Tre Donaldson supplied the Miami Heat’s highest scoring total Tuesday night, giving the rookie another performance to build on while Dru Smith’s injury leaves the team evaluating its guard depth.
Donaldson finished with 25 points in the annual Red, White and Pink scrimmage. The White team won 118-116, with fellow young guards Ryan Conwell and Bez Mbeng scoring 22 and 20 points, respectively.
The scoring competition came with a memorable individual exchange. Donaldson sent Conwell to the floor with a crossover before making a 3-pointer.
Good times at the Heat scrimmage. The play of the night? Former Cane Tre Donaldson dropping Ryan Conwell and then dropping a 3! pic.twitter.com/aF1YQEZkAI
— Will Manso (@WillManso) October 7, 2026
That play gives fans an introduction to Donaldson’s shot creation. His larger opportunity, however, involves showing that he can help run an NBA offense when the Heat need another ball-handler.
Miami already has a college record of his passing to examine, and his best Summer League outing combined scoring with substantial production as a distributor.
Tuesday added a new result to that evaluation. It did not establish where Donaldson stands in Erik Spoelstra’s regular-season rotation.
Dru Smith’s absence gives Miami more guard combinations to examine
Smith remained out Tuesday with a calf injury. Pelle Larsson and Andrew Wiggins were unavailable because of illness, while Keshad Johnson was sidelined with a hamstring injury.
Those absences are important when interpreting the scrimmage. The Heat were working without several players, including another possible ball-handler in Larsson, so Tuesday’s personnel cannot simply be treated as a preview of the regular-season pecking order.
The guard-depth question created by Smith’s injury had already become part of camp before Donaldson’s scoring night. Smith’s right calf strain is expected to keep him out a couple of weeks.
Spoelstra had also identified Donaldson and Conwell as players commanding attention.
“They’re going after it right now, so they’re in that stage right now where they’re making us watch,” said Spoelstra. “That’s Ryan, also Tre.”
Spoelstra’s explanation included Larsson’s ball-handling and the ability of Bam Adebayo, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Nikola Jovic to initiate offense. That gives Miami options beyond asking one rookie to assume all of Smith’s responsibilities behind Davion Mitchell.
For Donaldson, the practical question is how his skills complement the players around him. His scoring could help a group that needs another creator, but sharing possessions with established playmakers also requires productive decisions without dominating the ball.
Donaldson brings a record of scoring and facilitating
The Heat announced Donaldson’s two-way signing July 3 after a 2025-26 season in which he averaged 16.4 points and a team-leading 5.7 assists per game for the Miami Hurricanes. He appeared in 35 games, starting 33, and earned All-ACC Second Team recognition.
The official announcement credited him with 45.4 percent shooting from the field and 35.9 percent from 3-point range. He reached 20 points nine times and recorded at least 10 assists in five games.
That combination offers a better starting point for evaluating his potential role than a single crossover. Donaldson spent his final college season carrying both scoring and distribution responsibilities, rather than building his production entirely around finishing possessions created by someone else.
His progress also came across different programs. He averaged 11.3 points and 4.1 assists per game across 37 starts at Michigan in the 2024-25 season. He made 63 of 168 attempts from 3-point range that season, a 37.5 percent success rate.
Compared with his Michigan season, his final college year brought increases of 5.1 points and 1.6 assists per game. Those gains describe his college development; they are not a projection of what he will average for the Heat.
There is also an important shooting distinction. The Michigan numbers provide an actual attempt total alongside the percentage, while the Heat’s signing announcement supplies his more recent percentage.
Neither should be confused with an established NBA shooting sample.
A Summer League performance showed another part of his game
Donaldson already has one notable Heat performance in which his passing matched his scoring. In Miami’s July 17 Summer League victory over Detroit, he recorded 20 points, 10 assists and eight rebounds.
He made 8-of-12 field-goal attempts and 3-of-4 3-pointers, with 13 points coming in the fourth quarter of the 101-87 win. That game offered evidence of his ability to contribute in several ways within a developmental setting.
Donaldson described his aim in NBA.com’s July coverage:
“They’re evaluating, and I’m trying to show I belong,” said Donaldson. “… I lead my team and I win.”
The relevant comparison is between the kinds of contributions, not the opponents or intensity. His July production included double-figure assists; Tuesday’s headline number was his scoring.
Consistent decision-making against NBA defenses remains a separate test from either performance.
What his two-way contract means for the opportunity
Donaldson’s contract allows Miami to continue evaluating him across the NBA and G League. The G League’s current two-way tracker lists him with the Heat and Sioux Falls Skyforce, and explains that two-way players may be active for up to 50 NBA games.
That arrangement gives the Heat a way to use him at the NBA level without first converting his contract to a standard deal. It also leaves room for developmental work with Sioux Falls rather than requiring an immediate, permanent rotation assignment.
For now, the most useful follow-up will be how Donaldson handles his next opportunities: whether he keeps teammates involved, makes sound choices under pressure and contributes defensively when the scoring chances are less plentiful.
Those are evaluation priorities, not deficiencies established by Tuesday’s result.
Donaldson has given Miami a fresh scoring performance to consider alongside his college playmaking and July showing. The next step is turning that range of skills into minutes Spoelstra can trust.
