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Heat add UM guard and Louisville, Kansas, Auburn prospects after draft
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- Heat add UM guard and Louisville, Kansas, Auburn prospects after draft
MIAMI — Having spent almost to their hard-cap limit in Monday's acquisition of Milwaukee Bucks All-Star forward Giannis Antetokounmpo, the Miami Heat pivoted to cheap, young talent ahead of Tuesday's start of free agency.
That left Wednesday night's second round of the NBA draft merely as a starting point when it came to filling out their summer roster, with the hopes of a few of the diamonds in the rough eventually rounding out the regular-season roster.
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The starting point in the latest youth movement was trading up from their only spot in the two-round draft, moving up from their No. 41 slot to No. 37 to land standout Louisville guard Ryan Conwell.
With second-round picks eligible for a salary of only half of the NBA minimum for veterans, Conwell stands as an overwhelming favorite for a spot on the Heat's 2026-27 roster.
But Adam Simon, the Heat assistant general manager who handles the team's draft scouting, wasn't done there, even if the Heat were done with the draft.
As the draft concluded, the Heat signed undrafted University of Miami guard Tre Donaldson to a two-way contract.
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Teams are allowed to carry up to three two-way players, players who receive half the NBA minimum salary and do not count against a team's salary cap, luxury tax or tax aprons.
At the moment, the three two-way players on the Heat roster are Donaldson, Vlad Goldin and Trevor Keels, with the latter two holdovers from this past season's roster.
Simon said having had ample opportunity to scout Donaldson, it made sense to add a player to a Heat rotation at point guard that, at the moment, only features Davion Mitchell and Dru Smith.
"He was our top-rated point guard that was left undrafted," Simon said of Donaldson. "And we thought, 'Why not give him the two-way?' "
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Simon also noted the lengths Donaldson went to audition for the Heat.
"Being here, we had an opportunity to see him play a lot," Simon said.
"Had an opportunity to have him here on a delayed flight out of a West Coast team that he missed. Ended up driving to another city, to San Francisco, to take a red-eye in order to audition for us, and just showed a desire to show us what he can do. Even though we had seen him play a lot, he wanted to get in front of us."
Simon was not done there, with the Heat needing to fill out rosters for summer leagues next month in San Francisco and Las Vegas.
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So just as the Heat reached for Goldin, the former Florida Atlantic University Final Four center, after last year's draft, other undrafted prospects were brought into the Heat fold for offseason Exhibit 10 tryout contracts.
While teams are limited to a maximum of 15 players under standard contract and three under two-way contract during the regular season, they may carry up to 21 during the offseason.
Although the Hurricanes' Donaldson was the first of the added players, Louisville guard J'Vonne Hadley, Auburn forward Keyshawn Hall, Kansas guard Trey White and South Carolina guard Meechie Johnson, who has ties to LeBron James, quickly followed with Heat summer-tryout agreements.
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Those players and Conwell, along with returning Heat neophytes Goldin, Keels, Jahmir Young and Myron Gardner, are expected to fill slots on the Heat summer roster that will be guided by assistant coach Wayne Ellington .
