Duncan Robinson Signs Two-Way Contract With Miami Heat
Couple of rookies. [Photo: Marc-Gregor Campredon]
Remember that post from earlier this week in which a Miami beat writer opined that the Heat could potentially lose Duncan Robinson if they didn't lock him up to a contract? Miami, evidently, did not want to take that chance heading into today's final day of round robin play in Summer League. John Beilein and staff, you are wizards.
The Miami Heat and Duncan Robinson (Michigan) have agreed to a one-year, 2-way deal, league sources told The Athletic. Robinson, who attended Williams Ephs before Michigan, will have the opportunity to become the first D-III player since Devean George to play in the NBA.
— Michael Scotto (@MikeAScotto) July 10, 2018
A two-way deal is the same type of contract Derrick Walton signed with the Heat last year. Each team has two spots for two-way players, who mostly play in the G League (formerly D League) and can spend up to 45 days in a season with the big club. (The Heat seem intent on bringing back Walton, too.)
Robinson is averaging over 12 points a game for the Heat's Summer League team and shooting nearly 60% from the field. His best performance thus far was a 19-point outburst against Moe Wagner's Los Angeles Lakers:
Robinson's journey from unrecruited kid from Exeter Academy to D-III All-American to Michigan Wolverine to Big Ten Sixth Man of the Year has been well documented. This adds another remarkable chapter to the story. As Scotto mentioned, Robinson could become the first former D-III player to make the NBA since Devean George, the former Augsburg University standout who played in the league from 1999-2010 and contributed to three title-winning Lakers squads.
All the best to Duncan!
I sure hope Beilein is using all of his player development success as recruiting ammo. He can literally make a whole "before and after" slide show of lower rated players that he's turned into NBA players. Congrats Duncan! And praise Beilein!
Beilein's been doing this for a long time though, and it seems to have no impact on recruiting at all. We can account for a number of players who either don't think they need the help or can't meet Michigan's expectations, but you'd think "this coach can get you into the NBA" would be a much bigger sell than the nothingburger it's been.
At this point it is what it is, and the deep tournament runs get Michigan as much exposure as any program would want. So we don't need it, but I'll continue to be baffled.
Many Recruits at the top believe they could be in the league now and are only going to college because of the 1 year rule. In those cases, they are going to look where they can get paid before heading to really get paid. Ego and confidence are huge at that point, and certain coaches for years stroke that ego.
Beilein is a very appealing coach to play for, but probably not to the top of the top, who are looking for things Beilein has never done. For any player that wants to get the the NBA, but might not be there yet, I can't think of a better coach. Anyone in the 50-100 recruiting range you'd think would be banging down the door to get on the team. Not only has he gotten a lot of guys to the league, he gets them early. Many after sophomore or Junior seasons. The market for border line NBA talent who plan to play for a few years should be huge. I think the latest class shows that these are his guys, and I expect the results to be huge.
Not to beat a dead horse (well OK I am, sorry) but we agree, no one expects anyone in the top 20 of any class to be in a hurry to commit to Michigan. It's the 30-60 paradox that's a mystery. The #30-#60 (or #50-#100 if you prefer, same point) recruits are NOT projected in the first round, are barely on the NBA's radar at all, and Beilein has a proven record of developing these guys into first-rounders. Yet while he's nabbed a couple in this range, they're so much the exception that no data-driven argument can be made that "I can get you drafted in the NBA" has any broad appeal among recruits.
It's probably a combination of things but common sense -- that all the reasons near-elite prospects don't sign with Michigan shouldn't basically add up to 100% -- disagrees with reality, and it's always weird when it happens.
Bring Webber back in to the fold, and the aura will morph quite quickly...and it'll take two of the top kids to wanna play together, and then it'll be a rush to want to play here... .believe it.....
Anyone know how much money this kind of contract gets for a player?
It depends how many days the player spends in the G-League and how many he spends in the NBA. When in the G-League, he will make a prorated version $75,000. When in the NBA, he will make a prorated version of the NBA minimum salary, which is $816,000.
