Heat summer standouts Josh Christopher, Keshad Johnson, Isaiah Stevens thriving with Skyforce
The Miami Heat’s summer league success has turned into some early-season G League success.
That’s because a part of the core of this year’s Heat summer league roster that won the Las Vegas Summer League championship is now leading the Heat’s G League affiliate, the Sioux Falls Skyforce. This year’s Heat’s summer league head coach Dan Bisaccio is also in his first season as the Skyforce’s head coach.
After Saturday night’s 125-98 blowout victory over the Indiana Mad Ants, the Skyforce has won five straight games and stands at 5-2 in the G League’s Tip-Off Tournament.
Heat summer league standouts Josh Christopher, Keshad Johnson and Isaiah Stevens have been three of the Skyforce’s best players.
Christopher, who entered the league as a first-round pick in the 2021 NBA Draft before finding himself out of the NBA when the Utah Jazz waived him last January, has averaged 21 points, 6.1 rebounds, 4.9 assists and 2.1 steals per game while shooting 44.3 percent from the field and 20 of 65 (30.8 percent) from three-point range through the Skyforce’s first seven games this season. Christopher, who turns 23 on Dec. 8, can’t be poached by another NBA team because the Heat has him signed to a two-way contract.
“For him, obviously, we know he can score the basketball,” Bisaccio said recently when asked about the next step in Christopher’s development. “That’s always been something he could do since high school in his early years. But defensively, I think that’s where people don’t talk about him enough. He does a great job of being active and in the gaps. We’re always hoping he can work for more deflections and being disruptive, and then just being solid on the ball. That’s always going to be something that the Miami Heat is looking for.”
Christopher, a 6-foot-4 guard, also spent the second half of last season with the Skyforce before beginning his work with Heat coaches in May and then earning his two-way deal through his excellent play in summer league.
“Josh, from Day 1 in May, you could tell he’s wanted that, he’s wanted to be challenged, he yearns for it,” Bisaccio said. “He always wants to be like, ‘Hey, I got to get more deflections or steals or I got to be guarding the ball.’ And he accepts that challenge. That’s something that he did a great job with in summer league and that’s something that we’ve been emphasizing ever since then. Then on the flip side offensively, obviously, yes we know he has a ton of talent. He can score the ball. But I think he’s also been continuing to improve his reads. His decision making out of certain situations has really grown.”
Johnson, who went undrafted this year out of Arizona, turned in his best performance of the young G League season in Saturday’s win over the Mad Ants. The 23-year-old totaled 34 points on 13-of-17 shooting from the field and 4-of-5 shooting from three-point range, eight rebounds, three assists and two steals in the victory. He has averaged 22.7 points, 9.3 rebounds and 1.4 steals per game while shooting 52.8 percent from the field and 9 of 26 (34.6 percent) on threes through the Skyforce’s first seven games.
“Obviously with K.J., the first thing is defending at different positions, learning different systems,” Bisaccio said of the focus in the Heat’s developmental plan for Johnson. “With the Miami Heat and in Sioux Falls, we do a lot of different coverages and schemes. So for him to kind of understand which one he’s going to be in and who he’s guarding, that’s always priority No. 1. You can see the growth, even from summer league, he’s already improving on that.
“Rebounding is always going to be a huge focus for him. ... He’s always got to be getting rebounds in traffic, offensive rebounding, all of those things are going to be a big emphasis. Then on the offensive end, of course, we want him to be able to knock down the open shot. He’s really been working hard on his shot. But it’s also just kind of, whether he’s at the four or whether he’s at the five, just being a great trigger and making plays for himself but also his teammates.”
Johnson, a 6-foot-7 and 225-pound forward, also can’t be signed away by another NBA team because he’s signed by the Heat to a two-way contract.
“He’s a great teammate,” Bisaccio continued on Johnson. “He guards the ball, he defends at a high level, he rebounds and then he makes plays from there.”
Stevens, who went undrafted this year out of Colorado State, ranks second in the G League with 9.7 assists per game. He has also averaged 15.1 points, 3.7 rebounds and one steal per game while shooting 54.3 percent from the field and 9 of 28 (32.1 percent) on threes through the Skyforce’s first seven games.
“For Isaiah, he’s just got to take that next layer and that next step in terms of just being a playmaker for himself sometimes,” Bisaccio said. “He’s a pass-first point guard, he’s somebody that gets everybody organized. He’s a floor general. It’s great to have a second set of eyes out there. ... The next layer is when these guys start guarding him a certain way is to feel the confidence to take that shot himself. That comes out of his character and who he is as a selfless player.
“Then the next step from there is just being able to be the best on-ball, off-ball defender he can be. We see him moving, he’s very, very tough in a pick-and-roll situation. But it’s continuing to show how he can make plays off the ball and be disruptive and then convert that on the other end to an offensive bucket.”
But unlike Christopher and Johnson, Stevens (6 feet and 185 pounds) can be signed away by another NBA team because the Heat does not have him signed to an NBA contract. The Heat waived Stevens, a 24-year-old point guard, just before the start of this regular season after he spent training camp and the preseason with the team.
With NBA teams only allowed to have a maximum of three players signed to a two-way contract at one time, the Heat’s three current two-way contract players are Christopher, Johnson and Dru Smith.
Two-way contracts, which pay half the NBA rookie minimum and do not count toward the salary cap or luxury tax, allow for players to be on their NBA team’s active list for as many as 50 regular-season games but do not come with playoff eligibility. Two-way deals can be swapped out at any time without affecting a team’s salary cap.
With the Skyforce idle until Friday, Johnson has been called on by the Heat to join the team in Miami. After producing an eye-opening stat line for the Skyforce on Saturday, Johnson is expected to be with the Heat in time for Sunday night’s matchup against the Dallas Mavericks at Kaseya Center.
“We love and we believe in this process of having our G League team in Sioux Falls,” Bisaccio said. “That’s something we’ve always appreciated. We feel like we have our own advantages with this. It’s something that both organizations, we kind of have that symbiotic relationship where we’re in constant communication.”
This story was originally published November 24, 2024 at 10:08 AM.
