2024 Miami Heat summer league guide, with full roster breakdown and schedule

As the Miami Heat continues working to build its roster for next season, the Heat released this year’s summer league roster on Wednesday.

With the Heat’s summer league team on the West Coast this week to begin practices and games, the 14-man roster is headlined by this year’s Heat first-round pick Kel’el Ware and second-round pick Pelle Larsson.

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The Heat opens summer league play in San Francisco with a three-game schedule at the California Classic, matching up against the Golden State Warriors on Saturday at 6:30 p.m. on ESPN, the Sacramento Kings on Sunday at 4:30 p.m. on NBA TV and Los Angeles Lakers on July 10 at 7 p.m. on ESPN 2 at the Golden State Warriors’ home arena.

The Heat will then, like every NBA team, play at least five games in Las Vegas Summer league that will be held from July 12-22: vs. Boston Celtics on July 13 at 6:30 p.m. on NBA TV, vs. Oklahoma City Thunder on July 15 at 6 p.m. on ESPNU, vs. Dallas Mavericks on July 17 at 3 p.m. on ESPN2, vs. Toronto Raptors on July 19 at 9 p.m. on ESPN+ and ESPN3, and the fifth game will either be played on either July 20 or 21 with the opponent and game time determined later. Only the two teams that make the championship game will play a sixth game in Las Vegas Summer League.

Among those from the Heat’s season-ending roster who are on its summer league team are Cole Swider and Alondes Williams, who who both closed last regular season on two-way contracts with the Heat. Swider and Williams are restricted free agents this offseason and will try to earn their way back onto the Heat’s roster this offseason whether it’s on a standard deal or another two-way contract.

In addition, the Heat’s two new two-way contract players, Florida guard Zyon Pullin and Arizona forward Keshad Johnson, are on the summer league roster. Pullin and Johnson, who both went undrafted this year, signed their new two-way deals with the Heat this week.

The Heat’s third two-way contract player, guard Dru Smith, will not take part in summer league as he continues to rehab from a knee injury that cut his year short last season. Smith, who has spent some part of the last three seasons with the Heat, signed a two-way deal with Miami this week.

Two-way contracts do not count toward the salary cap, luxury tax or apron and allow for players to be on their NBA team’s active list for as many as 50 regular-season games, with other playing time needing to come in the G League. NBA teams can have as many as three players on two-way contracts at any one time and two-way deals can be swapped out at any time.

Heat player development coach Dan Bisaccio will serve as the Heat’s summer league head coach for the first time. Bisaccio, who initially joined the Heat as a video intern for the 2014-15 season, has been with the organization for the past 10 seasons.

Along with Johnson, Larsson, Pullin, Swider, Ware, Williams, here’s who else is on the Heat’s 14-man summer league roster (subject to change):

Italian league forward Gabe Brown: Since going undrafted out of Michigan State in 2022, the 24-year-old Brown has played for the Toronto Raptors’ G League affiliate, the Raptors 905, and has also gone overseas to play in Italy. Brown (6-foot-7 and 210 pounds) averaged 11.8 points, 5.4 rebounds and 0.8 assists per game while shooting 64.2 percent on two-pointers and 41 percent (73 of 178) on threes as a member of Italy’s Openjobmetis Varese last season. During the 2022-23 season with the Raptors 905, he averaged 12.2 points, 3.8 rebounds and 1.2 assists per game while shooting 44.2 percent from the field and 117 of 306 (38.2 percent) on threes in 48 appearances.

Sioux Falls Skyforce forward JC Butler: The son of Heat assistant coach and former Heat first-round pick Caron Butler. JC, 24, went undrafted last year out of UC Irvine before joining the Skyforce in December. Listed at 6-foot-5 and 190 pounds, JC averaged 3.9 points, 1.5 rebounds and 0.5 assists per game while shooting 47.8 percent from the field and 20 of 45 (44.4 percent) from three-point range as a redshirt senior at UC Irvine before going undrafted last year.

Sioux Falls Skyforce guard Josh Christopher: Spent part of last season with the Heat’s G League affiliate, averaging 15.8 points, 4.2 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 1.4 steals per game while shooting 43.9 percent from the field and 33 of 102 (32.4 percent) on threes in 18 appearances with the Skyforce. The 22-year-old Christopher (6-foot-4 and 215 pounds) is a former first-round pick, as he was selected by the Houston Rockets with the 24th overall pick in the 2021 NBA Draft. He was a consensus five-star recruit coming out of high school, playing one college season at Arizona State before entering the NBA. He has averaged 6.9 points, 1.9 rebounds and 1.6 assists per game in 138 NBA appearances (four starts) during his career.

Sioux Falls Skyforce guard Caleb Daniels: At 6-foot-4 and 210 pounds, Daniels averaged 12.3 points, five rebounds and 2.2 assists per game while shooting 42.9 percent from the field and 36.8 percent (77 of 209) on threes with the Heat’s G League affiliate last season. Daniels, 25, went undrafted out of Villanova last year and also played for the Heat’s summer league team a year ago. He began his college career at Tulane before transferring to Villanova prior to the 2019-20 season.

French center Neal Sako: The 25-year-old averaged 11.9 points, 7.6 rebounds, 1.6 assists and 0.7 blocks while playing in France last season. Nearly all of his shots came from inside the arc, as he shot just two threes last season. Sako, who went undrafted in 2020, stands at 6-11 and 225 pounds.

Colorado State guard Isaiah Stevens: The 6-foot and 185-pound guard signed with the Heat for summer league after going undrafted this year. He played five seasons at Colorado State, averaging 16 points, 3.2 rebounds, 6.8 assists and 1.2 steals per game while shooting 47.4 percent from the field and 66 of 150 (44 percent) on threes as a graduate student this past season. During Stevens’ five-year college career, he shot 253 of 629 (40.2 percent) from behind the arc. He’s a standout pull-up shooter and also made an efficient 45.4 percent of his catch-and-shoot threes this past season. Stevens turns 24 on Nov. 1.

Sioux Falls Skyforce guard Bryson Warren: The 19-year-old Warren averaged 6.9 points, 1.4 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game while shooting 37.6 percent from the field and 38 of 117 (32.5 percent) on threes for the Heat’s G League affiliate this past season. Warren (6-foot-3) played for the Skyforce last season after signing with Overtime Elite as a four-star high school recruit. He was selected by the Skyforce with the 13th overall pick in the 2023 NBA G League Draft.

Texas Tech center Warren Washington: The 24-year-old signed with the Heat for summer league after going undrafted this year. Listed at 7-feet and 225 pounds, Washington averaged 9.9 points, 7.3 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 1.6 blocks per game while shooting 63.6 percent from the field and not attempting a three-pointer in 23 games (22 starts) this past season as a super senior at Texas Tech. He also played for Oregon State, Nevada and Arizona State during his college career.