Where Ryan Conwell May Get Miami Heat Minutes Post-Giannis Trade

The Miami Heat are fresh off the Giannis Antetokounmpo trade. They are still looking to build the final version of their roster.

There is some speculation that they will leave the 15th roster spot open, while waiting for a potential buyout from Dallas Mavericks veteran Klay Thompson.

The Heat made a splash in a different way in the draft. They selected the sharpshooter out of Louisville, Ryan Conwell in the second round. The question becomes; can he get rotation minutes in year one on a team full of proven NBA players?

Ryan Conwell mic'd up during his Summer League debut 💪 pic.twitter.com/SCpCQUaIZL
— Miami HEAT (@MiamiHEAT) July 4, 2026

The Roster

Bigs

Giannis Antetokounmpo, Bam Adebayo, Bobby Portis, Nikola Jovic

Wings

Andrew Wiggins, Tim Hardaway Jr., Simone Fontecchio, Myron Gardner,

Guards

Davion Mitchell, Dru Smith, Pelle Larrson, Ryan Conwell

Two Ways

Tre Donaldson, Vlad Goldin, TBD

When you look at the roster in its totality it becomes clear that it will be a tall task at first glance for Conwell to get rotation minutes with this contending team. He may specialize in shooting, but the wings and guards all shoot well enough and have experience and proven trust built with head coach Erik Spolestra.

The Heat returning players and newcomers combine for 4 players all shooting over 40% from three last season. That was Wiggins, Gardner, Hardaway Jr and Bobby Portis. The Heat had other players very close like Davion Mitchell at 39.5% and Fontecchio at 37.5%. That makes for a total of 6 good three-point shooters. If you are running a 9–10-man rotation. That doesn’t leave many places to get minutes.

Path to playing time

The good news for Ryan Conwell is that many of these players as established veterans aren’t going to play every regular season game. The coaching staff is smart and will need some innings eaters to keep their guys fresh throughout the long grueling regular season.

Ryan didn’t exactly light Las Vegas on fire from deep during the NBA Summer League only shooting a paltry 25% but you saw flashes of why the Heat drafted him. In fairness, he was tasked to do a lot more than shoot the ball. The coaching staff asked him to create for himself and others, which wasn’t his primary role in college. He did so with mixed results.

The biggest thing in his favor was his ability to play excellent ball pressure defense. He played defense with his chest walling off players instead of playing with his hands which young players tend to do. He utilized his long 6’7 wingspan and played a very physical brand of defense. He did average 6 fouls per game, but you get 10 in summer league, so it isn’t that big of a deal.

The defense will allow him to get on the court. The shooting could keep him there. During the regular season he can prove to be a compliment to the main guys, Giannis and Bam. He can eat some innings for the older veteran players for short stints. The biggest thing for him is to play his role, play defense and be a good teammate. Who knows, he could crack the rotation permanently if he shows he is trustworthy with the limited opportunities he will be given. The first step of that journey will be in training camp.

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