The Miami Heat did not waste any time addressing one of their biggest needs.
On Day 2 of the 2026 NBA Draft, the Miami Heat traded their only selection — moving up from No. 41 to 37 — and drafted Louisville guard Ryan Conwell.
How would we grade it? Let’s break it down!
Grading the Miami Heat’s Ryan Conwell selection:
Conwell, 22, spent four seasons at four different programs (South Florida, Indiana State, Xavier, Louisville). And he had a featured role at each stop. The 6-foot-4 guard started in all but 11 of his 138 collegiate games, averaging 14.4 points, 3.9 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game.
However, as a senior with the Cardinals, he was presented with a unique circumstance for himself. With Mikel Brown Jr. dealing with a lingering lower back injury for most of the season, Conwell was thrust into a lead creation role.
His results were a mixed bag, but it evidently led to the most productive season of his career. The All-ACC guard averaged 18.8 points, 4.8 rebounds and 2.7 assists on 40.6 percent shooting and 34.5 percent from 3-point range.
Don’t necessarily be fooled by those percentages, though. While Conwell showed some positive flashes as a shot creator, he operates much better in an off-ball role than the inverse. Over his previous two seasons (22.6 USG%), he drained 40.9 percent of his triple tries.
Conwell is an exceptional spot-up shooter — both off movement and stand-still situations. He doesn’t generate a ton of lift, but he has a very smooth and sound left-handed shooting stroke with good arc and ball flight. He dominated the shooting drills at the NBA Combine, going 19-of-25 in the star drill and 28-of-30 in the pull-up shooting drill.
Additionally, he’s not a slouch defensively. He’s not great by any means. But he’s competitive and can hold his own against 1s and 2s. His size will be a question, as will his lateral agility. Conwell will also have to improve as a playmaker and ballhandler to stick as a bench guard.
But this is still a good value pick for the Miami Heat. Projecting his role will be much simpler alongside Giannis Antetokounmpo and Bam Adebayo, and I believe it’s one that he could thrive in.
Grade: A-
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Isiah Joe to Detroit. There goes their need for Norm Powell. 😛 😛 😛
Yup, was just going post that. Discount time?
jamaican warm weather greek only 1 year here .prob loved miami .$$ aint everything happiness more important.norm could mean the difference for jewelry in year 1.only problem is he breaks down like herro does .when he got here 1st half looked like d wade.second half looked like d wade of the cavs.with middleton coming on board i believe norms mins need to be around 25 a night.
Middleton like D Wade today.
We are in the period now where some of our issues with salaries are giving us some concern. We are going to have to wait to see how it shakes out but it’s becoming apparent we may not be able to field a team that can realistically win a championship this year. But, we are still a lot closer today than we were a week ago and I am still thrilled with what we have done here. And, it will take some team friendly decisions from our players (a little unlikely, but quite understandable) or from around the league (which is very possible), but we still have a great chance to be very good this year. We just have to stay tuned thruout the summer to see what we do. Keep our chins up and enjoy the excitement.
The first year is the build up. Get an idea of how things mesh. Get experience in the playoffs together and identify and address those issues going into year two. Then championship. Year 1 of Shaq was ECF. Came back and beat Detroit and won it all. Year 1 of Big 3 was Finals loss, come back and win it all. 🙂
only difference theres no super teams in our way like we;ve pointed out unless brown went to the nuggets
I still don’t believe it, but there is some weird stuff going with Lebron. His agent saying nice things about the Heat and how the roster will look totally different by the start of the season. We know this, but odd Rich Paul is being so effusive in his praise. Ethan from 5OTF is kind of hinting or suggesting this has a better chance of happening then we think or assume.
Season uploading.
Never say never
I m sure LAL will offer him a 30 mill or so contract. Nobody can compete with that. CLE can offer 4 mill, GS could trade Butler for LBJ with sign and trade, but why should they. Miami can offer two peanuts.
It wont happen.
