Zylan Cheatham Shows Signs of a Miami Heat Guy

After taking a look at the clip above, what stands out?

An explosive roller who can slip screens with ease? Maybe. A quick trigger around the rim? Possibly. But the main thing that sticks out to me here: physicality.

When looking at the Miami Heat’s G-League scouting in the past, they never go for that killer scorer who can’t be stopped. It’s not that flashy on-ball guy who they want to put the ball in the basket. Instead, they look for certain team’s glue guys, who possibly are setting up that big time scorer.

In many ways, that seems to be the job of Zylan Cheatham. A tough guy, rebounds the basketball with great enthusiasm, takes most of his pride on the defensive end. That’s a Heat guy.

Looking at the Heat’s current situation, they’re down 5 rotational guys at the moment, who are all front-court defensive minded players. With that said, it was clear what kind of player they’d use their 10 day contract on.

When I mention Miami searching for “glue guys” or certain set-up players, these are the plays that stick out to the Heat scouting group. A guy that can be relied on down on the defensive end, while being able to stick in the middle of a 2-3 zone to find the open man. Honestly, looks like a young version of current and previous Heat come-ups.

That one pass may look simple in the clip above, but it’s something that guys like KZ Okpala have struggled with over this recent run. Now, this is against G-League talent, so Okpala may be able to do something similar in that setting, but if he can have similar control at the next level, that’s all he needs to be serviceable.

The other part of his game, as I mentioned before, that sticks out is his rebounding. Since Bam Adebayo went down, the Heat are 27th in the league in rebounds per game. Although Cheatham’s height seems to differ depending on what website you look at, it’s clear that his length isn’t what makes him a good rebounder.

Once again, something the Heat absolutely love. Just ask some Heat personnel about PJ Tucker’s recent presence.

As Jonathon Givony of Draft Express said about Cheatham, “I think will have a chance to stick if he can show that his 3-ball is for real, because he does everything else.” And man, that isn’t the first Heat prospect I’ve heard that description for.

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The thing about his current role over the next 10 days is that threes won’t be an absolute necessary factor. He will be an elbow guy, a dunker spot guy, and asked to slightly facilitate the ball around the perimeter, while semi-pulling a big from the basket on guard drives to the basket.

It’s simple. Miami loves to simplify guys games like himself when put in this setting, but the difference now compared to any other circumstance, his opportunity should come immediately. This Heat team is rolling out the same 9 guys every single night, just because they only have 9 available guys.

If that drops down to eight, or even if it stays at nine, Cheatham will get his shot.

Speaking of a dunker spot role, there’s no better player to throw in that spot than an explosive high flyer like himself.

(Derrick Jones Jr anyone?)

We can talk about many things the Heat lacked against Detroit the other night, but one of the major factors was the void of energy, excitement, and enthusiasm. And well, as wild as it may sound, Cheatham could potentially provide that if he gets going upon immediately being scooped up.

One fast-break 360 dunk from Cheatham, and the energy around a game could flip. I guess we’ll see where this goes over the next week and a half, but there’s no doubt this guy is a Heat prospect.

Not about total scoring, defensive minded, energetic rebounder, and a guy who has come up through the mud.

Who would’ve thought?

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