Drew II Headed to Miami for Training Camp

Miami has renewed acquaintances with Sioux Falls Skyforce Guard Larry Drew II in the wake of a gold-medal run in the FIBA AmeriCup tournament.

The Heat made the announcement Tuesday night to add Drew II to their roster as training camp is set to begin on Tuesday September 26. It will be the third time the former UCLA guard has been in South Beach during the preseason with previous stints in 2013 and 2014.

Since returning to Sioux Falls in March, Drew II has assembled a pretty impressive list of accomplishments. In ten games with the ‘Force, Drew II played ten games with one start averaging 8.1 points and 5.9 assists in just under 24 minutes a game.

In Summer League, during seven contests, the numbers were similar over 25 minutes per game (9.5 points, 6 assists). Then the chance arrived to represent the U.S.A. in the FIBA AmeriCup tournament which captured the gold medal. The games are only 40 minutes long, but Drew II came off the bench to produce 4.6 points and 5 assists while shooting 53 percent from the floor during the tournament in just under 20 minutes per game.

By adding Drew II to the Miami roster, there are now 18 players in the fold with the potential maximum roster size of 20 in the preseason. The Heat’s opening night roster must be pared to 15 players.

However this year brings the added wrinkle of 2-way contracts which will allow players a maximum of 45 days with the NBA team during the season with the balance of that time spent in the G League. Derrick Walton Jr. is the only player signed to such an agreement with Miami. Each team can sign two players to 2-way deals.

Drew II has just one taste of NBA regular season experience when Philadelphia called him up during the 2014-15 season for two ten-day contracts. Work soon begins for the potential second chance for the man with the fourth most assists in Skyforce history.

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