What will Heat’s summer league team look like? A look at the undrafted players on roster

The Miami Heat did not make a pick Thursday night, but the front office was busy in the hours following the draft combing through the undrafted pool of players.

With the Heat’s summer league team expected to begin practicing in Sacramento in the coming days before playing its first game as part of the California Classic on Tuesday, the organization spent Friday building a 15-man summer roster that still remains fluid.

NBA Draft ends without a Miami Heat pick. Next up: Free agency and summer league

The Heat opens summer league in Sacramento at Golden 1 Center with matchups against the Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday at 8 p.m. (ESPN2) and Golden State Warriors on Wednesday at 8 p.m. (ESPNU).

Miami will then, like every NBA team, play five games in the Las Vegas Summer league that will be held from Aug. 8-17. The Heat’s Las Vegas schedule: vs. Denver Nuggets on Aug. 8 at 10 p.m. (NBA TV), vs. Memphis Grizzlies on Aug. 11 at 5 p.m. (NBA TV), vs. Utah Jazz on Aug. 13 at 5 p.m. (ESPNU), vs. Atlanta Hawks on Aug. 14 at 4 p.m. (ESPN2), and the fifth game will either be played on Aug. 16 or 17 with the opponent and game time determined later.

Max Strus, who spent last season as one of the Heat’s two-way contract players, and Omer Yurtseven, who signed a non-guaranteed deal with the Heat in the final days of this past regular season, will be on the Heat’s summer league team.

And the trio of Precious Achiuwa, KZ Okpala and Gabe Vincent is expected to join Miami’s summer league team in the coming days after Nigeria’s Olympic run came to an end early Saturday morning. Nigeria, which featured the Heat trio, did not advance past the group stage, as the African country dropped all three games it played in Tokyo.

The Heat filled the rest of its summer league roster with undrafted prospects, with the Miami Herald confirming the names of 10 undrafted players who have agreed to play for Miami this summer: Mississippi State guard Tyson Carter, Kansas guard Marcus Garrett, Houston guard DeJon Jarreau, South Carolina guard AJ Lawson, TCU guard RJ Nembhard, Wisconsin center Micah Potter, LSU guard Javonte Smart, Missouri guard Dru Smith, Arkansas forward Justin Smith and Mississippi State guard D.J. Stewart.

Garrett, Potter and Nembhard reportedly signed Exhibit 10 contracts with the Heat, which includes an invitation to training camp and can be converted to a two-way deal.

Exhibit 10 deals are limited to a $50,000 bonus and leave the option open for players to eventually join the Heat’s G League affiliate, the Sioux Falls Skyforce, even if they’re waived before the start of the regular season. Exhibit 10 deals do not count against the salary cap or hard cap.

The Heat’s two two-way contract slots for next season have not been filled yet. Strus and Vincent, who are both impending free agents, were Miami’s two-way contract players last season.

Assistant coach Malik Allen will serve as the Heat’s summer league head coach this year.

Here’s a look at the undrafted prospects who have agreed to play for the Heat’s summer league team:

▪ Tyson Carter, Mississippi State (Greece): After going undrafted out of Mississippi State in 2020, the 6-4, 193-pound guard spent last season playing in Greece. Carter, 23, averaged a team-high 13.8 points on 52.4 percent shooting from the field and 42.1 percent (53 of 126) shooting from three-point range to go with 3.3 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 1.2 steals in 33 games overseas. As a college senior, became the first Mississippi State player to be named SEC Sixth Man of the Year.

▪ Marcus Garrett, Kansas: The 6-5, 205-pound guard agreed to an Exhibit 10 contract with the Heat, according to ESPN. He averaged 11 points while shooting 45.9 percent from the field and 34.8 percent on threes, 4.6 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 1.6 steals in 29 games as a senior last season. Garrett, 22, was named to the All-Big 12 Second Team. He earned a strong defensive reputation in college, as he was voted to the Big 12 All-Defensive Team in each of his final three seasons at Kansas and finished as a Naismith Defensive Player of the Year semifinalist last season. As a junior, Garrett (6-10 wingspan) was named the Naismith and ESPN.com Defensive Player of the Year and Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year.

“Garrett is a ferocious and aggressive perimeter defender who asserted himself as one of the best defenders in the nation throughout his career for the Jayhawks,” NBADraft.net’s scouting report on Garrett reads.

▪ DeJon Jarreau, Houston: The 6-5, 185-pound guard averaged 10.6 points while shooting 43.2 percent from the field and 34.4 percent on threes, 5.4 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 1.3 steals in 31 games as a redshirt senior last season. He led the team with 133 assists, becoming only the eighth player in school history with three 100-assist seasons during his career. Jarreau, 23, was named the American Athletic Conference Defensive Player of the Year and was voted to the All-American Athletic Conference Second Team. He played through a painful hip injury to finish with 17 points, five rebounds, two assists and a blocked shot in a second-round win over Rutgers in the NCAA Tournament. Jarreau began his college career at UMass before transferring to Houston.

▪ AJ Lawson, South Carolina: The 6-6, 177-pound Canadian guard averaged 16.6 points on 39.4 percent shooting from the field and 35.1 percent shooting from three-point range, 4.1 rebounds, 1.2 assists and 1.5 steals in 21 games as a junior last season. Lawson, 21, earned a combine invite after an impressive showing at the NBA G League Elite camp. His athleticism was on display at the combine, ranking fourth among guards in both max vertical leap and standing vertical and second in the shuttle run.

