Details, takeaways from Heat win against Detroit in Miami’s summer league finale
Takeaways from the Heat’s final summer league game, a 101-87 win against Detroit on Friday night in Las Vegas:
▪ The Heat played without any of its top three Las Vegas scorers (Trevor Keels, Jahmir Young and Ryan Conwell). Also sidelined was Myron Gardner, who ended up missing all but one of the Heat’s eight summer league games because of an ankle injury.
As closing statements go, this was an exceptional one for Tre Donaldson, the Miami Hurricanes rookie who scored 13 of his 20 in the fourth to go along with eight rebounds and 10 assists. The Donaldson-fueled rally turned a 15-point deficit into a double-digit win.
Miami finished 2-3 in Las Vegas after going 2-1 at the California Classic in San Francisco.
Young was given the night off after scoring 30 points on Thursday. Keels, who has a sprained right MCL, and Conwell were put on ice earlier in the week. Young and Keels remain options for Heat training camp invites or two-way deals, while Conwell has a three-year standard contract.
Without those four, the Heat’s two Tres - Donaldson and White - had a larger canvas.
Donaldson, coming off an eight assist game Thursday, had his best moment of summer league on Friday. He displayed creativity as a passer all month, and his 10 assists Friday included two particularly impressive passes to Ezra Ausar for dunks.
Donaldson -- who shot 8 for 12 overall and 3 for 4 on threes - took over in the fourth and reached 20 points for the second time in Miami’s final three games in Las Vegas. He committed too many turnovers Friday (seven) but seems well positioned to hold onto his two-way contract.
“They’re evaluating and I’m just trying to show I belong,” Donaldson told ESPN afterward. “I’m a kid that’s been doubted for a long time, but I lead my team and I win.”
After scoring 19 points on Thursday, White closed with 21 on 7 for 13 shooting, while adding four rebounds, three assists, a steal and a block. The 6-5 Kansas rookie has a lot to offer: a 6-9 wingspan, a defensive verve, a three-point shot that improved considerably in his one year with the Jayhawks, and impressive athleticism and hops.
▪ Vlad Goldin ended summer league on a positive note, offering rim deterrence (one block and another that was erroneously called a foul) and displaying nifty footwork on two difficult layups and a thunderous one-handed dunk. He closed with 8 points (4 for 6 shooting), five rebounds and a steal in 19 minutes. His minutes were limited because of a sprained ankle, but he played through it.
His mediocre foot speed hurts him defensively at times, and turnovers have been an issue; he had two more of them on Friday, including one when the ball was poked away when he had his back turned, leading to a Pistons dunk.
▪ One of the disappointments of the summer: None of the Heat’s young former SEC standouts apparently did enough to warrant consistent minutes.
Point guard Meechie Johnson - who averaged 17.2 points, 3.3 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 1.3 steals at South Carolina last season- played only 22 minutes in the first four games. He was very good in 17 minutes on Friday, raising questions about why he didn’t play more in Miami’s first seven summer league games.
Johnson had 13 points (three for five shooting) and four assists, and Miami outscored Detroit by 19 points when he was on the floor.
Johnson, an older rookie at 23 years and 10 months, has a close relationship with LeBron James based on a long-standing friendship between their families.
Forward Keyshawn Hall - who was fifth in the SEC in scoring (19.3) and eighth in rebounding (7.1) at Auburn last season - played 50 minutes in Miami’s first four games, mustering just six points on 18 percent shooting and playing out of control at times this summer, leading to multiple unforced turnovers. Coach Wayne Ellington didn’t use him at all Friday.
Guard Cam Carter - who averaged 16.4 points at LSU two years ago - played just six minutes in four games in Vegas before starting and logging 13 minutes on Friday, closing with four points on 1 for 7 shooting.
He averaged 7.5 points in 28 games for the Heat’s G-League team in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, last season.
▪ Besides Johnson, two other Heat players impressed Friday after riding the bench for most of their time in Las Vegas.
Ausar - who averaged 14.8 points and 6.5 rebounds at Southern Cal last season - threw down three dunks and finished with 15 points, seven rebounds, two steals and a block in 21 minutes.
He had played just five minutes over the Heat’s first four games in Vegas.
Guard Kendall Brown, who appeared in 21 games for the Indiana Pacers over two seasons (2022-2024), played just 31 minutes over Miami’s first four games in Vegas but logged 22 on Friday and filled the box score with 11 points (4 for 6 shooting), two assists, two steals and three blocks.
▪ Multiple players from this group could get camp invitations. The Heat has 12 players under standard contracts and two under two-way deals (Donaldson and Goldin).
In addition to its ongoing pursuit of LeBron James, the Heat also would like to add another veteran shooter and another veteran big man but might begin the season with only 14 under contract.
Teams can carry as many as 21 players (including players on two-way contracts) throughout the offseason and training camp but can carry no more than 18 players (15 standard contracts, three two-way contract players) once the regular season starts.
This story was originally published July 17, 2026 at 10:55 PM.
