One of the nice surprises of the regular season, the Heat regained the top spots in the Eastern Conference this year after missing the Playoffs last year. A return to light made possible, of course, thanks to the arrival of Jimmy Butler or the progression of Bam Adebayo, but also a core of high-performance youngsters symbolized by Kendrick Nunn, an undrafted rookie who had a very good campaign. Proof once again that the Heat has one of the best training centers in the entire NBA.
In the race for Rookie of the Year this season, we didn’t really expect to see Kendrick Nunn’s blaze appear. Well yes, it’s still very rare to see an undrafted and sponsored G League guy get involved in the battle for the title of best rookie. But if Ja Morant quickly widened the gap on the competition and Zion Williamson immediately showed that the enormous hype placed in him was justified, Nunn has always been part of the landscape, he who is gone at top speed before maintaining a good production as a starter on the Heat’s backcourt. 62 games played, 62 games in the five, 29.8 minutes per night, 15.6 points on average at 44.8% in shooting including 36.2% from far and 83.7% in free throws. For a guy nobody wanted in the Draft in 2018, we can say that’s pretty good. So certainly, he had still shown himself to his advantage at the lower echelons. Second leading NCAA scorer behind Trae Young during his season senior at the small University of Oakland in Michigan, he always had great scoring skills, which we then saw in the G League with the Santa Cruz Warriors. And if he was not drafted, it is partly because of slippages off the field. But still, not many people saw in him a guy capable of really contributing at the highest level. It was then that the Heat, interested in his profile and his potential, decided to sign him in April 2019 on the last day of the regular, after having watched him for a good part of the season. What followed was a big Summer League, a promising pre-season and therefore a successful rookie campaign.
According to Barry Jackson of Miami Herald, another team was interested in Nunn’s services at the end of the 2018-19 season, but he ultimately opted for Miami. What made the difference? The ability of the Florida franchise to develop youngsters. We can say that he made the right choice because once again, we saw how the Heat could transform a raw prospect into a real NBA player who contributes to the success of a team. Nunn is the result of a solid structure, an efficient training center, an environment conducive to the progress of young people. We often talk about this Heat culture, symbolized by the big boss Pat Riley and the excellent coach Erik Spoelstra. This culture where essential aspects such as teamwork, hardness, defense are taught as a priority, and where you work extremely hard to be able to achieve the always high objectives of this ambitious franchise. Without a doubt, Miami is one of the benchmarks in terms of development, like other franchises like the Raptors or the Thunder.
“There’s a long line of undrafted Heat players who have come through our development program, and he’s next. He has talent, he has a great work ethic. […] He’s not stunned by the expectations or spotlight of this franchise.”
– Erik Spoelstra on Kendrick Nunn before the start of the season, via NBA.com.
We are talking about a benchmark franchise because Kendrick Nunn is far from being an isolated case. Each franchise can achieve a good result on a misunderstanding, but it is more difficult to be recognized as an excellent training center throughout the League. This season alone, the Heat have been able to rock thanks to an army of young performers. Besides Nunn, the progression of 22-year center Bam Adebayo – All-Star for the first time in his career this year – is probably the most spectacular, but let’s not forget Duncan Robinson, Tyler Herro and Derrick Jones Jr., even Chris Silva. If the potential of Herro was recognized, he who was drafted in 13th choice by Miami in 2019, Robinson and DJJ were never selected in the Draft and are today elements that count in the rotation of coach Spo. The first, who passed through Sioux Falls Skyforce in the G League last year, is a real sniper who won his starting spot at the Heat with more than 13 points per game (at 45% of the parking lot!) in 30 minutes of play. As for the second, who also went through the development league in Phoenix then Miami, he made a name for himself in South Beach by bringing home a trophy for best dunker but also by contributing on the courts, most often at the exit of bench (8.9 points and 4.2 rebounds at 51.4% shooting, in 24.5 minutes). These little ones, they follow the famous line mentioned by Spoelstra. A line embodied by the local hero Udonis Haslemundrafted in 2002, and other players like Tyler Johnson and Rodney McGruder.
If Pat Riley has never been one to rebuild via the Draft or to put in place a long-term plan to hope to find the heights, the Heat is undoubtedly one of the best franchises in the NBA in terms of development. young players. The 2019-20 season, with Kendrick Nunn and the others, is there to testify to that. And then hey, we’re still talking about an organization that revealed a guy like Hassan Whiteside to the eyes of the whole world. Had to do it.