Heat signs first-round pick Kel’el Ware, brings back familiar face Dru Smith on two-way deal

As the Miami Heat continues working to fill its 15-man standard roster in free agency, it signed its first-round pick and filled the three two-way contract slots on its roster on Monday.

The Heat announced the signing of first-round selection Kel’el Ware, who was taken with the No. 15 overall pick in last week’s NBA Draft. Ware now can’t be traded for 30 days after signing his rookie-scale contract, which is worth $20.5 million over the next four seasons and includes a starting salary of $4.2 million for this upcoming season.

In addition, the Heat announced Monday it is bringing back guard Dru Smith on a two-way deal to fill the final two-way contract spot on its roster. The Heat had already locked in Florida guard Zyon Pullin and Arizona forward Keshad Johnson to two-way contract agreements shortly after they both went undrafted last week.

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The 26-year-old Smith is a familiar face, spending some part of the last three seasons with the Heat.

After going undrafted out of Missouri in 2021, Smith spent a chunk of his first season in the Heat’s player development program in the G League in 2021-22. He then began his second season with the Heat in 2022-23 on a two-way deal before beginning last season with the Heat on his first NBA standard contract.

But Smith’s year was cut short last season after suffering a season-ending ACL injury in his right knee during a Nov. 22 win over the Cavaliers in Cleveland. The injury required surgery.

Last regular season prior to the injury, Smith totaled 39 points on 15-of-33 (45.5 percent) shooting from the field and 7-of-17 (41.2 percent) shooting from three-point range, 14 rebounds, 14 assists, nine steals and three blocks in 131 minutes over nine appearances (zero starts).

The Heat eventually waived the sidelined Smith on March 6 to make room for the signing of veteran guard Patty Mills late last season. But even after being released, Smith remained around the Heat as he rehabbed from knee surgery.

Now, Smith returns to the Heat on a two-way contract. Despite being a player that’s entering his fourth year in the Heat’s development program, he’s still eligible for a two-way contract because he has less than three years of service in the NBA.

Johnson, Pullin and Smith all signed their two-way contracts with the Heat on Monday.

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.

While Pullin and Johnson are expected to play for the Heat’s summer league team this year, the expectation is that Smith will not take part in summer league games.

What does this mean for last season’s Heat two-way contract players — Jamal Cain, Cole Swider and Alondes Williams?

The Heat did not extend a qualifying offer to Cain, who spent the last two seasons on a two-way contract with Miami. With no qualifying offer, Cain is an unrestricted free agent this offseason and he’s not expected to return to the Heat.

The Heat extended qualifying offers to Swider and Williams, making them restricted free agents and gaining the right to match outside offers to them. Swider and Williams 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.

Like Johnson and Pullin, Swider and Williams are expected to play for the Heat’s summer league team this year.

The Heat’s summer league team is scheduled to begin training camp later this week in San Francisco before playing its first summer league game of the year on Saturday.

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., the Sacramento Kings on Sunday at 4:30 p.m. and Los Angeles Lakers on July 10 at 7 p.m. at the 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.

Monday represented the first day for this year’s first-round draft picks like Ware, those who have agreed to minimum contracts of two years or less, and players who have agreed to two-way contracts like Pullin, Swider and Williams could begin signing their new deals.