Las Vegas

Couper Moorhead

After going 1-1 in Sacramento, the Miami HEAT’s Summer League team is about to begin play in Las Vegas. Here’s what we’ve noted and noticed from the young players so far.

If there’s one thing Miami’s front office has a keen eye for in the draft process, it’s players with a high degree of give-a-****.

If there’s a second thing Miami’s front office tends to have a pretty good sense for in the draft process, it’s players who can play.

That’s not as reductive as it sounds. You can be the greatest athlete in the world. You can have incredible wingspan. You could be an all-world shooter or a lockdown defender. You won’t be able to stay on the court for the most important minutes in the most important games if you don’t have a feel for the game – how to navigate collapsing spaces, where everyone on the floor is and where they’re going to be, which shots are the best shots at any moment in a possession and how to adjust on the fly. There’s been many a great talent over the years that had all the tools, but never became what they could because they just couldn’t play.

Nikola Jović and Jamie Jaquez Jr. shouldn’t have that problem.

“You can teach a lot of things, but the feel of the game is a gift,” says HEAT Summer League head coach Caron Butler. “They have it. They have the feel of the game.”

Sure, it was nice that the pair combined for 43 points on 27 shots in their debut game, shooting 9-of-18 from three across two appearances in Sacramento, but that’s not where you see the feel.

You see it when Jović collects his own miss at the top of the arc on a long bounce and immediately – the catch and the pass all in one motion – fires the ball to an open Orlando Robinson in the paint.

2023-summer-league-jovic-oreb-read

2023 Summer League: Jovic OReb Read

You see it when Jović follows up a driving euro-step with a kickout to the open corner man, and then follows that up a couple minutes later with a baseline spin that leads to him hitting a wing shooter – two different reads made, in traffic, on time and on target at speed.

2023-summer-league-jovic-kickouts

2023 Summer League: Jović Kickouts

With Jaquez Jr. – he played just 15 minutes in the second game after a slow, 1-of-6 start with a handful of turnovers – you see it in the way he’s already adjusted to NBA spacing, spinning empty-corner pick-and-rolls into soft lobs for Robinson.

2023-summer-league-jaime-lobs

2023 Summer League: Jaime Lobs

And you can see it that feel in how he follows up his own plays, driving into a kickout read and having the wherewithal to linger around in the dunker spot as the defense rotates away from him.

2023-summer-league-jaime-baseline-reads

2023 Summer League: Jaime Baseline Reads

Nice as it is to see Jaquez Jr. throwing one down in transition or Jović draining straightaway threes – more on those later – it’s these feel plays, coming so early in Jaquez Jr.’s professional career, that offer the most encouragement for their long-term prospects. Erik Spoelstra schemes, on both ends of the floor, require read-and-react proficiency. You have to be able to absorb information, the goals behind the designs, and eventually play off instincts.

Plenty of players can make shots in Summer League. The ones who make it into big-league rotations are the ones who can consistently make plays.

Everyone gets a good laugh when a player says they’ve added 15 pounds of muscle, but Jović wouldn’t have had to say anything for it to be obvious that he’s put in the work on his body. He’s still more T-1000 than T-800 – “You don’t have to be jacked to be strong,” he says – but despite the back injury that limited him for much of last season there’s been a filling out process that is already translating onto the court.

In Jović’s 15 appearances last year, including eight starts, the HEAT kept things mostly simple. His minutes came either at center, where he could focus on rolling hard off screens or popping into space, or at the other big spot, where he was strictly a floor spacer. Miami was trying to compete for a playoff spot and there wasn’t much in-game room for developing on-ball skills.

2023-summer-league-jovic-downhill

2023 Summer League: Jović Downhill

“It’s really his added weight,” Butler said. “Now he has the confidence to absorb that contact. He’s getting downhill. He can do it either right or left. That’s the beautiful thing about him, if you put him in either slot, he’s going to have the advantage. Even with the weight gain, he’s still so mobile.”

