After the Miami Heat’s loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves in the season opener, two things have become abundantly clear: the Heat need better guard play, and badly. Ryan Conwell has to get a shot.
Naturally, I expect Erik Spoelstra to turn to Dru Smith when he has a problem like this. But in a relatively surprising move, he didn’t actually play in the opener. And considering that Smith isn't the player you turn to when you need an offensive spark, it's not surprising at all.
Conwell, on the other hand, looks like he can be a positive on offense. Sure, preseason isn’t everything, but he looked comfortable getting to his spots, playmaking a little bit, and knocking down 3s. There’s no reason why Conwell shouldn’t have at least gotten a few actual rotation minutes when Tim Hardaway Jr. was very clearly having an off shooting night.
The Heat may need to resort to Ryan Conwell sooner rather than later
Of course, Conwell isn’t necessarily a traditional playmaker by any stretch. The most assists he averaged per game in a college season was 2.7. But one thing he did in college was shoot a lot of 3s, and well.
Conwell shot seven-plus 3-pointers per game in his last three college seasons, and hit at a combined 38.4 percent. Obviously, Hardaway Jr. is a better shooter, but if anything, having both of them on the court at the same time could be frustrating for defenses. At the very least, putting Conwell in one of the Giannis + bench lineups gives them another legitimate outside threat.
No matter what, one thing about Conwell will continue to be true: he can’t be any worse than Nikola Jovic. I know this is harsh, but if Jovic is somehow in the regular rotation, given how bad he’s been for a while now, Conwell can absolutely get some burn to see if he can prove himself or not.
Ryan Conwell deseves a shot to prove himself
But even Jovic's poor play aside, Conwell, in theory, just feels like a better fit with the rest of this team, especially when considering the strengths of both players.
When you have a team with superstars, fit is one of the most important priorities for the supporting cast. That's where Conwell has Jovic beat pretty easily.
Plus, the reality is he will absolutely have to play at some point. Klay Thompson will likely get some nights off, injuries take a toll, and Spoelstra usually gives those types of opportunities to the young players.
After the way the team played against Minnesota, Spoelstra just can't roll out the same rotation. It doesn't make sense. The best next option is to let Conwell determine if he's ready for a spot in the rotation. If he's not, put him back on the bench and let him develop in the shadows.
If he's ready, though, he could make all the difference for this Heat team looking for some help in the backcourt.
Add us as a preferred source on Google