Pat Riley & The Miami Heat NEED To Make This Move!

Pat Riley & The Miami Heat NEED To Make This Move!

[Music] Pat Riley and the Miami Heat. They have a very simple task here in my opinion, but they need to make this very simple move after the Heat summer league is concluded. What is that move? Well, it’s actually just to give out a two-way contract to Eric Stevenson. I am Nick Brol. This is the Heat Report by Chat Sports. But I don’t think anyone can downplay the fact that this year’s summer league was a massive disappointment when you look at last year’s and how fun we had with Josh Christopher, Isaiah Stevens, KL Wear, Kashad Johnson, Kel Larson when the Heat won the entire thing. Well, this year wasn’t the case, but I do think there was enough of a bright spot with Eric Stevenson to greenlight the idea of giving him a two-way contract. But I do want to give some shout outs to the first commenter club yesterday’s video. These were the first five comments I saw. Shout out David, Jolly Green, D Money, Jake Smith, and TSAB. Shout out to the five of y’all. I don’t know if y’all have your notifications turned on, but if you potentially want to get a shout out in the future and be a part of the first commenter club, make sure you subscribe and make sure you turn on notifications so you never miss a video we put out because they are coming out daily. All right, let’s talk about Eric Stevenson now because when you go back just a year ago, you had three two-way contracts. You had Kashad Johnson, Isaiah Stevens, and Josh Christopher. Well, now Kashad Johnson got his standard deal, so he is under contract. Isaiah Stevens signed a two-way with the Kings and Josh Christopher is no longer with this Miami Heat organization. Duncan Robinson went to the Detroit Pistons this off season in a signing trade. So, you lost two two-way players. You lost one of your best shooters, your best shooter probably, and Duncan Robinson. You need another shooter in the system because that’s what Josh Christopher provided as well. Well, I think Eric Stevenson could provide that. And he showed me a lot of nice things during summer league. You look at his summer for Miami where he appeared in seven games, two games in the California Classic, and five summer league games. Well, he was very consistent in shooting the three. He shot 50% from beyond the ark in both the summer league and the California Classic while also shooting four three-point attempts a game. And it’s not like he only shot threes. Like he was able to utilize his three-point leverage and get a back cut to the rim for an easy layup or get out in transition. He did average double digit points per game in each of the two kind of summer league leagues, if you will. The dude is an absolute sniper. I mean, this is what his calling card was when he was at college. It’s what his calling card is in the NBA. And we know one thing, folks. If you can shoot the pill, you will find a roster spot in the NBA, at least to some capacity. We saw it with Cole Swider. We saw it with Max Stru, Duncan Robinson, and then those elite level players that are able to keep a rotation spot and make a lot of money like Strus and Duncan have the ability to find other ways to impact the game. Duncan, it was his gravity into playmaking. Stress, it’s his defense. Could Stephvenson potentially do the same thing? I mean, it remains to be seen, but I wouldn’t hate giving him a shot. And if you don’t know who Eric Stevenson is, well, let’s inform you a little bit more. spent five years in college, couple years at Witchah State, couple years at Washington, South Carolina, and then he finished up his career at West Virginia. He then went undrafted in the 2023 NBA draft and has been in the GLeague for the past two seasons playing for the Spurs affiliate, Mavericks affiliate, and then most recently this year for the Washington Wizards affiliate. Also funny, in between that time span, he actually went overseas to play for Cholette for a little bit before coming back to the GLeague. Now, this past season for the Washington Wizards, he was with their G-League affiliate, but he also signed a 10-day contract with the Wizards February 18th. Now, he did not appear in any of those games in that 10day span for the Wizards, and then it was just sent back down to the G-League affiliate. I think it’s the go-go Wizards or whatever it is. But either way, he was actually on the Wizards NBA roster at least for a couple games this past February. So, the Wizards thought about giving him a chance. Could Miami do the same? More conversation to come here, but early call. Let me hear it. Would you sign Eric Stevenson to a two-way contract? Type S for sign, type P for pass. Pin comment on today’s show to go down and answer the question. I think it’s important to educate people on the two-way situation for Miami if you are not aware right now. Right now, Miami only has one two-way player. You are allowed three in the offseason and during the regular season. So, there are two open slots to give out a two-way contract. Here is where things stand. So, technically, they do have two open spots. Vladen is the one lock and one person under two-way right now. But Drew Smith is basically back on a two-way, which means we really only have one spot available. And why do I say Drew Smith is going to get that two-way contract? Because we have seen it be been reported by Barry Jackson and other people who cover the Miami Heat that by all accounts, it’s pretty much a lock that the Heat will bring Drew Smith back on a two-way deal. They were just giving Drew the potential option to sign a standard contract with another team. That did not come. It does not look like that will happen. So, Drew Smith will be back on the Heat with a two-way deal. And sidebar, and we’re going to turn this into a quick Drew Smith discussion. I don’t mind you coming back. Which, by the way, is a complete 180 from what we did a year ago at this time to when I was furious when the Heat gave Drew Smith a two-way contract again because Drew Smith before last season was one of the most annoying and worst basketball players that I have ever seen. But we have consistently heard, “Oh, the Heat really liked Drew Smith. Miami likes what he could bring to the table.” And we were driving ourselves mad thinking, why? Well, we finally saw what the Heat saw in the 14 games he played for Miami last season. In those 14 regular season games, he was averaging six points a game, about two rebounds, one and a half assists, one and a half steals while shooting 50% from the field and 53% from three. Drew Smith was an absolute menace on the defensive end of the floor. He was getting his hands in the passing lanes consistently. Played excellent defense in a November game against the New York Knicks, stripping Jaylen Brunson multiple times. Like this was before we officially chocked it up to where to Tara Rosier was washed and cooked. And we were saying they should be playing Drew Smith over Tara Rosier. Now, as the season went