The learning curve can be unforgiving for undrafted NBA prospects, and summer league is often the lone opportunity to adjust to an entirely different system.

Or you could arrive as a veteran, a well-schooled veteran.

That, Miami Heat rookie prospect Tre Donaldson said, might just have him ahead of the learning curve.

The latest in the lineage of four-year collegians brought in by the Heat, Donaldson, even at 22, arguably has seen it all.

Two seasons at Auburn under Bruce Pearl. One season at Michigan under Dusty May. And then this past season under Jai Lucas at Miami.

“I feel like it eases the process going into this, just being able to adapt to this NBA game,” said Donaldson, with the 6-foot-2 guard signed to a Heat two-way contract ahead of the team’s summer-league opener Friday night in San Francisco against the summer roster of the San Antonio Spurs.

“It’s a lot different,” Donaldson said of the NBA game. “So just being able to adapt, I feel like it’s the biggest thing that I’ve taken from my three different stops.

“But looking back on it, I’m super, super grateful for those three different stops, because I’ve learned so much discipline from Bruce Pearl. He instills that in you early.  And then just the savviness that Dusty made. And then the fast pace that Jai Lucas brings to his offense, as well.”

The result is a polished prospect for the summer roster guided by Heat assistant coach Wayne Ellington.

“He’s a competitor,” Ellington said, as the Heat begins three summer-league games at the California Classic, before moving on for at least five more at the larger Las Vegas NBA Summer League. “You saw that from him at University of Miami, and he’s doing it now. Another skill that he has as a point guard is he’s very vocal. He’s done a great job of getting guys organized, getting them in place. And that’s what you want from your point guard.

“He has a high IQ. He has a good understanding of the game. He’s picking up on things pretty quickly.”

Because he’s already put in the study time, catching Heat games last season at Kaseya Center when he could while with the Hurricanes.

“I’m a basketball junkie,” he said. “I don’t watch TV, so I try to stick to the games as much as possible. Obviously, we were in season as well, so just to get over there, watch as many games.”

He’s aware of the opportunity at hand, with the Heat’s standard roster at the moment only featuring Davion Mitchell and Dru Smith at point guard.

So when the Heat called for a workout ahead of the draft, Donaldson scrambled for a red eye from San Francisco for the opportunity.

“It was probably the workout I’ll never forget,” the Tallahassee prep product said. “I got delayed a couple of times coming off a red eye, no sleep, came straight from the airport, straight to the gym.”

When he met Heat president Pat Riley and Heat coach Erik Spoelstra.

“It was probably the best red eye I ever took, just seeing Pat Riley for the first time, Coach Spo, and all those guys, it was super, super exciting,” he said. “I feel like that’s what gave me the energy to finish the workout and have a good one.”

Good enough to snag a two-way contract and this ongoing summer schooling.

“Just trying to get better,” he said. “They do that really well and that’s what I was looking forward to.”

He is already showing development, with his 16.4 scoring average, 5.7 assist average and 3.6 rebounding average last season all collegiate single-season bests. He also shot .359 on 3-pointers.

Now, he’s a man with a plan.

“My playmaking. I feel like that’s the biggest thing,” he said of what he views as his NBA skillset. “That’s what I do. And then just the way I’m able to make the other four guys better. I’m able to control games, understanding what to do in certain times of the game, time and score, situations.

“So just bringing that to the team and then just my energy, my physicality with the build I have defensively, I feel like I can bother the ball on defense and become a pest.”