidence at the pro level,” Garrett said of his goals in the G League. “I’m a rookie, so all experience is good experience for me. Just going into it with the right mind-set, knowing that this is another way for me to get better.”
Garrett arrived to the Heat as an accomplished defensive force on the college level, as he was named the Naismith National Defensive Player of the Year as a junior and finished as a finalist for the award last season. At 6-5 and 205 pounds, his wingspan has been measured at 6-10.
The next step in Garrett’s development will be growing his offensive game and improving his outside shot after he made 30.2 percent of his threes during his four-year college career.
“I’ve been playing point, especially with the G League team,” he said. “Just learning the game, getting more comfortable with the pro level game and getting comfortable with the offense.”
Garrett’s Heat experience began months ago when he impressed as part of the organization’s summer league team. He then signed a two-way deal and went through training camp with the Heat before he was sent to the G League in late October.
The relationships Garrett built through the process have endured even while he has been away in South Dakota.
“I feel like everybody has checked on me once or twice while I was there,” Garrett said when asked which Heat teammates have remained in touch with him during the past few weeks. “Just making sure I was doing good or congratulating me on things I’ve done.”
NO REBOUNDS, NO ELITE DEFENSE
One of the many reasons why the Heat has featured a top-10 defense during the first month of the season is its improved rebounding.
After finishing last season with the NBA’s 19th-best defensive rebounding rate (the percentage of available defensive rebounds a team grabs) at 73.3 percent, the Heat entered Wednesday ranked fifth in that category this season at 75.7 percent. That has Miami allowing the second-fewest second-chance points (10.6 per game) this season.
“One, you hope that your defense can force misses and take away the easy baskets. For the most part, we’ve established some reliability defensively in that regard,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “And then you have to be able to finish possessions. You don’t want to expend all that energy just to give up an offensive rebound opportunity that can kind of be deflating.”
This story was originally published November 17, 2021 at 12:26 PM.
