The Miami Heat recently signed two promising youngsters, including Darius Days, to two-way contracts.
Following the signing, Days said to the Miami Herald that he was surprised the Heat offered him a deal even though he had not previously worked out for them.
“It definitely caught me by surprise,” Days said. “It was an exciting feeling. They gave me the call and I was excited. I was just trying to play my way into something this past week.”
Days played collegiate basketball for Louisiana State University. Through four years, he averaged 10.3 points and 6.5 rebounds per game while shooting 47.4 percent from the field. He also started in all but one of the games he appeared in during his final three years with the program.
In addition, the 6-foot-7 forward displayed an ability to space the floor by recording an average of 1.5 3-pointers per contest on a 35.3 percent shooting clip from deep during his time with the Tigers.
However, all the NBA teams passed on him in the 2022 draft. The 22-year-old then began his professional basketball career by signing up for the San Antonio Spurs’ Summer League team. He had a solid string of games, recording an average of 13.7 points per match and converting 55.6 percent of his shots from the field and 37.5 percent of his 3-point shots.
Clearly, the Heat front office saw lots of potential in the Florida native to decide to give him a shot with the team.
Incidentally, when Days was asked during the pre-draft process which NBA player he models his game after, he answered former Heat player P.J. Tucker, who signed with the Philadelphia 76ers earlier in the offseason.
After landing with the Heat, Days explained his response then.
“He can rebound the ball, he can guard bigger guys,” Days said of Tucker. “He definitely switches and plays great defense. He talks on defense. He just does the little things. I mean, he’s a champion for a reason. So I like to model my game after the little things that he does.”
It will be interesting to see if Days remains with the organization and cracks the Heat’s rotation by the time the regular season starts.
