The Miami Heat may have found another undrafted gem that’s provided an impact with the team’s rotation in Dru Smith. The 26 year-old has provided some valuable guard depth in coach Erik Spoelstra’s lineups, and he is carving out a regular role.
After the Heat traded Thomas Bryant for a second-round draft pick, Smith should be viewed as the favorite to earn the open 14th roster spot. A decision should be to come in the coming days, as they have just 14 days to fill the vacant position. The team is currently sporting a 13-man roster of guys on standard deals.
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Smith is averaging 8.0 points, 3.6 rebounds, and 2.2 assists while shooting 53.3% from 3-point range over the past five games.
As Spoelstra has mentioned in the past, the undrafted wing “just makes winning play after winning play.” And according to Jimmy Butler and Tyler Herro’s recent postgame comments, they see that same impact.
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The Heat had Smith on a standard deal last season and was starting to carve out a bench role with these same flashes of play. But an unfortunate ACL tear early in the season shelved him for the remainder of the 2023-24 campaign. He was then released, until getting another unexpected opportunity over this past offseason, where Pat Riley and company brought him back on a two-way contract.
After the team’s last win against the Toronto Raptors, he spoke to Will Manso for a postgame interview, stating his appreciation for the Heat’s belief in him.
“There was definitely a point last year where that was running through my mind a lot (losing a spot on the team), so I’m just appreciative of every opportunity I get.”
(- Dru Smith)
He also spoke to reporter Jeremy Tache about his journey back to the court after his knee injury last season, mentioning “things kinda got taken away right there with that kinda crazy injury. So it was definitely tough.”
It has been an up and down career in the NBA for him, and that injury seemed like a door closing on his limited opportunities. Things fortunately worked out for Smith after a long stint of rehabilitation and dedication to get back onto the court. Now he is a key bench piece to Miami’s recent success on the court.
Smith’s defensive activity has added a spark to the Heat rotation. He is not afraid to do the dirty work, whether that is drawing charges, getting his hands on loose balls or being disruptive on the perimeter with point of attack defense. He has also shown capability in organizing offense as a point guard and hitting outside shots, averaging 50% from 3-point range on the season
His full circle moments haven’t reached the peak just yet though, as Smith may be the favorite to earn the open roster spot and get promoted from his two-way contract.
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Let the record show I’ve been driving the Dru Smith bandwagon since last season. That dude is awesome
Some players, but not many, take advantage when the door opens. Only once in a while does a GLeaguer show the growth to take that next huge step up. Dru Smith may be one in maybe a hundred. Give him time as, even though he belongs, there will still be nights when he struggles. He is helping us a lot though, in a few areas, but especially as a true point guard, as no one else on the team has the ball handling skills to get us set up as calmly and efficiently, late in games.
Promote the guy already and sign Stevens to a two-way contract before another team snaps him up. While you are at it sign Johnson to a regular contract and use his spot for Little or someone else.
Heat likely will milk the 2 week window to sign him to create a little extra cap space for the next move.