I too think it won’t happen, but a sign and trade is a vehicle they could use to get it done. Wiggins would have to opt out and be okay with being traded to the Lakers.
theres 29 teams he would come to before the heat .hes in the same boat as butler was when he left not to fond of our gm
At the moment I have no idea, how the team will look before season start.
Heat only have 5 proven players. Three of those are borderline starting level players or very good bench players.
Giannis
Bam
Mitchell
Pelle
Portis
Then we have a group of player without clear roles, unproven players or probably no good enough to be good rotation players. .
Jovic
Gardner
Dru
and there is a group of rookies and two way players.
Conwell
Young
Keels
Goldin
Out of those 12 players only 5 can be count to contribute to a team success, with maybe 2-3 out of the 7 of the rest can contribute from the bench. And thats 150 mill already spent.
If Wiggins opt in, there is another player in the first group, but also a 30 million player. So there is 8 or max 9 player which can contribute right now.
We need at least 3 more for 20 millions all together, one of those needs to be a starting level shooting guard.
So the team should look like:
Giannis
Bam
Mitchell
Wiggins
Starting level shooting guard.
Portis as power forward.
Jovic as center.
Gardner or Conwell as shooting guards.
Dru
Pelle
At least two more vet. minimum vets.
If starting lineup with the right addition should looks fine, the bench is really shaky, and there is nothing behind the bench. I think not only Powell, also Wiggins and even Portis could be sacrificed for some depth. Jovic cant bring anything in return right now.
I’m banging the Grimes as SG drum until it doesn’t happen. Since we are dealing with limited money, and if no Grimes, you could sneak Simons into the starting lineup since he would be surrounded by strong defensive players at every position if Wigs opts in.
From there we go bargain shopping and/or hoping for some vet discounts to come along for the ride. Hardaway and Bruce Brown have south FL connections, which might allow us to sign one as a bench vet. We still need a big. Again, since I’m bargain basement shopping, not going after bigger fish, I think Landale who finished with the Hawks could be a fit for less $. He’s athletic and can hit the 3.
This is just throwing s**t at the wall since we don’t know about Wiggins. I think if Wiggins were to opt out and tried to sign long term back on the west coast then all of this changes. You would then possibly see us sign Norm and then allocate the funds towards that SF spot.
Yes, we should wait what Wiggins will do. All options are on a table.
Ranking the 10 best 3-point shooters in the 2026 NBA draft class (Fadeaway World)
4. Ryan Conwell, Heat
Ryan Conwell is probably the weirdest one on the list. The percentage was not great. He shot 34.5% from three at Louisville. Usually, that doesn’t scream top-four shooter. But then you see the volume. Conwell took 9.6 threes per game. That is crazy. He made 3.3 per game, scored 18.8 points, added 4.8 rebounds and 2.7 assists, and shot 83.2% from the line.
So yeah, the percentage is not pretty. But he was taking every type of three. Deep ones. Contested ones. Late-clock ones. The defense knew he wanted to shoot, and he still got almost 10 attempts up every night. That has value. The Thunder picked him at No. 37 before he ended up with the Heat That feels like a very Heat type of pick with Giannis Antetokounmpo now in the mix. as Miami will now likely try to surround him with shooters. Older player, strong role, no confusion about what he does.
The Detroit Pistons have expressed strong interest in acquiring Norman Powell via free agency or trade. Meanwhile, the Los Angeles Lakers and the Golden State Warriors have been linked to Andrew Wiggins following the Heat’s trade for Giannis Antetokounmpo
The clock is running Pat…”tick-tock”
ClutchPoints’ Brett Siegel says he believes Detroit’s trade of Isaiah Stewart to the Memphis Grizzlies for second-round picks was not about acquiring Tyler Herro, but rather a move to clear immediate cap space for Norm Powell.
will norm be happy living in putrid cold detroit .not a hot bed for tourism.if your offered a job in detroit which pays alot more than miami which one u taking.
