By the nature of their roster composition, the Miami Heat hardly have been replete in recent seasons with dynamic athleticism.
From Jimmy Butler’s ground-bound game, to the mid-post game of Bam Adebayo, to the lack of strong finishing from Tyler Herro and Terry Rozier, athletic highlights have been limited.
That, however, appears to be changing.
First, there was the appearance by 2023 first-round pick Jaime Jaquez Jr in last season’s dunk contest during All-Star Weekend, and now there is the arrival of undrafted prospect Keshad Johnson, the forward out of Arizona who has been signed to a two-way contract.
And what Johnson did to end the third period of the Heat’s Saturday victory over the Boston Celtics at the Las Vegas Summer League was nothing short of filthy and frightening.
With 3.9 seconds left in the third period, Johnson came up with a steal in the defensive paint against former Heat two-way player Drew Peterson, motored the length of the court, and finished with such ferocity with five-tenths of a second to play in the quarter that 6-foot-6, 225-pound forward drew a combination of gasps and roars from the crowd in the gym at UNLV.
“I loved it, and a really thunderous message at the end of a quarter,” said Heat assistant Dan Bisaccio, who is guiding the team’s summer roster. “Our staff has been on me. … It’s very funny, this happened in practice the other day. I thought we were taking too many layups. And so our staff said, ‘You gotta make ’em dunk it.’
“And so we just kind of put an emphasis at practice on a couple of plays like, ‘Hey, just dunk it. Whatever you have to do, just dunk it. I don’t want to see any of these layups, floaters, come in there and dunk it.’ And you know what? It translated pretty well.”
Johnson closed the 119-114 victory with 10 points, including a 3-pointer, five rebounds and two assists, with the Heat next in action at summer league on Monday at 6 p.m. Eastern against the Oklahoma City Thunder (ESPNU).
Johnson broke down the play after the Heat’s Sunday practice at their team hotel.
“First of all, I know there was time on the clock,” he said. “When I got the ball, I looked at the clock, there were four seconds.”
He said Brian Dutcher, his coach during his time at San Diego State, set the standard of no more than one dribble per second left on the clock.
“So I knew I had about four more dribbles,” Johnson said. “I took the first dribble, I had momentum that I could make it all the way down the court. Then kept it, and I just took off.”
Surprising many, but not himself — not a player who has Showtime as part of his social-media handle.
“I really go on instincts,” he said. “I’ve done stuff like that my whole life. So it’s not really surprising at this stage. It’s the adrenaline. And that’s why I’m Showtime, that’s why I’m Showtime. I just put on the show and give myself the energy.”
For all that Johnson showed during his time at San Diego State and Arizona, from his scoring to his rebounding to his defense, ballhandling was a bit of a red flag with scouts.
“I’m comfortable in transition when I’ve got the ball,” Johnson said Sunday. “I can always push the ball. I feel very comfortable with my handle, dribbling coast to coast and everything like that. I just know my role. I don’t need to go out there, go between the legs, none of that stuff. I just need to get from Point A to Point B, let everybody handle the rest.”
If you didn’t know better, you might have thought undrafted rookie Isaiah Stevens was a polished veteran based on the way he deftly guided the Miami Heat through Saturday’s victory over the Boston Celtics at the NBA Summer League.
Jaime Jaquez Jr, Kel’el Ware and Isaiah Stevens put up quality numbers as the Miami Heat open the Las Vegas portion of their summer schedule.
An argument could be made that Cole Swider outperformed his contract based on his torrid 3-point shooting in the first of the Heat’s two summer leagues. The problem is that he doesn’t have a contract.
Discussion about this post