There’s still a bit of a Summer League quality to some of these drives. Defenders not being away of their help rotations in the paint. Loose fouls. Some of the finishes Jović has attempted aren’t going to work against bigger, better defenders – both he and Jaquez Jr. had more trouble against a Kings roster featuring better, more experienced athletes and defenders than the Lakers had for Game 1 – he’ll have to find the spots he’s most comfortable with. That’s all part of the process. Bam Adebayo struggled mightily against length in the paint his first two seasons and now dotted line jumpers might be the premier tool in his kit.

For now, the important part is that with his added strength, Jović feels comfortable putting the ball on the floor and playing into contact. The on-ball skills that pop at 6-foot-10 are going to afford him plenty of opportunities to get downhill. Now he has the strength to start developing his options for when he gets to the bottom.

If you want to play for Spoelstra, you have to be able to shoot and you have to be able to defend. Weaker defense from an elite shooter or two can be tolerated because of the impact that skillset has on the offense, but the NBA has evolved to such a place where you can only really survive with a non-shooter at one position – center, more often than not, unless you have a true stretch-five. If you aren’t a reliable shooter, teams aren’t going to guard you in the playoffs and your offense is going to be fighting for clean air.

So far, so good on that Summer League front.

Just about any time you saw Jović during Miami’s run to the NBA Finals last season, he was working with shooting coach Rob Fodor on his shooting mechanics. At times, the exercises and drills he was doing were nearly indecipherable without a proper explanation – one day Jović had to do a full, 360-degree spin on one foot before immediately shooting. Few would describe those drills as cool, but cool doesn’t get you anywhere when you have work to do.

“Most of my misses were short,” Jović said of the past year. “So we were working on my arc and my connection. My stance also. They never told me my shot was bad, there’s always some room to work. I feel it looks a lot better.”

This was the first time in his career – especially with the back injury limiting his contact work – that Jović had so much space to dive into the details of his shot. The results, 5-of-9 over two games, are encouraging not just because of the makes, but the shots – some catch-and-shoot, some off the dribble, some after a reset.

At 32.8 percent, with just one season over 32, Jaquez Jr. wasn’t seen as an elite shooting prospect. The catch-and-shoot and unguarded numbers were good enough – high 30’s, low 40’s – however, that you could see where shedding some of the high-usage, college star shots out of his game could produce low-hanging fruit dividends. Sure, enough, with most of his attempts coming off the catch or in the corners, he’s opened Summer League 4-of-8 from deep. No deep mechanical changes required just yet, just a focus on the fundamentals.

“Keeping my head straight and on target, and shooting with my legs,” he said of his shooting focus. “Making sure I get my hand under the ball, use my legs and hold the follow through.”

Lastly, Orlando Robinson hit 2-of-3 against the Lakers, including one trailing three that was the spitting image of the same shots Spoelstra asked players like Meyers Leonard and Dewayne Dedmon to lean into in the past. Robinson went 0-of-6 from three during the regular season, and only took 18 threes with Sioux Falls, but the intention is clearly there and even if the volume doesn’t reach the necessary levels to play alongside Adebayo, Spoelstra has had plenty of success with low-volume, high-efficiency shooters at the backup spot.

-Butler noted that while Jamaree Bouyea was expecting to start before the team also signed Dru Smith to a two-way spot, and that Bouyea graciously accepted a bench role afterwards. Now, the two are playing quite a few minutes together, combining for 11 steals over two games.

“They’re just exceptional guys that like playing with each other,” Butler said. “It’s similar to what we had with Kyle [Lowry] and Gabe [Vincent].”

-Jamal Cain didn’t play against the Lakers with an ankle injury, but contributed 17 points on 10 shots off the bench against the Kings Wednesday night, including good defensive minutes in a game where Keegan Murray, a No. 4 pick and starter all season for Sacramento, was otherwise nearly unstoppable on his way to 41 points on 20 shots. As with Haywood Highsmith last year, Cain is a good enough defender that he could earn himself some minutes if he can hit enough open looks.

