Heat’s undrafted shining with Adebayo, Butler out: ‘Our player development is second to none’
The Miami Heat has built a reputation for developing undrafted prospects into rotation players over the years. That reputation is reality, at the moment.
As the Heat deals with injury issues, it has entered the last two games with just 10 available players. Seven of those 10 players were undrafted: Dewayne Dedmon, Marcus Garrett, Udonis Haslem, Duncan Robinson, Max Strus, Gabe Vincent and Omer Yurtseven.
The results have been impressive, with the short-handed Heat winning both games — on Wednesday against the Philadelphia 76ers and Friday against the Orlando Magic.
“I think we all, whether or not we acknowledge it or talk about it every day, have that subconscious chip on our shoulder,” Robinson said of Miami’s undrafted group, with the Heat set to close its four-game trip on Sunday against the Detroit Pistons (6 p.m., Bally Sports Sun). “I think that compels us when we do get opportunities to make the most of them.”
In Friday’s 115-105 win over the Magic, the Heat’s undrafted players combined to score 83 points led by career nights from Strus and Vincent. Both players spent last season on two-way contracts with the Heat after going undrafted.
Strus scored a career-high 32 points on 8-of-11 shooting on threes and Vincent scored a career-high 27 points on 10-of-20 shooting from the field on Friday.
“These guys, they’re the lifeblood of our player development program,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “Guys that haven’t been drafted that have big dreams, are willing to put in the work and gradually incrementally get better over time. That’s what you have seen with both of these guys. This is not something that just happened overnight.
“Obviously, neither one of them were selected during draft night. It takes an incredible amount of perseverance, belief in yourself and a crazy work ethic to keep on working every single day because you have a lot more days of adversity when things aren’t necessarily going your way or you’re not getting playing time or you’re not really seeing progress.”
The Heat has missed a few of its most important players over the past two weeks and has also been without sixth man Tyler Herro (right quadriceps contusion) for the past two games. Miami has won the past two games without Bam Adebayo (thumb surgery), Jimmy Butler (tail bone contusion), Herro, Caleb Martin (health and safety protocols), Markieff Morris (whiplash) and Victor Oladipo (right knee injury recovery).
That has left Kyle Lowry, KZ Okpala and P.J. Tucker as the only available Heat players who were drafted, and Lowry is the only first-round pick in the group.
“I think it starts with our leader, Udonis Haslem. He preaches that,” Strus said of the Heat’s undrafted players stepping up when needed. “He has a special place in his heart for us. He says it all the time. It’s an underdog mentality. It’s just something that we all have. You carry this chip on your shoulder that you just want to prove people wrong and keep proving your worth in this league and show people that you can play. People try to write you off and put you in a box, but it’s all about staying mentally strong and just trying to keep proving people wrong and sticking to the work.”
While Dedmon was already a proven NBA player when he arrived to the Heat late last season, Miami’s six other undrafted players who are currently available are ones that signed as relative NBA unknowns.
Robinson joined the Heat after going undrafted out of Michigan in 2018 and he quickly turned into an elite three-point shooter who signed a five-year deal worth $90 million this past offseason. The total value of the contract is the largest ever for an undrafted player.
Haslem has been with the Heat for 19 seasons, is the organization’s all-time leading rebounder and is expected to have his jersey number retired one day.
Strus and Vincent are just now beginning to reap the rewards of their work in the Heat’s player development program.
Garrett and Yurtseven are at the beginning of their Heat journeys after signing with the team earlier this year.
And before Martin entered protocols last week, he was coming off a career performance that included 28 points on six made threes in a Dec. 8 win over the Milwaukee Bucks. Martin went undrafted in 2019.
“Our player development is second to none,” Haslem said. “I think we really invest in guys here. I think it’s one thing that people don’t really understand. You talk about the culture, they really invest in guys and they make it bigger than basketball. They want you to succeed on and off the basketball court. It’s not just working on the basketball court, but they really invest in you as a person. That’s what we do.”
Robinson believes that confidence and trust is an important part of the Heat’s system that continues to churn out undrafted success stories. The list of undrafted players Miami has signed and developed in recent seasons includes Strus, Vincent, Robinson and Kendrick Nunn, with Rodney McGruder, Tyler Johnson and Haslem among the Heat’s past undrafted success stories.
“I think it speaks a lot about the coaching staff to throw those guys out there in meaningful minutes,” Robinson said. “Myself included when I was first trying to crack into the league. It’s a combination of things. It’s the player development, it’s the trust. But those guys have also earned it. They show up every single day and put in work. So we have a lot of confidence in them to go out and perform.”
Strus gave a shout out to Heat assistant coach and director of player development Anthony Carter and Vincent complimented Heat assistant coach Eric Glass following their career nights on Friday.
“They’re amazing people,” Strus said. “We got a coaching staff that will be in the gym at any point. Any time you call them, they’re always there for you.”
As the leader of the Heat’s coaching staff, Spoelstra values the relationships that form behind the work. He believes it’s an essential part of a functioning player development program.
“To be able to develop players, I think the magic is in the human side of it,” Spoelstra said. “Developing the relationships, breathing life into the young guys, particularly when the days are tough and we have a really unique staff. [Assistant coaches Chris Quinn and Malik Allen] and AC have been right there where these guys have been. They’ve been in our locker room, they’ve been undrafted, they’ve been overlooked, they’ve had to go through the player development program and earn the trust of the staff and the players. So they’re incredible resources for our young guys.”
▪ The Heat will remain without Adebayo, Butler, Martin, Morris and Oladipo on Sunday against the Pistons. Herro and Garrett (left eye bruise) are listed as questionable.
This story was originally published December 18, 2021 at 12:04 PM.