along, it was evident that Rosier just lost it. But early in the season, before we came to that realization, I wanted Drew Smith to play more than Rosier because that’s how good he was in those 14 games before he suffered his season ending injury to his lower body. We’ll see if he’s going to be able to return. He’s dealt with injuries a couple years. But if he’s able to come back and rehab and play well again on a two-way deal, could really benefit the Heat. Make sure you are subscribed to the channel for daily content. And like I said earlier, make sure your notifications turned on because videos are coming every single day. And if you never want to miss a piece of content we put out, subscribe and turn on notifications. All right, that will end the sidebar on Drew Smith, though. I am not mad about him coming back. Let’s get back to Eric Stevenson. Now, we showed his summer league stats, but now I want to look at his career G-League numbers. Stevenson’s G-League numbers are just simply not as good as the summer league numbers. because he did appear in 62 games, which the G-League season isn’t as long, so it’s not the biggest deal. Um, but he has a lot of gravity and that’s something we talk a lot about with Duncan Robinson, with Tyler Herro as a shooter is like when you have that type of gravity as a shooter, you have to force people to come defend you, which frees up your teammates, which is why him averaging 3.1 assists, what might feel wrong to some people and way too high of a number, it’s actually what he did average in those 62 games. Now, the three-point percent is a little bit down, but I do have to imagine if he’s playing alongside real NBA standard contracts, some of those looks would be a little bit more open and he would be able to put up a better percentage. And I know a lot of people are going to look at me and say, “Eric Stevenson’s 26. Why would you want to give a 26-y old a two-way contract and you want to go young?” I understand that. But Miami has never shied away from giving out two-way contracts to older players in the past. And we don’t have to look that far in the past to come to this realization. Let’s just look over the last six or seven years. Duncan Robinson was given a two-way contract initially in 2018. He was 24 years old. Max Struce was given his two-way contract at 24. Vincent at 23. and Caleb Martin, although they gave him a two-way deal after he spent a year or so with the Charlotte Hornets, was 25. So, Eric Stevenson getting a two-way contract this year with the Miami Heat at 26, I do not think is out of the ordinary by any stretch of the imagination. And these four, by the way, turned out to be pretty good for the Miami Heat. So, just because he’s 26 doesn’t mean that I would not be giving him a two-way deal. If you think he can play, if you think he can develop in his in your system, well, let’s give it a shot because the way he looked off the ball and as a three-point shooter reminded me a lot of Max Truce, to be honest, and it might just be the facial hair and haircut combination, but it did look pretty similar, and I think a lot of people picked up on that as well. We’re rounding out the show here in a second, but I got to let you know that this crazy sweatshirt sale is still going on. Not many sizes left though, I’ll be honest. only small, medium, and largest. But I still did want to inform the fans that this is still available for $35, usually 69. Go to chatports.com/vale. Links in the description and comments of today’s video. And when we talk about the two-way positions, it’s not like there are better options out there. Like, I wish there were. I wish I was able to really have to debate in my mind what players I would like to give a two-way contract to, but the truth is Miami has two spots to fill. I know Drew Smith is going to be one of them, but it’s not like there’s a lot of competition for the other one. Like the only other players that I would consider from this Heat Summer League squad would be Javvante Cook or Myron Gardner. Gardner really didn’t play until the final two Heat Summer League games where he did average 17 points in those two outings. Now, Javvante Cook had a couple good performances, couple down performances, struggled with a shot from beyond the arc in Las Vegas, but shot it well in the California Classic. So, like both guys show you something. But when I’m thinking about who can translate to the NBA and actually be a rotational player, I’m more likely to think it’s going to be Eric Stevenson. And why is that? It’s because he is a specialist. He has a carved out role as a three-point shooter. What would these two players roles be? So that’s why I lean Stevenson if you were trying to find someone to have a two-way contract from this Heat summer league squad. Now, I would say this as well. I wouldn’t hate getting another big man in the two-way system. I know we have Vlad Golden and I know Golden played well in the final couple summer league games in Las Vegas, but leading up to those final two games, he was very, very underwhelming and I was a little bit disappointed with what Vlad Golden provided Miami. So, he doesn’t give me the most confidence in the world when it comes to his ability to become a rotational player for Miami. So maybe the Heat could look to give a two-way contract to a current free agent. Someone that isn’t on a two-way deal, but played for a different team in the summer league. Like that is certainly an option as well. It doesn’t have to be someone from the Heat summer league roster. They could steal someone from the Kings or the Hornets summer league roster as long as they’re not on a two-way contract right now. Who, let me know, drop your take. Who should get the final two-way contract for Miami? I’m gonna slot in Golden and Drew Smith. So, who should get that final two-way deal? Should it be Stephenson? Should it be another player? Let me know your thoughts. And we’re gonna round out the show here and I’m gonna go back to my point about the big man. I am really disappointed and I really wish that we saw more from the other two big men on this Heat Summer League roster, Omar Balo and Dane Danja. Danja gave you a lot of good things in spurt moments, but his conditioning was horrific and his foot speed was terrible defensively to where I don’t really know if he could ever find a role in the NBA. To me, he is much more similar to Kenny Loftton. Um, the big fella that has been in the G-League for a while, but he just can’t play in the NBA, but could be a G-League legend. and Balo didn’t provide anything either, even though he’s a really big body and he was a highly touted recruit playing for Arizona and Indiana at the collegiate level. Wish I saw more from those two, but not the case. That’ll do it for today’s show. Appreciate everybody for hanging in here and watching us. We’re going to continue to have you lined up with content the rest of the week in the offseason. So, subscribe to the channel and join the family here at the Heat Report. [Music]