-Worth noting that as Summer League plays out, teams are now allowed to carry up to three two-way contacts. That may not sound like a huge deal, but little changes like that often have important roster ramifications down the line.

coup-notebook-52-nikola-jovic-jaime-jaquez-orlando-robinson

Coup’s Notebook Vol. 52: Miami’s First Round Picks Show Off Their Feel For The Game, Nikola Jović Plays Strong Ball And Everyone Works On Their Shooting

Three games in with a full Las Vegas slate ahead, Summer League head coach Malik Allen took some time to chat about his coaching experience and some of the players on the roster.

Couper Moorhead: What do you get out of coaching Summer League? Naturally you're working to further your coaching skills, but presumably there's also the benefit of keeping connected to guys that you're going to be working with player development-wise throughout the year.

Allen: There's so many great, really, really good coaches in our league, sometimes they don't even get this opportunity. I was just really thankful between last year and this year, just being able to do it for two years. I just kind of tapped into it, this is what I love to do. It's having an opportunity to coach and it means a lot from the standpoint of I’ve been in a lot of these guys position [playing Summer League]. I think it's a little bit more sentimental. I was in their shoes in terms of just trying to make it. So there's just that added layer to it for me. It's great to be a part of and hopefully help.

Last year, my first year, you’re just trying to stay focused on a couple of things. You try not to get too much out of the box and try to conquer the world. This year it's a different group. It feels like the weight’s taken off. It's a lot more teaching in a lot of ways. Which is great for me because it helps me keep building that part. From the standpoint of my coaching career, just getting better. Being able to experience last year and watch Spo get to work, having the opportunity to learn. You try to apply it to this year and help these guys try to grow in the NBA game. It’s helping to further my own coaching chops.

One of the one of the new guys is Nikola [Jović], one of the very few international players the franchise has selected and kept on draft night. So at least for a HEAT player, the transition he’s currently going through is a little different. He mentioned there that you're the first English speaking coach, running practice in English he's ever had. It’s a new, different style of play. How tough is this transition he's making and everything he's been going through from getting drafted to this point?

My gosh, it's a massive transition for him. The first full day of practice, and especially the second day, you can just tell his world was spinning. He’s played in Europe, a certain way in a totally different environment at that. You’re also talking about a young kid who's now making a transition not only just basketball wise, but just from a fundamental living standpoint of being in a totally different place. To be honest with you, I really think he's handled it beautifully. He's really done a great job of being open to the learning and coaching. We’re throwing a lot at him, but it's sort of on purpose because he's got a really good IQ. He’s got a good head on his shoulders. He does have an understanding of maybe a different style of play, but he also has a good understanding of exactly what we’re trying to do. On both ends of the floor, it's just a matter of getting his brain up to speed doing it naturally. Which will take time.

I keep trying to reiterate that part to him. He's young and he's competitive and he wants to be really good, right now. But he sees it and he has an understanding of it, which is a big, big plus that a lot of guys don't have. Now it's just a matter of the more experience he gets, the more familiarity he gains he's just going to get more and more confident. I think he's done a really good job. It's basically been a week of trying to learn NBA basketball.

One guy who kind of flies under the radar is Haywood Highsmith. He doesn't have a game that's really going to pop if you’re watching on television. In some ways you could compare him to P.J. Tucker, where if you put P.J. into Summer League games, he might not pop either. But with the way the main roster is constructed right now, Haywood has a big opportunity ahead of him. Like a lot of guys that have been in the HEAT summer program before, he could go from Summer League to being in the rotation. That opportunity might be there. How do you think he's handling that? When a player has that opportunity, what do you as a coach want to do for them? How do you guide them through what might be the biggest moment of their career?

I think the biggest thing for H is he's a little older. He's played in G-League. He’s got NBA experience. He's smart and picks things up really quickly. That's always a big bonus.

