MIAMI _ The mandate for Meyers Leonard is relatively simple _ pick up for the Miami Heat where he left off for the Portland Trail Blazers.
In practice, it also is a heady challenge, because all the 7-foot-1 big man did in his final game with the Blazers was score 25 first-half points in a 30-point effort against the Golden State Warriors in the final game of the Western Conference finals.
That May 20 loss ended Portland's season and ultimately Leonard's Blazers career, subsequently dealt to the Heat in the July machinations that sent Hassan Whiteside to the Pacific Northwest and delivered Jimmy Butler from the Philadelphia 76ers to the Heat.
With Butler's formal Heat introduction not until Friday, Leonard stood front and center Wednesday by the Heat locker room at AmericanAirlines Arena to discuss this next stage of his NBA career.
"I know that I can impact the game every night," the 2012 No. 11 pick out of Illinois said. "And I'm vastly improved compared to when I was younger and earlier in my career. The easiest way to put it is I feel really good about where I'm at. And I'm just excited for this new opportunity. The Heat saw something in me and I really appreciate it."
While much of the numbers crunching in the trade with the Blazers came down to Leonard's $11.3 million salary and the fact that his contract expires after this season, his outside stroke makes him an intriguing stretch option for Heat coach Erik Spoelstra, having converted 5 of 8 3-pointers against the Warriors in that closing act to his Portland career.
"I'm going to do what's asked of me," he said. "If I'm open, I'm going to shoot it. That's one thing I feel that, particularly last year, I started to do a better job of is take more contested shots.
"Here, I feel that I've really expanded my game. I can get my shot off quicker. I feel good, even extended beyond the 3-point line. I really, really feel that I'll be able to provide a very unique skill-set and the ability to roll all the way to the rim, to half roll and play-make or to pick and pop to three. So it's something I've worked very, very hard on."
Leonard appeared Wednesday wearing a Heat "Culture" T-shirt, further indicating the buy-in.
"I've already felt that, from the coaches to the rest of the staff, my teammates," he said. "It's been a fun transition for me. Even during the summer, coach Spo had reached out to me a few times. He even came to L.A. to watch me work out. To me, the little things matter."
As has the contact with Heat president Pat Riley, as informal as it has been.
"Mr. Riley sent me a very nice text whenever the night of the trade was," he said. "And coming from a guy that's a basketball legend, it was cool to feel welcomed by him. Then once I did meet him in person here in the arena, honestly it was just more hello and get to know you, a big smile on his face. When you understand the level of respect he has in the basketball world, me as a youngster growing up and watching him on TV, everything is just, to have that type of basketball history I suppose, within this organization, is pretty incredible."
And, with that, it was back to settling into his new hometown alongside wife Elle, with training camp to open Tuesday at Kaiser University in West Palm Beach.
"We want to just be normal people who will say hello when you say hello to us when we're out in the community in Miami," he said. "You shouldn't feel shy in that you couldn't say something to us. We're not closed off. We have real-world problems just like everybody else, day-to-day. We're just normal people."
