Former KU guard Marcus Garrett has dandy debut for Heat in NBA summer league game
Former Kansas combo guard Marcus Garrett fared well on offense and playing his trademark defense in his professional basketball debut on Tuesday night.
Garrett, who signed an Exhibit 10 free agent contract with the Miami Heat after being ignored in Thursday’s NBA Draft, scored 10 points with six steals, three rebounds and two assists in the Heat’s 80-78 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers in a Sacramento Summer League game in California.
Garrett suffered just one turnover in 22 minutes.
The 6-foot-5 Dallas native, who came off the bench, hit 4 of 6 shots and was 2-of-4 from the line. He did not attempt a three-point shot.
Former Missouri guard Dru Smith started for Miami and scored 11 points on 5-of-10 shooting (1-of-3 from three) with four assists, two steals, two rebounds and two turnovers in 28 minutes. The other starting guard, Javonte Smart, had 10 points on 3-of-13 shooting (2 of 7 threes) in 30 minutes.
An Exhibit 10 contract, by the way, is a one-year deal that guarantees the player an invitation to training camp. Exhibit 10 players receive bonuses of up to $50,000 to sign with a team’s G League affiliate if waived. The Heat under terms of the contract would control Garrett’s G League rights.
Garrett averaged 11.0 points, 4.6 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 1.6 steals as a senior in 2020-21 at KU. He hit 45.9% of his shots and 80.8% of his free throws. He was 23-of-66 from three for 34.8%
He was college basketball’s Naismith, ESPN and Big 12 Conference defensive player of the year after his junior season at KU (2019-20).
The Heat will meet Golden State on Wednesday night in their final game of the California Classic. Then it’s on to Las Vegas for the Vegas summer league, which starts Friday.
Newman scores nine; Azubuike has 14 boards
Former Kansas guard Malik Newman scored nine points on 4-of-13 shooting with two rebounds, two assists and two turnovers Tuesday in the Utah Jazz Blue team’s 104-65 loss to Memphis in an opening game at the Salt Lake City Summer League. He hit 1 of 5 threes. The 6-3, 24-year-old Newman played last season for Ironi Nahariya of the Israeli Premier League and also Frutti Extra Bursaspor of the Turkish Super League.
Former KU power forward Udoka Azubuike scored eight points and grabbed 14 rebounds in the Utah Jazz White team’s 87-58 victory over the San Antonio Spurs in Salt Lake City. He hit 4 of 7 shots and had two blocked shots in 23 minutes. Azubuike, 21, averaged 3.8 minutes a game in 15 games for the Utah Jazz during an injury-plagued 2020-21 rookie season in the NBA,
This story was originally published August 4, 2021 at 8:23 AM with the headline "Former KU guard Marcus Garrett has dandy debut for Heat in NBA summer league game."
