The Miami Heat are in the Giannis Antetokounmpo era, and that means it's all hands on deck to win a championship right now. The Heat's roster is far from complete, but there are some clear areas for improvement. High among them is the guard depth — or, lack thereof. With limited financial flexibility, Miami entered the summer needing to find help wherever it could get it.
Fortunately, this is exactly what the Heat do. For the last decade, they've been masterful at discovering diamonds in the rough and developing them into rotation fixtures. With 19 points apiece in their 2026 Las Vegas Summer League debuts, Ryan Conwell and Jahmir Young have both proven to be candidates to continue that legacy.
The fit next to Giannis is clear
The Heat need a select set of skills from their guards if their build around Giannis is to work. Competent shooting on and off the ball is a must, and there has to be major buy-in on defense. As they've fought for their place in the league as undrafted players, Conwell and Young have both shown they can fit in.
Conwell is a confident and deadly shooter who commands attention with or without the ball. Instead of pounding the air out of the ball, Conwell's comfortable running off of screens for movement threes or cutting into open space when opponents overplay him. If teams sag off of him to wall Giannis off of the rim, he has the skill set to make them pay.
On the other hand, Young is a shifty operator in the middle of the floor, with a bursty first step and enough of a jumper to keep defenses honest. He likes to dribble more than Conwell, but it gets him to areas of the floor that compromise defenses or beat them as a shotmaker. Young can create his own shot on the perimeter, but he's also shown an ability to cut off the ball for open looks.
Young and Conwell both compete on defense, too — if they keep that up, they'll give themselves a chance to play. Their size presents some limitations, but Conwell compensates with a strong frame, and Young's wingspan and athleticism give him a shot to be disruptive.
Miami's done this many times before
The Heat have to be pleased with what they've seen from Conwell and Young, but they'd be just the latest in a long line of development success stories that elevated South Beach if they pan out. At this point, it's an established competitive advantage.
It can be traced all the way back to the post-LeBron era, when Hassan Whiteside broke out from overseas journeyman to All-Defense stalwart as they developed players like Josh Richardson and Tyler Johnson into legitimate NBA rotation players. Once Jimmy Butler arrived (ironically, in exchange for Richardson), the Heat turned it into overdrive.
Heat fans know the names well. There are almost too many to count. Duncan Robinson. Max Strus. Gabe Vincent. Kendrick Nunn. Haywood Highsmith. All undrafted gems that contributed to runs to the NBA Finals this decade. Many of them spent multiple years playing in the Summer League for Miami as they blossomed into the players they became. If any team has proven they can find real contributors in this setting, it's the Heat.
Miami landed Young on a two-way contract this season before signing him to a standard deal in order to acquire his rights. Miami has four open roster spots and all three two-ways; there's a realistic world in which both end up on the roster. The best thing about having two standouts is that Miami only needs one to hit, after all.
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