Former University of Miami guard Tre Donaldson is hoping to add his name to the long list of undrafted Heat players who’ve gone on to have productive NBA careers, Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald writes in a subscriber-only story. Donaldson hasn’t slowed down after an impressive showing at Summer League, sharpening his game with regular workouts at Kaseya Center and familiarizing himself with how the franchise operates.
“Just trying to continue to shoot the ball better, things of that nature,” he said. “But just trying to learn what it is to be in this Heat culture and this organization. I’m just big on learning. So just learning what it looks like, the new rules and stuff like that, that’s different for me. And just being where my feet are, understanding that it’s going to be a lot of highs, a lot of lows. But just taking it and learning from it, and then just adding it.”
Donaldson, who signed a two-way contract in July, was one of the Heat’s best players in Las Vegas, averaging 16.3 points, 4.5 rebounds, 6.8 assists and 1.8 steals in four games. He also displayed the three-point stroke that he’s going to need to establish himself as an NBA player, connecting at 43.8% from beyond the arc.
“I’m just trying to show them that I belong,” he said. “I mean, that’s the biggest thing, just showing them that I can do the right things, I can be solid for them. Whatever they ask me to do, I’m going to do it to the best of my ability.”
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Unhappy with his defensive performance last season. Davion Mitchell has dropped weight this summer through an intense workout program, Chiang adds in a separate story. His offseason ventures included a trip to Greece to prepare for the season alongside new teammate Giannis Antetokounmpo. “He’s a winner. He just wants to win,” Mitchell said. “For me, I was just trying to learn the places I need to be on the court, what makes him more comfortable. I mean, obviously, he’s been in the league for so long that he knows how everyone’s going to guard him and he knows how everyone’s going to guard me. So he’s trying to find ways for me to be successful, and I’m just trying to do the things for him.”
Antetokounmpo and Bam Adebayo are in the argument as the best power combination in the NBA, states Ira Winderman of The Sun-Sentinel (subscriber link). Winderman examines some of the other candidates and lists the best twosomes in franchise history.
In a mailbag column, Winderman considers whether the Heat will use the $5.6MM trade exception they created in last year’s Haywood Highsmith deal before it expires August 17. He notes that Miami also has its $5.5MM bi-annual exception available and more than $8MM in mid-level exception money remaining, but the team’s spending level is limited because it’s about $10MM away from its hard cap.