Two-way players are allowed to spend up to 45 days per year in the NBA, which would mean he would earn about $280,000 maximum.
If an NBA team wants them on the roster for more than 45 days, I assume they can upgrade him to an NBA contract?
DR is getting a real look by an NBA club for his potential as a 3-And-D guy is... astonishing. We knew he could shoot, but the defense?
Recruits should be banging down Beilein's door every year. This is amazing.
(Bonus: first post on the new site from mobile. It works fine.)
Yeah but sabermetrics don't account for voodoo. I wonder how the Heat will adapt to DR's "you win if he scores exactly six points" rule.
Actually I think this means Walton might lose his 2 way. They have another player (Derrick Jones Jr) on a two way and based on Summer League play, Jones has been the superior player.
Actually scratch that, Jones signed a normal contract about a week ago so Walton seems safe for this season.
pretty amazing story! Glad to see Duncan get an NBA contract...
Beilein et al are the best talent developers in college imo
Remember that post from earlier this week in which a Miami beat writer opined that the Heat could potentially lose Duncan Robinson if they didn't lock him up to a contract?
The writer actually opined that the Heat may need to give him a one-way contract with a six-figure contract to keep him. But still, good for Duncan!
I also remember earlier in the season from last year getting frustrated when Duncan would be on the court. Now he's competing for an NBA spot. I love when Beilein proves me wrong. Beginning of the season Senior year Duncan and Irvin are the two I remember being the most wrong about from beginning of year to end of year "this guy needs to be not on the floor" couch evaluations.
Awesome news, and I hope he just keeps improving. It is insane how competent he's gotten on defense (it helps being 6'8"), and his shot has seemingly survived the transition to the NBA better than anyone could have expected.
Fire Beilein!
Don't give Manuel any ideas...
i absolutely love this.
his arrival on campus started a running argument between me and a friend...he thought robinson couldn't defend, make his own shot, rebound, or really do anything useful and couldn't see why he would get minutes over...oh, hell, i don't know, kameron chatman, or somebody. i won't say i was completely on board 100% at that moment, either, fwiw - he obviously needed to develop.
and boy, did he ever. one of my favorite "in beilein we trust" successes. that list gets longer every. single. year.
Congrats to him. With his length and shooting ability, he could find a small role in the NBA.
No reason he can’t be the next Robert Horry. Bang out a bunch of rings lighting it up from 3 and playing serviceable defense. Go Duncan!
With the right team and system his defensive below averageness shouldn't even matter. How good is Ryan Anderson or was Steve Novak or Mike Miller, fer gosh sakes?
(really trying not to pick white player comps only--Rashard Lewis?)
From the talks on the broadcast looks like Walton may get the short end of the stick with this. As the Heat May want to keep the other slot open.
As happy as we all are for Duncan, I think the negative effect on Derrick is getting overlooked. Like you mentioned, Walton may be getting the short end of the stick in this instance. He's struggled with his shot this summer and while the Heat extended the qualifying offer, they haven't signed him to the two-way-contract yet.
It's harder to break into the league than it is to stay in it. Walton played regular season games last year. It may not be with the Heat but he probably will get another 2 way contract.
Congratulations to Duncan for his amazing journey.
Great job, Duncan. I have had several students and colleagues attend or teach at both Exeter and Williams, great to see someone from those fine schools also attend the best school - Michigan - and have such wonderful success.
And as a side note, every other school in the NCAA must be so freaking grateful right now that Beilein runs a clean program. Because if recruits could choose both Beilein development and the usual payouts, the Wolverines would be winning the NCAA championship at a rate that is, well, something like Duncan's FG%.
Looking at Ibi in the background..man you should have stayed bud. He actually was on the court for the final play against Houston. JB was starting to trust the kid some. The way players in this program develop you'd think he could see best case scenario he grows into the best version of himself under Belein and gets an NBA look. To me that sounds better than going to a lesser team for playing time. You've got a 2 year head start on the incoming class.
Way to go Duncan. D III ftw.
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