Vlad Goldin makes strong first impression on Heat in summer league: ‘He plays so freakin’ hard’
Miami Heat center Vlad Goldin’s summer league stats aren’t going to draw much attention.
After all, Goldin averaged a pedestrian 9.2 points, 4.8 rebounds, 0.8 assists and one block per game in his six appearances with the Heat during this year’s summer league. But Goldin still made a strong first impression on Heat coaches during his first summer league with the organization.
“Vlad was really good for us,” Heat assistant coach and summer league head coach Eric Glass said of Goldin’s showing. “He plays so freakin’ hard out there. He plays so physically. You’d like to have him on the floor even longer, but he goes so hard, sometimes he burns himself out. That’s why we love him.”
That’s also why the Heat signed Goldin to a two-way contract shortly after he went undrafted out of Michigan last month.
A look beyond the surface-level stats reveals that Goldin was efficient in his looks around the basket with a two-point field-goal percentage of 66.7%, effective on the offensive glass with eight offensive rebounds in six games and recorded an excellent plus/minus of plus-41 in his 105 minutes of playing time during summer league.
Goldin also seemed to get better as summer league went on, turning in his best performance in the Heat’s final game. He totaled 18 points on 7-of-10 shooting from the field and 4-of-4 shooting from the foul line, 10 rebounds and four blocks in the Heat’s summer league finale on Friday in Las Vegas.
“It has been amazing,” Goldin, 24, said of his first summer league experience with the Heat. “It’s a completely different style of basketball compared to what I played the last four years. So it definitely takes a little bit more time to adjust. Simple things like now it’s 24 seconds on the shot clock instead of 30 seconds, the three-second violation on offense and defense.
“So it has been great to be able to adjust because everybody is helping so much, trying to explain where to go and how to go. Everybody is so cooperative, so I think they made it so much easier compared to what it would be if I would be trying to do it on my own.”
Goldin brings plus size to the center position at 7-1 and 250 pounds with a 7-5 wingspan, and steadily improved throughout his five-year college career.
Goldin, who is from Russia, spent his first college season at Texas Tech before spending time in South Florida at Florida Atlantic for the next three seasons. He was the starting center on the FAU team that made an improbable run to the Final Four in 2023 before losing to San Diego State in the national semifinals.
Goldin then followed former FAU coach Dusty May to Michigan, where he averaged 16.6 points, seven rebounds, 1.1 assists and 1.4 blocks per game while shooting 60.7% from the field and 11 of 33 (33.3%) on threes as a fifth-year senior last season.
The scouting report on Goldin indicates he’s a solid screener, an efficient player around the basket and a quality offensive rebounder. He shot an impressive 69.3% at the rim in half-court situations and averaged 2.4 offensive rebounds per game last season at Michigan.
But Goldin didn’t take many three-pointers in college and was just 0 of 1 from three-point range during his six summer league appearances with the Heat. There are also questions about his defense at the NBA level.
“I mean, he’s big,” Glass said when asked about Goldin’s NBA fit. “He’ll be the biggest guy on our roster. He’s probably the same height as Kel’el [Ware], but he’s much bigger muscular-wise. He’s a big voice. I hate comparing players, but if you remember Meyers Leonard, where he just got that big barrel-chested voice that just echoed through the gym, which is so important for your five-man to be able to communicate like that and set the defense. Those are two things I love.
“We’ve been on him about his rebounding. ... So if he can continue to do that and roll to the basket and do all those kinds of things, it’ll be just fine.”
Goldin adds much-needed size to the Heat’s roster, as the Heat’s center depth is currently limited to Bam Adebayo and Ware. If Adebayo and Ware start together this upcoming season like they did for much of the second half of last season, Goldin will be Miami’s only reserve center as long as he’s not in the G League as part of his two-way deal.
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 with other game action having to come in the G League. Two-way deals can be swapped out at any time and do not come with playoff eligibility.
“As a player, we always dream about playing in the NBA, having minutes and being the key player,” Goldin said when asked about the possibility of playing minutes as an undrafted rookie due to the Heat’s lack of depth at center. ”I’m not the exception. I dream about that, too. I’m going to do everything to win as many games and try to benefit this team. If that’s going to be my role, I’m going to accept my role.”