Detroit is cold but not putrid. It is not the 70s anymore. It has experienced a lot of improvements and renewal over the past 10-15 years. I don’t like long winters, so not for me.
Ouch. US loses 3-2
meaningless game
Not for Turkey.
They can celebrate the moral victory on the plane ride back to Istanbul.
Yes, that is what they’re doing.
Turkey’s return to the FIFA World Cup after a 24-year absence sparked massive nationwide celebrations, reaching their peak with a dramatic 3-2 group stage victory over the United States in Los Angeles. Despite group-stage elimination, fans celebrated the historic campaign with widespread street parties and watch events.
did we have the barry bros at one time i dont google i have rc
Idk, but if Milwaukee had drafted Karim Lopez, they could have had the barrio bros. Get it?
this move was 100% necessary.w/o a ss hard watch.so hes making almost 70 mil hes that good and we get to watch this amazing playing every fn night jjj highway kelels non motor ty s d jacos whiteness c ya e reid must be lining up his greekisms.cant wait for next year.ty pat
THE OTHER SIDE OF THE COIN – OR WHY BUILDING WITH YOUTH DOESN’T MEAN YOU WILL SUCK 5 TO 10 YEARS.
Case in point – Milwaukee.
Starting lineup projection – Rollins, Herro, Jaquez, Kuzma, Ware (assuming they move Turner)
Bench – Porter Jr, Burries, Sims, Kas, Ament, Dieng, Malique Lewis, plus 3 more.
There has been no indication they will move Herro (possibly) or Ware (doubtful). They may even keep Turner. A contender? No. Competitive? Yes. Playoffs ? I’d say unlikely. Fun to watch? Yes, and I will when they’re on tv.
jaco in g league lol
Dumb comment. No Giannis here without us sending Kas to them.
u left him off the list
sorry kas i see thought that was kasy russell
A-ha! See? Pay attention.
isnt rollins 2g?kas might start?
I think he’s a combo, but listed as pg on their depth chart. If they trade Herro, Kas would probably start with Rollins.
bucks could have 4 heaters starting next year.we will have prob 4 bucks on squad 2 greeks portis middleton
Quickest rebuild ever. Should be exciting if nothing else. Thank you Miami.
miami north playin team no ss no all stars gl.
They aren’t done getting rid of players and acquiring assets. Talk about a fast track re-build. I would have liked to see Miami do that. Oh well.
I noted it so that some people can realize a smart rebuild doesn’t have to be like a 5 year root canal. It can actually be fun.
It would have been similar. With Yaxel, Aday, and others off the board, I would have opted for Steinbach or, even though he dropped, Philon. Add Conwell, a strategic trade or 2, and you have all your future assets, and you’re moving up the food chain. But it’s water under the bridge now and I’m fine with it. Looking forward to seeing what other pieces are added.
It reminds me of teams that went all in with max players then didn’t have money to have the depth. Starters end of playing too many minutes. God help them if there is an injury to a starter and the depth to back him up just isn’t there.
pat and andy will find ring chasers chil lebron even u might come to beautiful miami for a reunion,every player loves so beach.wades knees must be healthy by now he could be the philip rivers of the nba.if im pat im calling the greatest heater of all time gimme 15-20 mins a night.d wade is such an entrepraneur now hes making lots of $$ so i doubt hed take the gig.
hes such a great player but like any star he needs help bam portis wiggy dav pelle are fine as of right now think we can be top 4 east team we need little more if not next year the following year hope we can add.in 27 28.im hoping for a middleton grimes this year but pls no uncan
I agree. The lineup is shaping up. Strong chance we lose Powell. Can Conwell be in the rotation? I think so. Looking forward to seeing what veterans will join. I also say top 4.
let me ask u a ? rc we have about 10 plus the 15 mil mle and 2 5 mil exemptions so in theory if thats the case we have about 35 mil
First Apron Hard Cap
Teams that trigger this cap (e.g., by using the Bi-Annual Exception or acquiring a player via sign-and-trade) face the following restrictions
No Bi-Annual Exception
Sign-and-Trade limits
Restricted buyout additions
Strict salary-matching
can u speak english please do we have a 15 mil and 2 5mil exemptions
Ask SM.
hes watching futbol now
2-2
Any way you cut, it Miami has a hard cap at the first apron, no matter what you call it nor how it is configured. Any further questions, please refer them to our resident expert in these matters, RC and his technical assistant 2qbn.
