With the veteran element of the Miami Heat’s summer-league roster given the night off Monday in San Francisco, a pair of rookies under contract seized the moment in the California Classic at Chase Center.

Second-round pick Ryan Conwell, again given the shoot-at-will green light, led the Heat with 26 points, five rebounds and four assists in a 95-85 victory over a similar roster of draft picks, free agents and young players from the Golden State Warriors.

He was supported by Tre Donaldson, with the undrafted guard out of the University of Miami signed to a two-way contract, who added 15 points, six assists and five rebounds.

“They’re both serious competitors,” Heat summer coach Wayne Ellington, the Erik Spoelstra assistant, said of Conwell and Donaldson. “That’s the first thing I noticed about those guys. They’re serious competitors. They’re locked in. They want it. They’re curious. They’re always asking questions, students of the game. And then they complement each other well on the floor. They look for each other.

“Tre’s a feisty guard out there. He wants to pick up. He causes havoc. He has a knack for the ball, gets his hand on a lot of deflections, which obviously we love. He’s disruptive. Then Ryan, he’s the same way.”

Donaldson said it was important to contribute to the partnership.

“My self-awareness is the biggest thing, understanding what makes me who I am, and that’s just making the other four guys better on the floor, touching the paint and getting those guys the ball on time and on target,” he said.

With the victory, the Heat closed out their three-game schedule at the California Classic at 2-1.

With it a getaway game for the four teams involved in the event at Chase Center, the game was played in the void of fans, with only executives, scouts, media and family members in attendance at the Warriors arena.

Five Degrees of Heat from Monday night’s game:

1. For starters: As is typical for the latter stages of summer league, the Heat shuffled their starting lineup in their California Classic finale.

While Conwell started for the third time in as many games, with former Louisville teammate J’Vonne Hadley also starting for the third time, the Heat rounded out Monday night’s opening lineup with Tre White,  Arnas Sakenis and Donaldson.

White, a 6-7 forward, went undrafted out of Kansas, while Sakenis, a 6-11 center, went undrafted out of Southern Illinois Edwardsville.

White closed with 16 points, Hadley 10 rebounds.

Of Hadley, Ellington said, “He plays very, very hard. He plays the right way.”

The game also afforded the first summer-league action for the Heat’s Ian Schieffelin, the undrafted forward out of Clemson, Meechie Johnson, the undrafted guard out of South Carolina, and Nate Kangz, the undrafted guard out of Syracuse.

2. Night off: That gave the night off to Heat 2025-26 roster players Vlad Goldin, Jahmir Young and Trevor Keels.

Young in his two appearances in the California Classic averaged 17.5 points, with Keels averaging 17 for his two appearances.

Goldin ended his uneven run in San Francisco with 11 fouls, seven turnovers, eight rebounds and six blocked shots.

Neither Young nor Keels currently are under contract to the Heat, with Goldin with a two-way qualifying offer in place.

3. Conwell’s night: Conwell again played in No. 7, with newcomer Giannis Antetokounmpo claiming that number earlier in the day in the wake of his trade from the Milwaukee Bucks becoming official.

“Giannis, I mean, he get whatever he wants. I’m just not coming into the league. I got a lot of work to do and I’m trying to get to where he’s at,” Conwell said.

“So whatever number Giannis wants, he can have it. And I’m going to take whatever number the team gives me and go out there and play hard.”

Conwell, who has been shifted to No. 4 on the Heat’s roster, opened the Heat scoring with a 3-pointer and again showed a willingness to shoot when needed.

He closed 8 of 14 from the field, including 4 of 9 on 3-pointers.It was a bounceback after shooting 2 of 12 Sunday against the Los Angeles Lakers’ summer roster.

“I wanted some of those plays and some of those shots back from last game,” he said.

4. No Gardner: After starting and playing 6:50 in the Heat’s summer opener against the San Antonio Spurs on Friday night, wing Myron Gardner wound up missing the balance of the California Classic with a sprained left ankle.

Gardner has a $500,000 guarantee in place on his 2026-27 Heat contract.

“We don’t know his status exactly yet,” Ellington said of Conwell’s status going forward in summer league. “I’m not exactly sure what it’s going to look like going forward. I know he’s been getting treatment. He’s trying to get better. So we’ll see.”

5. Up next: Next up is a three-day break before the Heat open their Las Vegas NBA Summer League schedule Friday against the Bucks. That will be one of at least five games on the UNLV campus for Ellington’s roster.