Former Missouri star Dru Smith signing new deal with Miami Heat, per report
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Former Missouri standout Dru Smith is signing a new 3-year contract with the Miami Heat, sources told ESPN on Saturday night.
The 27-year-old NBA journeyman now has a new lease on life in the NBA with the Heat organization, which is rewarding Smith after his many years spent with the franchise. Smith went undrafted in 2021 after 2 seasons at Missouri that followed 2 seasons at Evansville. He has bounced around the NBA since, mostly with the Heat organization between the NBA club itself and its G League affiliate in South Dakota.
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Smith has spent 2 different stints with the Heat franchise, first from 2021-23 and now from 2023 to the present sandwiched around a brief stopover with the Brooklyn Nets in the first half of 2023. This reported contract is a reward of sorts and a sign of trust in Smith, who has overcome season-ending ACL and Achilles tendon injuries during each of the past 2 seasons.
Smith made his mark at Missouri, earning 2nd-team All-SEC honors in 2021 and an SEC All-Defensive Team selection that same season. During his junior year at Mizzou, he averaged 12.7 points, 4.2 rebounds, 3.9 assists and 2.1 steals per game. His 64 steals that season led the SEC and ranked 6th in program history.
As a senior, Smith turned up the scoring a notch, averaging 14.3 points, to go with 3.8 assists, 3.5 rebounds and 2.1 steals per contest.
Now, at long last, it looks like the ex-Mizzou star has a permanent NBA home for the foreseeable future.
Cory Nightingale, a former sportswriter and sports editor at the Miami Herald and Palm Beach Post, is a South Florida-based freelance writer who covers Alabama for SaturdayDownSouth.com.