Hey, I passed that buck to you! Okay, I volunteer 2qbn for the project.
You were designated the expert on all things luxury tax and aprons. I heard h4l when he did it. Member. You member? I know you can do it again…and again. I’m the strategy guy, although nobody listens to me any more since they caught t “Greek Freak Fever.” But if you truly believe 2qbn is better qualified for the job than you, I’m sure h4l will be ok with approving it.
My wife is Greek. She says there are certain characteristics most Greek men are known to have. Not all of them are positive. I’ll reserve comment on those for now in case nothing happens. Remember, he has been looked upon as a basketball God in Milwaukee for the past 13 years. Now he has come down from Mt. Olympus to live among the mortals in Miami. As long as noone forgets he’s a god, things should be just fine.
I do remember of course. I’m just, um, delegating. 🙂
I’m ready to go Ellisberg Jr
By acquiring Giannis’ $58.5M salary plus Bobby Portis’ $14.5M the Heat took on more money than they sent out, so they are hard-capped in the first apron ($209M). Meanwhile, it created a $20M trade exception for Milwaukee, which can be used to take on bad contracts in exchange for additional draft picks.
The combined salaries of Giannis, Bam, Jovic, Portis and Mitchell is $151.1M. That means Miami will be less than $58 million from the first apron with nine or ten more players still needed to fill the roster. Consequently, it limits who they can bring back and who they can afford to recruit.
When you come to think of it, in addition to the four players, four draft picks and pick swaps Miami gave up, it also took on more money than it sent out and got screwed on it’s available cap space. If Riley could have stuck Jovic in the trade too, there would now be more money available to pay Miami’s other players. Oh well.
this is gonna be a vet laden team rather have experienced players with greek and co than rooks
I’m sure we’ll see both.
were gonna be like nyk 1 ss 1 good big surrounded by all vets experience wins in playoffs
Back to betting time. I say Conwell will see minutes and Pelle will play around 22 mpg.
not if middleton hardaway jr grimes holiday is added,when u add a lebron type player the mike millers shane battiers ray allen type players not to far away.$ no $ ellesberg riley and sm will work their magic.milw is now the heat bench we are gonna be south milwaukee expect middleton and holiday in so fla.pat knows if he doesnt get at least one ring this move will be a failure.cuz in 2031 when greek is prob done we will be the miami generals.i will be 74 and our lebron 78.what rookies helped the big 3 out answer 0,rcs new fav conwell should not play if we get the vets i know pat will get us.lgh
I’m not saying he will get much time, and probably none in the beginning of the season, but he will get minutes. Pelle is better already than most of the players we can get. The bet is on.
The HHH tweet saying the Heat will absolutely go after Lebron is hilarious. We don’t have enough for Norm Powell but we’re going after Bron. We’re really having to depend on serious we helped you get your first title feelings so please give us a former hometown discount. Yeesh. I would hate to be the one making that call.
greeks gonna have to take a discount for me to get a ring 4 years 275 4 240 60 mil a year to play bball sht.he will make in one game more than ill make in my sorry career.if he cant give a discount to the heat for me to get my 5th ring hes one selfish person
I think so as well. Right now the FO has Greek and Wiggs on conference call talking about sacrifices for a chip. It would be a second for each and validation. How much do you want it and what are you willing to give up.