Right now it's a little bit of a different role. You’re not playing with Kyle Lowry and Jimmy Butler and those guys. Which is not taking anything away from [the Summer roster], you were playing with All-Stars. There are two sides of it. The first part is working on leadership. A lot of times you step into a different role, a little bit bigger role in terms of your leadership, and all of a sudden, you gain more confidence. The other thing is to be aggressive. At the same time, I’m not going to ask him to run pick-and-rolls. That's not what he's going to be doing. That would be doing him an unbelievable disservice. That's not a knock, it's just more time. More time in the system. How he's playing, it's not about scoring 20 a game. If it happens, it happens. We hope he has some really good offensive success, but that's not what’s going to be designed for him. He's got a pretty good handle what his role within the offense is going to be no matter who he's playing with.

As long as he's just feels comfortable and confident things are going to take care of themselves. I'm not going to walk out of a Summer League game and look at the box score and judge his performance based on that. It’s going to be, how do you do defensively, on the ball and off the ball. Is he helping other guys on the floor with his leadership? Is he continuing to make the offense work? You mentioned P.J. and one of the great things P.J. did was he kept our offense moving at times. H studied that all year. There are going to be games where that ball is coming to him and he's going to be in position to score. Then there are going to be games where he is the second option and he is going to be in an action where he’s going to wind up helping the next guy. There’s a lot of parallels between the way he's playing here and what he has to do regularly.

You’re getting a couple of other guys back for Vegas. One of them is your guy in Omer [Yurtseven]. When he got thrust into minutes during the season, Spo kind of brought him along slowly. You guys were playing a lot of zone at first and just to get him comfortable defensively and then you eventually start playing a little bit more man. Now that he has that experience at NBA speed what do you think he can work on defensively? Within what his game is and his size? Where can he improve defensively to earn or at least make himself available for more minutes?

One of the things I like seeing is him seeing plays develop. That happens with experience and playing a lot at our level. You look at the guys who can see the situation on the defensive end develop ahead of time and are ahead of it. Next thing you know, they’re barking out calls to help our guards handle it and defend a pick-and-roll. That’s experience and just imparting on him what situations you're going to be in. He had some really great possessions where he just made some plays outside his area and then he comes back and has a great block or is altering shots at the rim.  The big thing for him is how do we keep closing the gap and make more and more of those plays? We don't want people getting to the rim, but it's the NBA. It happens. Can you be something of a rim protector back there that can really not be just a shot blocker, but you can alter shots. He's big and he’s quick on his feet, so he's got some athleticism and tools. He can do that. He's going to rebound the ball. He can do that. It’s just a matter of how can we make an impact before the shot actually goes up?

You’re not even halfway through Summer League, but is there anybody on the roster that we haven't talked about who has really popped or your caught your eye or you think is doing a really good job behind the scenes that people haven't seen in the games?

I think in terms of opportunity, Marcus [Garrett]. Unfortunately his season was cut shot, he had a wrist injury and surgery. He didn't play in San Francisco. He’s still working his way back from that. But he played today [in a scrimmage] and he was he playing in all the practices. He’s got a really unique skill as an on-ball defender that a lot of people won’t have. A lot of people aren't going to be willing to exert that energy. He had some good moments for us. He wasn't necessarily scoring the ball but he's got a good feel off the ball in terms of his cutting. He can get you into offense. I'm not going to sit here and say he's a true point guard, but he can get you into offense and he's really coachable. From that standpoint, it gives him a chance. And defensively he's really dynamic. He can put people in the box and he's got this sort of elusiveness. Sometimes you don't feel like he’s there and next thing you know he's poking the ball from you. He's a tough, competitive kid when he gets between the lines. We’re just happy to have him back and looking forward to him playing some games for us.

I think it's a great opportunity for Javonte [Smart] to keep growing and [Mychal Mulder] in terms of sort of a veteran presence. We’ve had a couple of kids who have made an impact. Kyle Allman has been good for us. He's got some experience [overseas]. He's a tough kid and can get into the paint. I don’t want to cut anybody short but those guys in particular have had some good moments for us. But outside of that, with Marcus I'm excited to see what he can he can bring.

Las Vegas

Coup’s Notebook Vol. 52: Miami’s First Round Picks Show Off Their Feel For The Game, Nikola Jović Plays Strong Ball And Everyone Works On Their Shooting

From The Sidelines: Summer League Q&A With Malik Allen