Summer League Standouts: Part 2

Following up on Vegas' top performers

We’re back!

Last weekend, we took a look at the Summer League players who made the best first impressions, and now, with some extra time under our belt, we can get a clearer picture of who is truly having a “good” Summer League. As I always say, Summer League is not indicative of a player’s full career, but there are usually some things we can take away from it if you look at attributes the right way.

Let’s just get right back into it, starting with another classic Miami Heat pickup…

Tre Donaldson, A True Heater (?)

What do you even call a player who plans for the Heat? A Heat? A Heatle? (taken by LeBron’s era?) I’m going with a Heater for the sake of this one, because Tre Donaldson fits the bill.

Donaldson, who came to the Heat as an undrafted two-way contract out of the University of Miami, has done a lot of what he did in college and simply translated it to the league. He’s averaging around 16 PPG on 43% three-point shooting, and he’s adding 6.8 assists and 4.5 rebounds to his line. Donaldson isn’t super big at 6’3”, but he plays with heart and is a decent defender overall given his weightiness.

The reason Donaldson slipped to the Heat is the same reason that many great players have slipped to the Heat: Donaldson played all four years of college. As we know, most teams aren’t fond of older players, and it seems likely that Donaldson got a two-way promise from the Heat to stay in South Florida. And it’s paying off, because Donaldson is a dynamic talent that looks the part of a well-rounded combo guard, and he can play slightly out of position if necessary. It’s been a great Summer League for him, and we’ll see if the Heat can get another coup on the books via their talent evaluation.