Keshad Johnson wants to show he’s a ‘Heat culture guy.’ So far, so good in summer league

The list of Miami Heat undrafted success stories is long.

It includes Max Strus, Gabe Vincent, Duncan Robinson, Caleb Martin, Haywood Highsmith, Tyler Johnson and Udonis Haslem, among others throughout the Heat’s 36 years of existence.

Forward Keshad Johnson hopes he’s the next player to join that list after signing a two-way contract with the Heat in the wake of going undrafted this year.

“I’m a Heat culture guy,” said Johnson, who spent the first four years of his college career at San Diego State before transferring to play as a fifth-year senior at Arizona last season. “Throughout my career, I just want to keep making an emphasis that I’m willing to do everything, that I’m gritty. I just want that to be my identity. I just want to make an example of how much of a Heat culture guy that I am.”’

Jaquez to join Heat’s Summer League team in Las Vegas. And takeaways from Heat-Lakers game

Johnson, who turned 23 last month, made his point during the Heat’s 80-76 summer league win over the Los Angeles Lakers on Wednesday night at Chase Center in San Francisco.

With the victory clinching a winning 2-1 record during the Heat’s three-game summer league stint in the California Classic, Johnson left his fingerprints all over the team’s third summer league game of the year. The Oakland native totaled 21 points on 8-of-14 shooting from the field and 1-of-4 shooting from three-point range, eight rebounds, three assists, three steals and three blocks in 30 minutes during Wednesday’s win in front of a large group of family and friends about 25 miles away from where he attended high school.

“K.J. from the beginning has been a consummate professional,” Heat player development coach and summer league head coach Dan Bisaccio said. “From the moment he got here, he’s just been an absolute workhorse behind the scenes. I mean, as soon as he gets in the gym, he’s high motor, high energy. He’s very much just a hard worker, wants to come in and do whatever is asked.”

After combining for 19 points on 16 field-goal attempts in the Heat’s first two summer league games while mostly playing in an off-ball role, Johnson thrived as a bigger part of the offense on Wednesday with draft picks Kel’el Ware and Pelle Larsson among those given the night off. Johnson was used as a screener and roller, three-point spacer and also worked the baseline as a cutter.

“It was great to get him in some triggers, having him screening and rolling and making plays,” Bisaccio said, with the Heat now moving on to play at least five games in Las Vegas Summer League beginning Saturday against the Boston Celtics. “Then again, just mixing him up in different defensive coverages. Those are the types of things that we’re looking to evaluate from guys like K.J.”

The physical tools are what immediately stand out when watching Johnson play. At 6-foot-6 and 224 pounds with a 6-foot-10 wingspan and elite athleticism that produced an eye-opening 42-inch max vertical leap at this year’s NBA Draft Combine, Johnson fits the mold of the ideal small-ball power forward in today’s NBA.

That combination of size, length, strength and athleticism gives Johnson the ability to serve as a versatile defender who can guard most players on the court. He also made an impressive jump as an outside shooter in his final college season, shooting 38.7 percent on 2.5 three-point attempts per game at Arizona after shooting just 24.6 percent on one three-point attempt per game during his first four college seasons at San Diego State.

The Heat’s hope is all of that will translate to Johnson developing into an effective three-and-D forward who fits in its system, similar to the role that Jae Crowder and P.J. Tucker played for Miami in the past. The Ringer picked Crowder as Johnson’s NBA comparison.

“I just try to do whatever it takes to win,” Johnson said. “I don’t like going outside the box. But I feel like I’m raw, I feel like I got a raw talent. I feel like there’s still a lot of stuff that’s unscratched. So you’ll see glimpses of me just doing stuff from instinct. That’s just what the game provided [Wednesday]. Just doing things that I know I’m capable of and everything that I haven’t really showcased throughout my whole college career. Just with the time of getting NBA development, I just keep getting better as a player overall.”

The Heat has made it known how much it valued Johnson during the pre-draft process.

Heat vice president of basketball operations and assistant general manager Adam Simon revealed that Johnson was the team’s “highest non-drafted player on our board.” Bisaccio added the Heat “love his versatility” and his ability to “play multiple positions.”

For now, Johnson is signed to a two-way contract with the Heat. Two-way deals do not count toward the salary cap, luxury tax or aprons and allow for players to be on their NBA team’s active list for as many as 50 regular-season games but do not come with playoff eligibility.

The two-way contract also prevents Johnson from being signed away by another team. The Heat could choose to replace Johnson’s two-way deal with a new standard contract, but that’s not expected to happen any time soon under the team’s current salary-cap crunch because it would push Miami above the punitive second apron if the move is done before the season.

Whatever happens in the coming weeks and months, Johnson feels like he’s exactly where he’s supposed to be after the disappointment of going undrafted. That’s with the Heat.

“I wasn’t drafted, but everything worked out for the best,” Johnson said. “As I prayed, I landed in the right spot, I feel like.”

ADEBAYO BEGINS SECOND OLYMPIC JOURNEY

Heat center Bam Adebayo recorded six points and seven rebounds in 21 minutes off the bench in Team USA’s 86-72 exhibition win over Canada on Wednesday night in Las Vegas.

It marked the start of Team USA’s five-game exhibition schedule prior to opening the Olympics on July 28 in France. Team USA leaves Thursday for Abu Dhabi for a pair of exhibition games against Australia on Monday and Serbia on Wednesday.