NBA Summer League wrapped up this weekend, and the Heat summer league roster was a little disappointing. One player wasn’t a disappointment, Erik Stevenson. Miami Heat Report host Nic Rohloff is clamoring for Heat president Pat Riley to sign Erik Stevenson to a two-way contract! Stevenson shot 50% from three in the seven games he appeared in, spanning from Vegas Summer League to the California Classic. The Miami Heat roster has two two-way contracts available, as Vlad Goldin is the only current player with a two-way contract. Nic takes a look at who performed well for the Heat in summer league and breaks down the top Miami Heat rumors and Heat news!

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Erik Stevenson Miami Heat Summer League stats:
California Classic (2 GP): 10.0 PPG, 3.5 RPG, 40.0 FG%, 50.0 3P%, 4.0 3PA
Vegas Summer League (5 GP): 10.6 PPG, 3.8 RPG, 44.7 FG%, 50.0 3P%, 4.8 3PA

Erik Stevenson spent five seasons playing college basketball. Stevenson played for Wichita State, Washington, South Carolina, and West Virginia. After going undrafted in 2023, Stevenson has bounced around the NBA G League. He has played for the Spurs, Mavericks, and Wizards G League affiliates.

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Erik Stevenson career G League stats:
12.3 PPG, 3.5 RPG, 3.1 APG, 42.6 FG%, 34.4 3P%

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Dru Smith Heat stats in 2024-25:
6.2 PPG, 1.5 SPG, 50.8 FG%, 53.3 3P%

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– Would you sign Erik Stevenson? Type ‘S’ for Sign or ‘P’ for Pass
– Who should get a two-way contract on the Heat roster?

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