Larry Drew II, son of Cleveland Cavaliers assistant coach Larry Drew and former UCLA and Woodland Hill Taft guard, signed a non-guaranteed contract with the Miami Heat, the team announced on Monday.
This will be the second appearance of Drew for the team in two years, after he played with them for one pre-season game last year though he was not included in the roster for the 2013-2014 NBA season.
He played with the Heat in 11 games during the 2014 Orlando and Las Vegas Summer leagues, and even started at two of the games. He had an average of 4.4 points, 3.6 assists, 1.55 steals and 1.5 rebounds and garnered a record of 43.9 shooting percent from the field, 50 percent from three-point line, as well as 77.8 percent from the foul line.
Drew played with the Heat's D-League affiliate Sioux Falls Skyforce last season, where he helped in bringing the team to the playoffs with his record of 11.4 points, 7.0 assists, 3.4 rebounds, and 1.6 steals average per game.
"I really feel comfortable with their system, in this offense, I really feel it's tailor-made for a player like myself," Drew said when asked about his experience playing with the Heat and Skyforce, as quoted by Sun Sentinel. "I feel Mr. [Pat] Riley and the staff really have a lot of faith and confidence in myself."
Fox Sports speculates that this move by the Heat could eventually lead Drew back to the D-League soon since they already have Norris Cole, Mario Chalmers, and Shabazz Napier as their point guards. And with a total of 19 players in the roster, the team may choose to waive him again and assign him back to the Skyforce before Oct. 29.
When asked about his thoughts about being placed again in the D-League, Drew said, "I feel like the D-League is doing what it's supposed to do, in terms of breeding players to get ready to take that next step to the NBA."