I mean if we are taking his friggin brother to cheer the least he could do is at least pay him personally or give some up. lol 😛
i could live a nice life on 1 mil in bank acount 240 mil jeez id be giving $ out.to much to spend even if irs gets 1/2 120 mil come on who needs that much $ i wouldnt know what to do with it
just reference brady and brunson .as prime examples what happens when u give discounts
I am hoping we don’t waste needed roster spots on his brothers.
Well get ready as I’m pretty sure we’ll have a brother cheering alongside the opera lady in the fancy dresses while he’s in a Heat uniform.
Side note, never forget the Zoran.
Yeah, but we got rid of him pretty quickly.
Zoran was one season, I believe.
Had a good career after that, retired last year.
Zoran better than the 3 brothers combined.
Sad but true
Fancy Dress Lady!
A Heat instruction unto herself!!!!
He has three brothers. I hope Riley doesn’t have a side deal with Giannis to extend contracts to one or more of them. The best of the three, Kostas, is 28 years old and has played in the NBA as well as Europe. Kostas was drafted #60 in 2018 by the 76ers. His NBA career lasted from 2018-2021. Following are his career NBA stats.
GP: 22
MPG: 4.0
FG% .375
3PT% 0.0
FT% .474
APG 0.1
RPG 1.0
PPG 1.0
P.S. Her name is Radmila Lolly, she’s a Russian singer and fashion designer. (Ironically, Lolly is my wife’s nickname).
P.S. Brother Thanasis had a 2025-26 contract with the Bucks for $2,874,436. His salary was higher than that of Dru Smith, Keshad Johnson or Pelle Larsson. See his career stats below:
https://www.espn.com/nba/player/stats/_/id/3102533/thanasis-antetokounmpo
Ouch. Sorry, G. We can give your brother a seat close to the bench but not on the bench. 🙂
Maybe stick him in a big power wheelchair with a big DISABLED sign hanging around his neck. That would allow him move freely about the floor, roll up and down the bench talking to coaches and players and listening in on huddles. It could work. I don’t know if both brothers decked out that way would work. Might be too obvious.
Exactly why the Heat need to remain firm on this. Give them, as 2q points out, great floor seats. Buy them an apartment in South Beach. Don’t sign them.
isnt that against the rules? Close to what Kawhi s uncle did?
Yes, it’s probably against the rules.
If one or more brothers get a contract, then you’ll know.
‘Scuse me while I kiss the sky
Unfortunately, unlike the NFL, NBA teams cannot renegotiate existing contracts with players for less money. They can if its for more money. Riley will need to find another solution. See my post below.
I meant for for once the new one kicks in. It will allow to add in consecutive seasons. So reinforcements to defend our title next season 😉
He spent most of his youth in poverty So think about that as a compensation. .
ok hes making american $$ that is ridiculously over priced.if he wants rings hes gonna have to chop that salary .between him wiggins bam theres not enough $$ to get ballers .gonna need some depth to win it all currently dont have it
“You have to give your ss anything he wants. You can give him one of the ships! You have to kiss his azz.”
So, if he wants all that money, you don’t think they should give it to him? Lol!
You can’t have it both ways heat. If Riley was willing to open the bank vault to give Giannis anything he wanted (as you supported), he has to have a plan to put a competitive/contending team together around him. If he didn’t plan that far ahead, its on him.
Unfortunately, contrary to my suggestion yesterday, I’ve since learned an NBA team cannot renegotiate a contract with one (or more) of its players for less money. Unlike NFL teams, an NBA club can’t create extra cap flexibility by renegotiating a contract to push present-day cap hits into future years. However, renegotiations are allowed to make an NBA contract more lucrative.
100% true. However, since Giannis and agent have not negotiated the new extension yet, they can negotiate in July and he could accept a lesser amount for the new contract.
This is what I meant as well.
Miami must wait until Jan 6th.
I was only talking about existing contracts. Then that applies to Wiggins as well. More years for less $ per year.
