Two-way street: Robinson stays, but Maten goes

MIAMI — The nuancing of the two-way contracts of undrafted forwards Yante Maten and Duncan Robinson has begun for the Miami Heat.

With G League training camps opening, so has the 45-day limit that players on two-way contracts can spend in the NBA until the March 23 close of the G League regular season.

Tuesday, that had Robinson and Maten practicing at American-Airlines Arena apart from the rest of the Heat, in order to keep their 45-day clocks from starting.

Wednesday, the Heat sent Maten to the Sioux Falls Skyforce and held Robinson out of the morning shootaround in order to keep his two-way clock from starting.

The rules of two-way contracts only count NBA days when players practice with NBA teammates or are with an NBA team for games.

The Heat practiced similar prudence last season in maxing out the NBA time on the two-way contracts of forward Derrick Jones Jr. and guard Derrick Walton Jr.

Robinson has remained in South Florida as somewhat of an insurance policy, with Dion Waiters, James Johnson, Wayne Ellington and, now, Jones, working their way back to the court from injuries.

Both Maten and Robinson are listed on the Skyforce’s 17-player training-camp roster.

Also on the Sioux Falls camp roster are returning players Briante Weber and Bubu Palo, as well as affiliate player DeAndre Liggins, with all three part of the Skyforce’s 2016 championship team under current Heat assistant coach Dan Craig.

The Skyforce camp roster also includes Heat training-camp players Marcus Lee, Rodney Purvis, Raphiael Putney and Charles Cooke, as well as Juwan Howard Jr., a recent G League draft pick who is the son of Heat assistant coach Juwan Howard.

Of the players on the Sioux Falls roster, all but Robinson and Maten are eligible to be signed by any other NBA team at any time.

Running man: Rodney McGruder went into Monday leading the NBA in distance covered, at 2.97 miles per game, including his league-lead- ing 1.68 miles per game on offense, according to the NBA’s tracking statistics.

None of that comes as a shock to coach Erik Spoelstra.

“That doesn’t surprise me at all,” Spoelstra said in advance of Wednesday night’s game against the New York Knicks. “He annihilated our conditioning test. I’ve never seen anything like it. He crushed it last year and he beat his own record. He’s his only competition now.

“We’ve had a lot of guys come to training camp in fantastic shape -- his was historic. And he puts in the time. He’s able to make countless more plays than the average NBA player, simply because he’s in better shape and he’s willing to make those extra efforts. That, to me, is a talent.”

Seeking more: Justise Winslow increased his 3-point percentage from .200 in 2016-17 to .380 last season, and both he and Spoelstra said there is no reason not to look for even more.

“He’s going to work at it and put in a lot of time the last couple of offseasons, really trying to hone that skill,” Spoelstra said. “That doesn’t define him. He hurts you in so many ways as a basketball player. But his ability to knock down open ones certainly adds to that. So I’m open to wherever he can take that.”

As is Winslow.

“I still have a lot of room to grow,” he said.

Asked about his potential 3-point ceiling, Winslow said, “Find out when we get up there. I don’t know, man -- just keep getting better every year. Just stay the course, just run my race, as I like to say: Don’t worry about other guys. Just be the best Justise I can be.”

Changing times: Heat guard Dwyane Wade said Heat-Knicks likely will never return to the vitriol that previously had defined the rivalry.

“I just think the hate is out of the league like that. It’s a different day,” he said. “It’s been a different day since I came into the league, and that was a long time ago.”

Wade entered the NBA in 2003.

“I just don’t think hate is a part of it at this particulate time,” he said.