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Shams Charania, Senior NBA Insider
Miami Heat guard Dru Smith has suffered a season-ending torn Achilles tendon, sources instructed ESPN on Tuesday.
He suffered the damage throughout Monday’s victory towards the Brooklyn Nets. As Smith dribbled throughout a possession early within the second quarter, he misplaced the ball on a turnover and instantly fell to the courtroom grimacing in ache.
Smith was escorted off the courtroom to the locker room.
The damage, which requires surgical procedure and months of rehabilitation, is devastating after the two-way guard made an incredible restoration from a torn ACL simply over a yr in the past to the Warmth’s rotation and was on the cusp of a regular NBA contract.
Smith additionally noticed his 2021-22 season with Miami’s Sioux Falls affiliate within the G League minimize brief by a knee damage.
“We’ve got unimaginable deep respect for his journey and what he has to beat,” coach Erik Spoelstra mentioned after Monday’s sport. “I have been within the constructing all these occasions final yr when no one else was right here and he was doing all of the intensive therapy and rehab around the clock. He has unimaginable fortitude. You find yourself completely rooting for guys like Dru.”
Smith, who turns 27 on Monday, was averaging profession highs of 6.3 factors and a pair of.6 rebounds in 19.1 minutes per sport this season. He has been waived and re-signed by the Warmth 4 occasions in his three-year profession.
The Warmth are changing two-way ahead Keshad Johnson on a regular two-year NBA contract, sources instructed ESPN. Johnson has spent the season as a standout participant for Warmth’s G League affiliate, Sioux Falls, averaging 21.2 factors and eight.3 rebounds per sport.
The Related Press contributed to this report.
