Passing grades for summer
Heat impressed with Adebayo’s work ethic, White’s development
MIAMI — By the time he finally could exhale, after coaching theMiamiHeat for15 days in two summer leagues, Chris Quinn had achieved his mission: creating possibilities for Erik Spoelstra and Pat Riley to consider.
The 4-7 record stood secondary, even with the sting of Saturday’s double-overtime loss to a similar team of young players fromMemphis Grizzlies that prevented his players fromyet another national showcase at the Las Vegas summer league’s tournament.
Winning mattered enough for the Heat to go from 0-5 in the Orlando summer league to 4-2 in Las Vegas with mostly the same roster. But that’s not what the assignment had been.
The goal since July 1had been to develop those under contract so Spoelstra could pick up from there during training camp, and then unearth prospects that could get Riley to consider their promise going forward.
“It makes me feel great,” said Quinn, a Spoelstra assistant during the regular season, “that I was able to put them into position to succeed.”
While first-round pick Ba mA de bay ow as held out of the final three games of summer league, as often is the case with lottery
“I was proud that by the end of Vegas we really had a Heat culture type of identity.” Chris Quinn, Heat summer league coach
picks, the work behind the scenes left Quinn encouraged about the next steps the big man out of Kentucky soon will be taking with assistant coach JuwanHoward.
“I think the seven games he played was a great first step as an NBA player,” Quinn said. “He did everything we asked. He showed us a skill set that is very versatile. He was able to do things that maybe he hadn’t done as much.
“But more importantly, he completely bought in to our player-development program. He’s listening to coach Juwan every single day and he’s really been great to work with. His attitude and his work ethic have been amazing, which, for a guy with his talent, is most important.”
Then there is forwardOkaro White, who was guaranteed a portion of his 2017-18 salary at the start of summer league and next faces an Aug. 1 deadline for another partial guarantee of his $1.3 million salary.
“I thought he made major strides in his seven games. And his last one, I thought was probably his best game of the summer league,” Quinn said of Thursday’s 91-84 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers, when White scored a game-high 23 points. “We put him in an action every play in the second half of that game and he won the game for us. Hewas making all the right plays. He was able to score. Hewas able to get rebounds.”
But this also was about more than a 2017-18 roster that almost is at its 15-player regular-season limit.
This coming season, teams for the first time can sign up to two two-way players to shuttle between their NBA roster and developmental affiliate, without counting against the 15-player limit. Plus, up to four players can receive $50,000 training-camp guarantees to thenmove on to a team’s D-League affiliate.
That means that as many as six players from theHeat summerroster beyondAdebayo andWhite could wind up under Heat influence this coming season, perhaps even more if they are amenable to playing at a developmentalsalary with the Sioux Falls Skyforce.
“There’s so many avenues now wherewe can get guys in our development program, with two-way players, with affiliate players, with our D-League team, obviously,” said Quinn, who began his Heat coaching tenureas anassistant with the Skyforce. “So definitely some of those guys gave us a lot to look at and we have to review as a staff. And our front office does a really good job of figuring out our priority guys.”
Ultimately, there proved to be more than expected to choose from. Therewas the 3-point accuracy of undrafted Central Florida guard Matt Williams, the relentless motor of 5-foot-8 undrafted Monmouth guard Justin Robinson, the two-way savvy of undrafted Virginia guard London Perrantes and the bravado of undrafted Colorado State guard Gian Clavell.
Tying it all together was Quinn, the former Heat summer-leaguer himself, who got his first shot as a head coach.
“Itwas an amazing experience for me, a growth experience, a learning experience, my first time as a head coach,” he said. “Every single day I took it serious to be prepared, be ready, coach this team as hard as I could, make them better as players and as people. And ultimately make myself better as a coach.
“But I had a lot of fun with the process. This group was awesome to coach. I was proud that by the end of Vegas we really had a Heat culture type of identity.”