Career stats with Miami: 202 GP, 14.4 PPG, 4.8 APG, 3.8 RPG, 1.0 SPG, 0.4 BPG, 45.1 FG%, 34.6 3FG%, 80.2 FT%
With Douglas heading into restricted free agency in 1991, the Heat gave themselves a backup plan by selecting 6’7″ combo guard Steve Smith with the No. 5 overall pick in that year’s draft.
In Douglas’ absence, Smith moved into Miami’s starting lineup from day one, beginning his NBA career with a 24-point, six-rebound, five-assist outing against the New York Knicks in his regular-season debut. He finished his rookie season having averaged 12.0 points and a team-high 4.6 assists across 61 outings, 59 of which he started.
As the Heat weighed how to end Douglas’ holdout, Smith showed enough flashes to give them confidence in riding him moving forward.
“The biggest reason that NBA observers consider the future of the Heat to be hot is the presence of a quarterback whose size, talent and unselfishness is evocative of another Michigan State product, Magic Johnson,” Sports Illustrated‘s Jack McCallum wrote in mid-January 1992.
Injuries limited Smith to only 48 games a sophomore, but he bumped his averages to 16.0 points on 45.1 percent shooting, 5.6 assists and 4.1 rebounds when he was healthy enough to suit up. The following season, he wound up averaging 17.3 points on 45.6 percent shooting — each of which were his career best to date — to go with 5.1 assists and 4.5 rebounds in 35.6 minutes per game.
The Heat wound up sending Smith with Grant Long and their 1996 second-round draft pick to the Atlanta Hawks for Kevin Willis and a 1996 first-round draft pick. Less than a year later, Miami hired Pat Riley as its team president and head coach, which set the stage for the team’s success over the past two-plus decades.
Next: No. 4