Heat’s Ryan Conwell makes strong first summer league impression with ‘natural shooting ability’
.jpg "Ryan Conwell #7 of the Miami Heat looks on against the San Antonio Spurs during the second half in the California Classic, an NBA Summer League game, at Chase Center on July 03, 2026 in San Francisco.")
What appeared to be a rough start to summer league for Miami Heat rookie guard Ryan Conwell quickly turned into an encouraging summer league debut for the Heat’s second-round draft pick.
After starting just 1 of 7 from the field in the Heat’s summer league opener, Conwell kept battling and persevered to finish the Heat’s 88-87 summer league win over the San Antonio Spurs on Friday night at the California Classic in San Francisco with 21 points on 4-of-12 shooting from the field, 3-of-7 shooting on threes and 4-of-4 shooting from the foul line.
“He’s a very confident player,” Heat assistant coach and summer league head coach Wayne Ellington said after Conwell’s first summer league action. “He’s a very confident player. And to his credit, he has gotten better every single day leading up to tonight. He came in trying to get to know everyone.
“I’m sure things are moving fast for him. I’ve been in his shoes. You get drafted, next thing you know, you’re at summer league, you’re meeting all these new people. Next thing you know, you got a game. You’re trying to learn all these new concepts. For him to come out and be as poised as he was, he didn’t make as many shots as he would have liked to in the first half, but he kept shooting. He found his rhythm, he found himself. That just speaks volumes about him.”
Conwell, who the Heat traded up to acquire with the 37th overall selection in the second round of last month’s draft, also recorded three rebounds and three assists while posting a plus/minus of plus 10 in 29 minutes during his summer league debut Friday.
“I take a lot of pride in just being a multidimensional player, very versatile player,” Conwell said, with the Heat set to play its second of three summer league games at the California Classic on Sunday against the Los Angeles Lakers in San Francisco (4:30 p.m., ESPN and Prime Video). “At the end of the day, I can’t control the ball going in every time. Because if I could, it would go in all the time. But just staying confident and also just showing the other aspects of my game. Just defensively, just being a pest, being a dog. Just talking to my teammates, keeping the energy high, facilitating, just different things that I can do just to help my team win outside of shooting.”
That mature approach was built during Conwell’s four-year college career. Conwell, 22, began his college career at South Florida before transferring to Indiana State for his sophomore season and Xavier for his junior season, and then closing his college career at Louisville.
But even after just a few summer league practices and one summer league game, Conwell has already noticed the difference at the NBA level.
“It’s just another notch of the speed of the game and just how quick you have to make your reads and different things like that,” Conwell said. “It’s something I’m getting used to over time. Each practice and each game, I grow in just terms of learning and getting more comfortable.”
While Conwell managed to make a positive impact despite missing most of his shots on Friday, his outside shooting is still the skill that led the Heat to take him in the second round of the draft.
Conwell averaged an eye-opening 9.6 three-point attempts per game last season at Louisville. He made 38.4% of his 800-plus three-point attempts during his final three years in college, including 41.1% of his 567 catch-and-shoot threes.
“I would say his shooting ability,” Ellington said Friday when asked what’s Conwell’s most NBA-ready skill. “He actually handles the ball a better than I thought. He can create and make plays as well. And he’ll continue to get better at that as he continues to adapt to the NBA game. But he’s got a natural shooting ability, and that’s something you can’t teach. Right away, that sticks out.”
Conwell’s outside shooting will be important to this season’s Heat team, with floor spacing needed around Miami’s new-look roster built around the frontcourt duo of Bam Adebayo and Giannis Antetokounmpo.
Friday was just Conwell’s first summer league game, and there will be plenty of growing pains along the way. But Conwell is making a strong first impression on his Heat summer league teammates and coaches.
“I really enjoy playing with [Conwell],” said developmental center Vlad Goldin, who is on the Heat’s summer league team after spending the entirety of last season on a two-way contract with Miami. “He’s obviously a very aggressive scorer, but at the same time, he doesn’t overdo aggressive scoring. So I loved it, and I think he has a high potential of being a shooting playmaker.”
