Chris
When former 2022-23 Los Angeles Lakers two-way small forward Cole Swider found himself squeezed out of the club’s three two-way slots heading into the 2023-24 season, he promptly changed tacts, inking a training camp contract with the reigning Eastern Conference champion Miami Heat.
The 24-year-old appeared in just seven games with the Lakers proper last season. Across 27 contests (19 starts) with LA’s NBAGL affiliate in El Segundo, the South Bay Lakers, he averaged an encouraging 17.1 points on .506/.436/.838 shooting splits, 4.8 rebounds, 1.8 assists, and 0.8 steals a night.
Now, the 6’9″ Syracuse product is hoping that his sharpshooting acumen will help him nab an actual roster spot heading out of training camp, per Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun Sentinel.
“It was a big part of my decision-making process,” Swider explained. “There were a lot of teams that were interested. And a lot of ’em were interested in the same thing the Heat were interested in, an Exhibit 10 (tryout contract) and the opportunity to earn a two-way or a roster spot. But the success with the Heat with those guys gave me an easy decision, in terms of they’re going to give you a real opportunity in training camp, they’re going to give you real opportunities to get on the floor and play through mistakes and make the team.”
“Because of the type of guys like me in the past, they know how to use guys like me,” he said. “When I do something in pickup that looks like [undrafted Heat finds] Duncan [Robinson] or Max [Strus] or Gabe [Vincent], they know how to use me in a game. It’s not like, ‘Oh, this only works in pickup
