Garrett warms up to return to Heat after G League stint
Marcus Garrett’s initial impressions of his NBA return? “It’s a lot warmer,” the Miami Heat guard said Monday ahead of his team’s game against the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Sent down to the G League on Oct. 27 as part of his two-way contract, Garrett rejoined the Heat on Sunday for the final stop on the team’s five-game trip.
And, yes, the temperature was a little different than South Dakota, where Heat’s G League affiliate, the Sioux Falls Skyforce, play.
Through it all, Garrett said he warmed up to his time with the Skyforce.
“It was great,” the undrafted point guard out of Kansas told the South Florida Sun Sentinel. “I get to play. I get to get better. I get to play the game I love. I don’t take it as being downgraded or nothing. I just see another opportunity just for me to play the game I love and get better. So me going down, I feel like it’s great.”
There likely will be more such seasoning throughout the season, with Garrett on a two-way contract, limited to 50 games on the Heat’s active roster during the 82-game regular season.
Statistically, it was a solid run.
Nov. 6 vs. Iowa: 18 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists, 3 steals.
Nov. 8 vs. Iowa: 12 points, 11 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 steal.
Nov. 11 vs. Grand Rapids: 14 points, 15 rebounds, 10 assists, 4 steals.
Nov. 13 vs. Grand Rapids: 13 points, 4 rebounds, 6 assists, 3 steals.
“The level of competition was great,” he said. “I got to play against some of the NBA veterans there. I just feel like my level of play could have been better, because we lost [3 of 4], and that’s the real why I play, is to win games. So I feel like as long as I’m winning, my level of play is good, because the result is a win.”
Among NBA veterans Garrett got to compete against were Nick Stauskas, Lance Stephenson, Nathan Knight, Brandon Sampson, Isaiah Briscoe and former Heat center Chris Silva.
He also had long-time NBA point guard Brandon Knight at his side, with the former Fort Lauderdale Pine Crest standout attempting a comeback with the Skyforce.
“He helped me out a lot, just knowing the pace and just knowing the right way to play,” Garrett said.
The two-plus weeks with the Skyforce also meant a reunion with four players he worked alongside with during summer league and then Heat training camp, with Micah Potter, Dru Smith, DJ Stewart and Javonte Smart all playing with Sioux Falls.
“It was great,” Garrett said. “We kind of built a bond with each other since summer league. We’ve kind of been together for these last couple of months, including the summer. So I felt like with that group right there, we’re kind of tight.”
All the while, Garrett said he tracked the Heat to see where he might fit or contribute.
“Almost every game I would go and watch them on my own if I missed them,” he said of the conflicts with the Skyforce schedule.
That included taking in the long view of the Heat’s melee with the Denver Nuggets.
“It’s a brotherhood. They had each other’s back,” he said. “When that went down everyone had each other’s back. That was the best thing about it.”
As for the Skyforce, Garrett said it was as advertised, a small market that rallies around its professional team at the Sanford Pentagon.
“The crowd was great. It was into the game,” he said.
Eventually there will be a return engagement, with development the priority.
“I feel like I came back more confident,” the 2020 Naismith Defensive Player of the Year said.
And came back the long way, with Sioux Falls-Oklahoma City not exactly a prime flight route.
“I connected in Dallas, my hometown,” he said. “But where I come from, I just started flying. I didn’t fly until I first got to college anyways. The travel is fine with me.”