The Heat won the Las Vegas Summer League championship with a dramatic 120-118 overtime victory over the Grizzlies on Monday. The Heat won all six of their games in Vegas, plus the last two in the California Classic. Second-rounder Pelle Larsson made the game-winning shot.
“By the end of this (Monday), a lot of us coaches, we were really hoping that it wouldn’t be over,” Summer League coach Dan Bisaccio said, per Anthony Chiang of the Miami Herald. “Obviously, yes the priority is we want to win the championship. But at the same time, this journey that we were on with this group was amazing. It was something truly special.
“I understand this is summer league. But the fact that these guys came together as a group like that, they kind of put aside their individual goals for the better of the team. I just think that speaks volumes to who they are and what their character is.”
We have more on the Heat:
- The team has 14 players on standard contracts and don’t plan to add a 15th player until later in the regular season due to tax apron concerns. They also have all three two-way slots filled. Those two-way spots could change — they don’t count against the cap — in the aftermath of Summer League performances. Josh Christopher, Caleb Daniels, Cole Swider and Alondes Williams — all of whom are free agents at the moment — made compelling cases to receive a two-way deal or at least a training camp invite, according to Chiang.
- Speaking of Christopher, he was named Most Valuable Player of the championship game, Chiang tweets. The former first-round pick scored a team-high 24 points, including six 3-pointers. He also added four rebounds, one assist, three steals and two blocks. “I think this Heat culture thing just brought the best out of me. I don’t think I’ve had a series of games better than this in my life, honestly,” Christopher said.
- Larsson signed a three-year contract prior to summer competition and impressed the coaches in a number of ways, according to Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel. “He’s a tireless worker,” Bisaccio said. “He’s a great leader on the floor and he’s just got a really good disposition and he’s a man of a craft, is the word I’m looking for. Behind the scenes, he’s always trying to work on his shot. He’s always trying to find that new angle that he can give you, that extra detail on a pick and roll.”
- First-round pick Kel’el Ware, Jaime Jaquez and Keshad Johnson earned A grades on Winderman’s Summer League report card.
NYK should have traded up for Ware. They desperately need a back up Center
Heat got lucky again dragging Ware. And Jaimez, Herro, Bam, etc etc
Drafting!!!! lol
It’s not just luck
I don’t know why they brought in so many guards and wings to replace Caleb, and then signed Alec Burks. Burks makes sense, but now they don’t have any spots. They’re losing a spot b/c they wasted it on Ware, as they had too many bigs last year as well…They lost Peterson to Boston, Champagnie to Washington, and Cain to New Orleans to keep Swider for some reason, and ManMan, and now they’ll probably lose him too. Swider is fine to let go…
My guess is Pullin’s 2 way gets pulled for ManMan or Christopher or maybe even Caleb Daniels or Isaiah Stevens
Dru Smith is imperative to keep, and should be on a standard when the time comes
The other situation is they make some kind of trade for Ingram or Cam Johnson, or someone I’m not thinking of along those lines, and open up an extra spot or 2
At this point, I kind of don’t see how Tyler Herro starts the season with the Muami Heat, but I could be wrong; it just seems like the way this offseason has played out, that’s the plan, and I would potentially include Rozier, Duncan Robinson, and Jovic in that
Alondes, Christopher, Swider, Caleb and others playing like there’s no tomorrow.
It’s a good predicament for the HEAT to be on ……. who to keep.
Josh Christopher should have went To colle.
GE, now he’ll be at the end of every sports article.N b a bust
He’s made over 7M already and he’s only 22 years old.
I wouldn’t lose any sleep over it.
Ware is a solid pick. Looks like a real big with upside. Didn’t know he could shoot. Needs more girth for NBA.