Keshad Johnson, Isaiah Stevens are dominating in Sioux Falls

While the 2024-25 NBA Season is nearly a month old–how time flies!–the G-League tip-off-tournament tipped off just over a week ago!

The Sioux Falls Skyforce, the Miami Heat’s G-League affiliate, is currently 3-2, including a three-game win streak after two consecutive losses to the Iowa Wolves (Minnesota) to begin the campaign.

There are a handful of legitimate takeaways you could have after, well, a handful of games. Though the dominance of a pair of Summer League favorites–undrafted rookies Keshad Johnson and Isaiah Stevens–rightfully tops all of them.

So far, Johnson has been Sioux Falls’ best player on both ends of the court. The lengthy, springy 6-foot-7 wing has averaged 20.2 points, 9.8 rebounds, 1.8 assists, 2.2 steals and 0.8 blocks across 34.7 minutes per game. He got off to a hot start shooting from deep, but has unfortunately regressed to just 4-of-18 (22.2 percent) from 3-point range while shooting 51.6 percent inside-the-arc and 13-of-19 (68.4 percent) from the free-throw line.

Sioux Falls has experimented with Johnson as a small-ball 5 with center Malik Williams on the AmeriCup roster, and the results have been promising. Most of all, the exact traits we were enamored with over the summer–his defensive versatility, nonstop motor and hyperathletic finishes in (semi) transition–have borne fruit through five games. Thus, making him an intriguing player not only to eventually earn a standard contract, but earn legitimate rotation minutes with the Heat.

The swing skill with Johnson will be his 3-point shot, which hasn’t been consistent.

His form, however, has improved since his days at San Diego State, where he never built the confidence to consistently shoot it. In his lone season at Arizona, he converted 38.7 percent of his 2.6 triple tries; in six Summer League before suffering an ankle injury, he was 7-of-18 (38.9 percent) from distance, even flashing a 1-2-dribble pull-up in the mid-range despite possessing below-average handle.

Stevens continues to be everything as advertised–which is why I campaigned for him to earn a two-way contract in mid-July. He was one of the best floor generals in the country exiting Colorado State and that has continued during both Summer League and in Sioux Falls.

He’s averaging 15.0 points, 9.2 assists, four rebounds and 1.6 steals on 54.3 percent shooting and 35.0 percent from 3-point range across 37.4 minutes per game. He’s already posted a pair of double-double outings, including a 21-point, 10-assist, zero-turnover outing on 5-of-9 shooting against the Cleveland Charge on Nov. 15.

There’s not a better pure point guard in the Heat system than Stevens. Those players don’t grow on trees; it’s a dying skill set in the NBA, and one the Heat need.

There have been times when he’s struggled to find where to get his shot against bigger athletes, but Stevens has long possessed the ability to properly pick his spots to be aggressive without disrupting the rest of the offense. His keen ability to simultaneously make multiple live-ball ball reads and execute them flawlessly allows the offense to flow.

Others that have impressed were late Heat signee Nassir Little; Zyon Pullin is slowly, but surely finding his groove after an unfortunate Summer League while Caleb Daniels continues to perfect the little things that don’t always show in the box score. It’s been up-and-down for two-way guard Josh Christopher, but I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention he was second on the team in scoring with 19.8 points per game.

What do you think about Keshad Johnson and Isaiah Stevens’ performances through five games? Let us know in the comments!

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