According to ESPN’s Bobby Marks, Antetokounmpo will be eligible starting Jan. 6, 2027 to sign an extension for four years and $275 million if he opts out or three years and $214 million if he opts in. Meanwhile what?
Jalen Brunson took a historic discount by signing a four-year, $156.5 million contract extension with the New York Knicks. By doing this instead of waiting for free agency to sign a potential five-year, $269 million max deal, he left an estimated $113 million on the table.greeks a better player he will make everybody on the team better except jovic.i have 0 faith in shnozzy.keshad myron are better ballers there from the schoolyard.way more athletic and have street cred
See above.
Timberwolves building a strange team.
Entire roster is basically Guards, with McDaniels and Godbert.
After shedding Randle and Naz Reid, their top 4 of their top 5 returning scorers would be guards, add in Lamelo, and it’s 5 of 6, with only McDaniels in that mix.
and their only draft pick was a guard.
Ha! They are trying to fight fire with fire in the west but the Knicks just beat a team like that.
id rather have reid than ball hog all show ball
This is really confusing. After the Randle trade, the word was they did it to move Reid to starter. Weird.
They are trying to go the way of the Spurs. Wemby & the wings vs Gumby & the wings.
Their had maybe the best PF-Center rotation in the league. Thats totally new direction.
I think I would have made that trade for Miami.
We don’t have a Naz Reid but we do have a first round pick still.
all of these bros can ball for whatever reason some make it some dont i call it the 2q luck factor(desire to be great)
Sam Vecenie: “Conwell gets the most out of what he has through sheer effort and will. Plays with an edge. Chases loose balls. Strong rebounder for a guard. Plays with professionalism and competitiveness.”
Also says he was a late bloomer in HS and not a highly rated college recruit
Fits the Heat’s #1 need after the Giannis trade. Can see the trail 3s in transition now
“Conwell’s best skills are as an off-ball scorer. Moves well without the ball. Constant threat to relocate around the 3-point line if a defender falls asleep. I love how he floats into flares and mini-screens around the perimeter to find space. Can make them going to his right and left. Also lethal as a trailer in transition. Defenses have to find him and get a body on him. Also excellent as a relocation shooter off a one-dribble side step when someone closes out on him”
I watched both late season Cane’s games vs Louisville, an end of the season game and an ACC tourney game. In both games one player on the Cardinals made some late baskets that won the first game and kept the second one close. I think it was the guy we drafted. And some of those baskets were threes.
Our Brunson-lite facsimile. Can shoot but isn’t some athletic flyer, but very strong for his size with no fear. Sign me up for that off the bench on this new version of the Heat roster.
Another great part about this is that Boston had him targeted at 40. That’s twice in one week. Ha!
https://x.com/BradyHawk305/status/2069970827156631957
I asked the Heat’s newest draft pick Ryan Conwell who he watches film on and tries to model his game after:
“Jrue Holiday, Ajay Mitchell, Jalen Brunson, Steph Curry.”
“Those are just a few guys.”
The Holiday name kept coming up, and of course the Brunson comparison is there, both names I like hearing. I’m pumped on this pick. Not that I think he will be a star, but that he will be an important contributor with opportunity and ability to turn into a little more than that, and with the 37th pick, that’s all we can ask for.
Looks like a good complementary piece, a long guard which can shoot.
Another one to root for.
He is a no Jalen Brunson, nor is he a Manu Ginobili, a Marc Garsol, a Khris Middleton, a Carlos Boozer, a Gilbert Arenas, a Kyle Korver.
What these players have in common is being picked in the 2nd round of their draft, became all stars and some won championship rings.
I have faith that in the right setting he can be special.
His ball handling and playmaking skills will improve over time. What he is needed for immediately is his 3 point shooting. If he consistently make 3’s, he should have a chance to come off the bench when instant offense is required.
if if if if i can make my posts more consistently id be sunman
Its cuz I attended special class for 3 years. Helmet, short yellow bus, the works.