Miami Heat prospects step up vs. Bucks in NBA summer league
Taking stock has been a relative exercise for the Miami Heat during summer league these past two weeks.
That again was the case in Thursday’s 91-72 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks in the NBA2K24 Summer League in Las Vegas.
With 2023 first-round pick Jaime Jaquez Jr. missing his third consecutive game with a sore shoulder, and with 2022 first-round pick Nikola Jovic given the day off, the Heat instead turned their attention to prospects fighting for playing time on the back end of the rotation.
In that regard, traction was gained by center Orlando Robinson, forward Jamal Cain and guard Jamaree Bouyea.
Robinson, who earlier this month was converted to a standard contract from the two-way deal he held last season, closed with 25 points and eight rebounds in 28:25.
Cain, who ended last season on a two-way deal and is seeking more, added 24 points and eight rebounds in 34:51.
And Bouyea, who was signed to a two-way deal ahead of summer league, finished with nine points and 10 assists in 27:58.
The Heat also got 10 points from undrafted forward Drew Peterson, who appears headed toward an invitation to training camp.
Five Degrees of Heat from Thursday night’s summer-league game:
1. Moving on: Prior to the game, an NBA source confirmed to the Sun Sentinel that assistant coach Anthony Carter is leaving to join the staff of Memphis Grizzlies coach Taylor Jenkins.
Carter just completed his fifth season as a member of Erik Spoelstra’s coaching staff and his second in the role of assistant coach/director of player development.
Carter, however, did not have a front-of-bench role on game nights, with teams limited to three assistants in those seats, seats taken by Spoelstra assistants Chris Quinn, Malik Allen and Caron Butler.
After beginning his NBA playing career in 1999 with the Heat and remaining with the team through 2003, Carter returned to the Heat as an assistant coach with the G League Sioux Falls Skyforce in 2016, working his way up the coaching hierarchy from there.
Even with the impending change, Carter was on the Heat bench for Thursday’s game.
2. For starters: With Jaquez and Jovic held out, the Heat opened with a lineup of Robinson, Peterson, Cain, Bouya and Dru Smith.
Jaquez has not played since he was injured July 5 in the Heat’s second summer-league game, at the California Classic in Sacramento.
Jovic hurt his foot in the Heat’s Saturday victory over the Boston Celtics’ summer roster, but had returned to practice since.
3. Active again: After closing two previous summer-league games with nine assists, Bouyea this time had assists on six of the Heat’s first eight baskets.
Primarily a scorer in college at San Francisco, Bouyea, who went undrafted in 2022, spent this past season working to become more of a playmaker, mostly with the Heat’s G League affiliate.
“I feel comfortable with the ball,” he said. “At Sioux Falls, I had the ball a lot in my hands, as starting point guard. And then my 10-day (contract) with Miami, as well, I had the ball in my hands and did some things.
“So just keeping faith in myself. They have trust in my ability to play basketball and play the right way and do the right thing. So I know if they put me out there, they know that I’m ready and I know I’m ready, as well.”
4. Huge challenge: Robinson again was effective with his offense, as has been the case throughout summer league.
This time the opening challenge was 7-foot-6 Tacko Fall, the former Boston Celtics, Cleveland Cavaliers and University of Central Florida big man who is attempting a comeback with the Bucks’ summer roster.
“Just got to find a way around him,” Robinson, 6-11, said of working at such a rare size disadvantage.
Fall, 27, played this past season in China. He closed with 10 points and one rebound Thursday.
5. What’s next: The Heat are back at it Friday for an 8:30 p.m. game against the summer roster of the Denver Nuggets. There then will be at least one more game over the weekend, based on the standings from the event’s opening four games.