“You’re not getting a better human being. I’m not saying that to diminish his basketball talent,” South Carolina coach Frank Martin said. “At the end of the day, his work ethic, honesty and commitment are part of who he is as a human being and who we are as a teammate; his willingness to accept what you ask him to take on and willingness to not run away from responsibility. That’s everything you get with him and he’s a real good basketball player.”

▪ RJ Nembhard, TCU: The 6-5, 200-pound guard agreed to an Exhibit 10 contract with the Heat, according to South Florida based-agent Seth Cohen. Nembhard, 22, averaged 15.7 points while shooting 40 percent from the field and 33.9 percent on threes, 4.3 rebounds and four assists in 24 games as a junior last season. He ranked second in the Big 12 with 34.9 minutes played per game and was named to the All-Big 12 Third Team. His father, Ruben Nembhard, played one season in the NBA, spending time with the Utah Jazz and Portland Trail Blazers during the 1996-97 season.

“With a 6’5 frame and long arms (6’9.5), Nembhard’s draft stock is built around his playmaking ability and excellent size for an NBA point/combo guard,” NBADraft.net’s scouting report on Nembhard reads. “… His length and strength should help him play either guard position, and can even shift to small forward in a pinch. ... Nembhard must improve as a shooter, hitting just 33.9 percent of his threes and 29.6 percent of his two-point jumpers.”

▪ Micah Potter, Wisconsin: The 6-10 center agreed to an Exhibit 10 contract with the Heat, according to Michael Scotto from HoopsHype. He averaged 12.6 points on 50 percent shooting from the field and 37.8 percent (37 of 98) shooting from three-point range to go with 6.1 rebounds and 1.4 assists in 30 games as a redshirt senior last season. Potter, 23, arrived at Wisconsin after playing 59 games over two seasons at Ohio State. While Potter was not invited to the NBA combine, he did take part in the Tampa Bay Pro Combine in June. He averaged 17.8 points while shooting 52 percent from the floor at the event., and he was named to the all-tournament team after scoring 30 points in the final game of the combine.

“I’m a mobile big, who has a high motor, can play inside and out and score at all three levels,” Potter said to Rookie Wire when asked to describe his game. “I can post up. I’d say I set great screens, getting other people open whether it’d be ball screens or off-ball situations. Being able to pop or roll or make the right play; that’s something I want to do.”

▪ Javonte Smart, LSU: The 6-4, 205-pound guard turned in his best college season in his final college season. Smart, 22, averaged 16 points, 3.7 rebounds, four assists and 1.3 steals in 28 games as a junior last season. He also shot 40.2 percent from three-point range, the best mark in the SEC, and made 70 threes, second most in the SEC. Smart also ranked fifth in the SEC in assist-to-turnover ratio at 1.52 and led the conference in minutes played at 35.3 minutes per game. Those numbers were good enough to earn a spot on the All-SEC Second Team. He is the cousin of Keith Smart, who was a Heat assistant coach on Erik Spoelstra’s staff from 2014-16. Smart spent part of the pre-draft process working out with retired NBA and former Heat player Mike Miller.

“I think I don’t play like anybody,” Smart said to Rookie Wire when asked to describe his game. “I can score the ball, but I’m not selfish so I try to playmake for others. I think I’m a playmaker, and I like to create for others. I also like to guard and play defense. ... I think I can play defense really good so I think defense, playmaking and being able to shoot are my strengths.”

▪ Dru Smith, Missouri: The 6-3, 203-pound guard averaged 14.1 points while shooting 44.4 percent from the field and 38.3 percent from three-point range, 3.5 rebounds, 3.9 assists and two steals in 25 games as a redshirt senior. Smith, who played his first two years of college basketball at the University of Evansville, led Missouri in scoring, assists and steals last season. While Smith, 23, emerged as a top scoring option at Missouri, he’s known as a strong defender with his impressive 6-8 wingspan.

▪ Justin Smith, Arkansas: The 6-7, 230-pound forward averaged 13.6 points on 54.5 percent shooting from the field and 21.7 percent shooting from three-point range, 7.3 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 1.2 steals in 28 games. Smith, 22, injured his right ankle in late December and was forced to undergo surgery on Jan. 1 before returning to the lineup 15 days later. The Razorbacks were just 1-3 without him in the lineup and 24-4 with him available. Smith played his first three college seasons at Indiana but spent his senior year at Arkansas as a graduate transfer after graduating in just three years from Indiana’s Kelley School of Business.

▪ D.J. Stewart, Mississippi State: The 6-6, 205-pound guard averaged 16 points while shooting 41 percent from the field and 34.4 percent on threes, 3.4 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 1.4 steals in 33 games as a redshirt sophomore last season. Voted by the coaches to the All-SEC second team, the 22-year-old played 1,155 minutes last season, 73 more than any other SEC player.

“Has great size for a wing at 6’6”, 205 lbs and a massive 7-foot wingspan, and 8’9″ standing reach,” NBADraft.net’s scouting report on Stewart reads. “… Has excellent versatility with length on the defensive end and playmaking ability on the offensive side.”