MIAMI, August 27 – The Miami HEAT announced today that they have signed forward Jarnell Stokes. As per club policy, terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Last season, Stokes played with the Zhejiang Golden Bulls of the Chinese Basketball Association, appearing in 28 games. He averaged 25.0 points, 13.9 rebounds, 2.8 assists, 1.11 steals and 1.04 blocks in 33.5 minutes per game.
Stokes started all 28 games in which he appeared with the HEAT’s G League affiliate, the Sioux Falls Skyforce, during the 2015-16 season, helping the team to the 2016 G League Championship and earning the 2016 G League MVP award after averaging 20.6 points, 9.3 rebounds, 1.1 assists, 1.11 steals and 30.7 minutes while shooting 66.5 percent from the field. He was originally drafted by the Utah Jazz in the second round (35th overall) of the 2014 NBA Draft and was previously acquired by the HEAT in a trade with Memphis on November 10, 2015 before being traded by Miami to New Orleans on February 18, 2016.
Stokes has appeared in 28 career NBA games (two starts) between Miami, Memphis, New Orleans and Denver averaging 2.4 points, 1.4 rebounds and 5.4 minutes of action while shooting 58.1 percent from the field. He appeared in five games with the HEAT during the 2015-16 season, totaling seven points, two rebounds, one assist and a steal in 14 minutes of action.
He appeared in 87 games while at the University of Tennessee (84 starts) where he was a teammate of current HEAT guard Josh Richardson and averaged 13.0 points, 9.6 rebounds, 1.5 assists, 1.08 blocks and 29.7 minutes while shooting 62.8 percent. He finished his collegiate career first in offensive rebounds, fourth in double-doubles, eighth in total rebounds and 14th in blocks on the school’s all-time list.