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Donaldson delivering Hurricanes grit to summer Heat, ‘My football side shows, for sure’
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- Donaldson delivering Hurricanes grit to summer Heat, ‘My football side shows, for sure’
You can see it on offense, the ability to probe, a quarterback on that end. You can see it on defense, roaming like a safety, ready to create a turnover.
Tre Donaldson says it's all innate.
But it also has been years in the making for the former University of Miami guard who arrived to the Miami Heat's summer program with the incentive of a two-way contract after going undrafted last week.
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"My football side shows, for sure," Donaldson said, with the Heat now in a three-day break between their three games in San Francisco at the California Classic and now at least five more games to follow starting Friday in the Las Vegas NBA Summer League.
After an uneven start in the Heat's summer program, Donaldson validated the Heat's faith with Monday night's 15 points, six assists, five rebounds and three steals in a 95-85 victory over the Golden State Warriors ' summer squad.
"He causes havoc. He has a knack for the ball," Heat summer coach Wayne Ellington, the Erik Spoelstra assistant, said of the stocky 6-foot-2, 210-pound guard. "He gets his hand on a lot of deflections, which obviously we love. He's disruptive."
If that sounds somewhat familiar, it's exactly what Donaldson wants to hear.
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"Understanding that they have guys like Davion Mitchell, who does that at a really, really high level, it's a guy that I've watched for a really long time," Donaldson said of attempting to emulate the pesky Heat point guard who also started his collegiate career at Auburn.
In the wake of last season, Riley noted of the 6-foot Mitchell, "Davion Mitchell, give me that guy any day of the week. If you made him 6-10, he's All-NBA. He's a great defender. He's a high character guy. He's competitive. What a battler."
And, for Donaldson, a role model.
"Just being a pest, that's what I do," Donaldson said. "That's what I'm built for. My bulkiness and stuff like that, and then my hand activity. My little football side, DB side, shows a little bit for sure."
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Coming out of Florida State University high school in Tallahassee there was more than a little football side, as a standout defensive back and quarterback, ranked as a four-star prospect and initially recruited to play football and basketball at Auburn.
"I had offers from every top school in the country," he said. "And my ball skills are what make me who I am football-wise. So, I mean, just taking that to the defensive side of basketball helps me a lot."
Challenges, though, remain, as Donaldson committed seven turnovers to go with his 12 assists in his three California Classic appearances at Chase Center.
"I can't lie to you guys, I was nervous," Donaldson said of his initial action in summer league. "But being able to get on the floor, see how it goes, it just built my confidence back up for sure. It's a new game, it's a different style of play.
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"I still don't know any of the rules, so it's just understanding that, getting comfortable, and then just having fun, and understanding what I do best, and what makes me who I am," Donaldson said of adapting to summer league play.
Typically the summer league games in advance of Las Vegas are about the adjustment to the NBA game. More telling is the play in Las Vegas. Those games could be critical for Donaldson, with teams able to swap out players on two-way contracts at any time.
In that regard, adjustments are nothing new, with Donaldson having played collegiately at Auburn, Michigan and then Miami.
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Now there again is a sense of growing grounded.
"My self-awareness is the biggest thing, understanding what makes me who I am," he said. "And that's just making the other four guys better on the floor, touching the paint and getting those guys the ball on time and on target."
