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MIAMI — There was a reason the Miami Heat let it fly when it came to their lone selection in the NBA draft, including spending $1.5 million to move up four spots to select Louisville guard Ryan Conwell.
They knew they had to take their best shot for a player who could give them a better shot, in Conwell’s case a high-volume, high-percentage 3-point shooter. So from their initial No. 41 perch Wednesday, they switched to No. 37 in a deal with the Oklahoma City Thunder that also sent out the aforementioned cash.
“Clearly we’re trying to identify players that have a shooting skill, and he certainly does,” said Adam Simon, the Heat assistant general manager who handles the team’s draft scouting. “He’s projected overall as a 37% shooter, which would have been in the top percentile of 650 players that we had studied.”
Simon went on to list other attributes of the guard listed by the NBA at 6 feet 2, 215 pounds.
But it is the shooting that addresses an area of need, arguably a dire area of need for coach Erik Spoelstra’s team.
In trading for Milwaukee Bucks All-Star forward Giannis Antetokounmpo, the Heat not only parted with some of their best 3-point shooters but next might even part with another 3-point threat.
As part of the Antetokounmpo deal, the Heat sent out Kasparas Jakucionis (.423 on 3-pointers last season), Kel’el Ware (.395) and Tyler Herro (.378).
Likely to be added to that list of departed 3-point shooters is guard Norman Powell, who closed last season at .388 from beyond the arc, on team-best- 2.7 conversions and 7.1 attempts per game.
Based on the position the Antetokounmpo acquisition left the Heat against the first-apron hard cap, a Powell return appears far less likely than before the Antetokounmpo deal. That came into further focus during the second-round of the draft, when the Detroit Pistons, who have been linked to an impending free-agency bid for Powell, cleared salary-cap space by dealing rotation forward Isaiah Stewart to the Memphis Grizzlies for draft capital.
Then, on Thursday, one of the top 3-point threats in free agency came off the board, when the Charlotte Hornets re-upped with guard Coby White on a three-year, $74 million deal. That move also likely set the market for Powell far beyond the Heat’s current means. (While teams cannot negotiate with outside free agents until 6 p.m. Tuesday, the window to re-sign a team’s own free agent has been open since the day after the conclusion of the NBA Finals.)
So ahead of free agency, the Heat took a shot on a high-volume 3-point shooter.
Conwell, 22, is ready to fire away.
“I think my personality fits the culture of the team and I’ll fit right in with the other guys on the team,” Conwell said during his introductory media session. “Just my willingness to learn and grow each and every single day. And then I would say just my ability to space the floor, my shooting ability, being able to plug and play me anywhere on the floor and me just always having that gravity of just drawing some attention.”
With his space jam to begin in a week with the Heat’s summer-league roster.
“He shoots with confidence. He’s not afraid,” Simon said. “What you want from a shooter is someone who might miss some shots, but not afraid to put up the next one. I don’t think he’s the type that worries about missing a few. He’s a confident shooter.
“He’ll be happy that, I think, Coach and our staff will give him the platform to be able to put up shots and not worry about missing. But he can get going. I think moving out to the (more distant) NBA line won’t affect him. I think he’ll be able to get the space and be able to get his shot off in the NBA.”
Among Conwell’s pre-draft comps was Powell.
“He’s a scorer. He can shoot,” Simon said of Conwell. “He’s probably more of a scorer than point (guard), but he’s a combo. He understands how to play, and he’s able to see things out there on the court that you don’t have to coach.”
Having played at four schools over his four collegiate seasons (Florida State, Xavier, Indiana State, Louisville), moving on each time when his school’s coach departed, Conwell said adjusting comes naturally.
“I definitely just learned a lot just from all the coaches in terms of just how to come to work every single day, just how to be able to play with a lot of different players, show my versatility, and then also just finding joy just in the process,” he said. “Knowing that everything is not going to always go your way, but just trusting in the Lord’s timing and trusting in the work you put in the gym every single day. Things may happen, changes may happen, but as long as you stay true to who you are, and you continue to work as hard as you can, I’m a firm believer that it’ll all work out.”
