Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
McGruder making mark with Heat.
McGruder is rising amid team’s descent
The last time the record went this far south, the only development the Heat seemingly were interested in was making it to the end of the season.
That was 2007-08, when the Heat careened to a 15-67 finish with the likes of Blake Ahearn, Kasib Powell, Stephane Lasme and Alexander Johnson.
This season, though, even at 11-29 after their loss Tuesday to the Golden State Warriors at Oracle Arena, the team’s development program stands as a pipeline to potentially better days ahead.
Because if it hadn’t turned this grim, it is possible the Heat wouldn’t have turned to Rodney McGruder this much. Instead, amid all the losses, the Heat at worst are cultivating a 3-and-D prospect who could follow in a team lineage that has included Keith Askins and Bruce Bowen.
“First of all,” Heat general manager Andy Elisburg said, “it’s a great story for Rodney. I mean for what he did, to the work he’s put in, it’s a testament to the work you do at the Development League.
“He was able to get an opportunity to get on an NBA roster and be productive on an NBA roster, stay on an NBA roster,
find a way to get into the rotation on an NBA roster. It’s a terrific testament to him.”
Only Hassan Whiteside and Goran Dragic have started more often for the Heat than McGruder. While this wasn’t by any means the plan going into what was expected to be a far more productive season for the team, there has been ancillary benefit for the 6-foot-4 guard who went undrafted out of Kansas State in 2013.
“There’s nothing more we could do to fast-track his growth,” said coach Erik Spoelstra, as the Heat turned their attention to Friday’s conclusion of this six-game trip against the Milwaukee Bucks in BMO Harris Bradley Center. “Again, ideally, a perfect world for this team would be he comes in as a bench player, with tremendous energy and toughness.
“I think that’s ultimately the role for him. Until that time, these minutes are valuable for his career.”
To Elisburg, McGruder, 25, is the quintessential story of D-League perseverance, rising from undrafted prospect lacking a jumper to a potential floorspacing presence.
Two years ago, Heat assistant coach Chris Quinn had McGruder with the Sioux Falls Skyforce, the Heat’s D-League affiliate, where Quinn was serving as an assistant coach.
“Our exit meeting,” Quinn said, “that was one of the things we challenged him with, ‘Come back and be a knockdown NBA 3-point shooter,’ and he took it to heart.”
Last season, Heat assistant coach Dan Craig had McGruder with the Skyforce, while serving as head coach.
“He got his confidence in practice and was able to apply it in games,” Craig said. “It’s not a surprise because of how hard he works. He was the first one in and last one out.”
That led to this opportunity, when he made the roster over veteran point guard Beno Udrih and defensive-minded point guard Briante Weber, who now is in the midst of his own shooting tutorial with the Skyforce.
“I didn’t think this would be my role or I would be starting,” McGruder said. “I didn’t know what to expect.
“It’s a lifelong goal and dream to be here.”
To some, this is a throwaway season for the Heat as they prepare to clear salary-cap space and take their best shot in the draft lottery. But this is not a throwaway player, as the Heat, through a creative contract, hold the rights to McGruder for the next two seasons as well.
Eventually, his role will be cycled back to something more in line with his skill set. But this also is not merely buying time as the Heat did with Ahearn, Powell and Lasme in 2007-08, on the way to a similar lottery seed.
“We’re going to develop, spend our time with players, make ’em better, and both sides will benefit from it,” Spoelstra said of the Heat’s development program that made this situation with McGruder possible. “We’ve become better teachers. We’ve become developers. Hopefully, they make it to the goal they want to get and we’ll join in their success.
“The reason we liked Rodney early on in summer league three years ago was his competitiveness. Then we found out he had a work ethic to match that competitiveness. Then we found out he had a character and a resolve that matched those two things. Those are the kind of players you want to spend and invest time in.”