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They knew they had to take their best shot for a player who could give them a better shot, in Conwell’s case a high-volume, high-percentage 3-point shooter. So from their initial No. 41 perch Wednesday, they switched to No. 37 in a deal with the Oklahoma City Thunder that also sent out the aforementioned cash.
“Clearly we’re trying to identify players that have a shooting skill, and he certainly does,” said Adam Simon, the Heat assistant general manager who handles the team’s draft scouting. “He’s projected overall as a 37% shooter, which would have been in the top percentile of 650 players that we had studied.”
Simon went on to list other attributes of the guard listed by the NBA at 6 feet 2, 215 pounds.
But it is the shooting that addresses an area of need, arguably a dire area of need for coach Erik Spoelstra’s team.
In trading for Milwaukee Bucks All-Star forward Giannis Antetokounmpo, the Heat not only parted with some of their best 3-point shooters but next might even part with another 3-point threat.
As part of the Antetokounmpo deal, the Heat sent out Kasparas Jakucionis (.423 on 3-pointers last season), Kel’el Ware (.395) and Tyler Herro (.378).
Likely to be added to that list of departed 3-point shooters is guard Norman Powell, who closed last season at .388 from beyond the arc, on team-best- 2.7 conversions and 7.1 attempts per game.
Based on the position the Antetokounmpo acquisition left the Heat against the first-apron hard cap, a Powell return appears far less likely than before the Antetokounmpo deal. That came into further focus during the second-round of the draft, when the Detroit Pistons, who have been linked to an impending free-agency bid for Powell, cleared salary-cap space by dealing rotation forward Isaiah Stewart to the Memphis Grizzlies for draft capital.
Then, on Thursday, one of the top 3-point threats in free agency came off the board, when the Charlotte Hornets re-upped with guard Coby White on a three-year, $74 million deal. That move also likely set the market for Powell far beyond the Heat’s current means. (While teams cannot negotiate with outside free agents until 6 p.m. Tuesday, the window to re-sign a team’s own free agent has been open since the day after the conclusion of the NBA Finals.)
So ahead of free agency, the Heat took a shot on a high-volume 3-point shooter.
Conwell, 22, is ready to fire away.
“I think my personality fits the culture of the team and I’ll fit right in with the other guys on the team,” Conwell said during his introductory media session. “Just my willingness to learn and grow each and every single day. And then I would say just my ability to space the floor, my shooting ability, being able to plug and play me anywhere on the floor and me just always having that gravity of just drawing some attention.”
With his space jam to begin in a week with the Heat’s summer-league roster.
“He shoots with confidence. He’s not afraid,” Simon said. “What you want from a shooter is someone who might miss some shots, but not afraid to put up the next one. I don’t think he’s the type that worries about missing a few. He’s a confident shooter.
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“He’ll be happy that, I think, Coach and our staff will give him the platform to be able to put up shots and not worry about missing. But he can get going. I think moving out to the (more distant) NBA line won’t affect him. I think he’ll be able to get the space and be able to get his shot off in the NBA.”
Among Conwell’s pre-draft comps was Powell.
“He’s a scorer. He can shoot,” Simon said of Conwell. “He’s probably more of a scorer than point (guard), but he’s a combo. He understands how to play, and he’s able to see things out there on the court that you don’t have to coach.”
Having played at four schools over his four collegiate seasons (Florida State, Xavier, Indiana State, Louisville), moving on each time when his school’s coach departed, Conwell said adjusting comes naturally.
“I definitely just learned a lot just from all the coaches in terms of just how to come to work every single day, just how to be able to play with a lot of different players, show my versatility, and then also just finding joy just in the process,” he said. “Knowing that everything is not going to always go your way, but just trusting in the Lord’s timing and trusting in the work you put in the gym every single day. Things may happen, changes may happen, but as long as you stay true to who you are, and you continue to work as hard as you can, I’m a firm believer that it’ll all work out.”
Continue reading...
