'Airplane Mode' grounded. Plus, what Heat is looking for with two-way contract player

Derrick Jones Jr. got off to another flying start Sunday, thrilling the crowd inside the Cox Pavilion with a series of highlight-reel dunks in his first action of the Las Vegas Summer League.

Airplane Mode, though, is now grounded.

The Heat's 21-year-old small forward badly sprained his right ankle after he landed awkwardly with about two minutes and 30 seconds left in the opening quarter against the Charlotte Hornets.

Jones Jr., who signed a two-year minimum deal with the Heat to join the 15-man roster a week ago, could not put any weight on his ankle as he was being helped off the court by Miami's training staff. After the game, he walked off the court with ankle brace.

"I just went up to go block the shot and came down on it," said Jones Jr., who played one season in college at UNLV before he went undrafted out of college and signed with the Phoenix Suns. "We didn’t talk about [if I'll play in any more games] yet. So we're going to see about that tonight and see what happens. It's an ankle sprain, so it’s more than pain. But it’s not something that I can't tolerate."

The injury puts a damper on what had been a stellar summer for Jones, who averaged 21.3 points, 7.3 rebounds, two steals and 1.3 blocks per game while shooting 51 percent from the field in three games at the California Classic last week. Jones Jr. (6-7, 200) had nine points and two rebounds in the opening quarter Sunday including a trio of high-flying dunks as well as a three-pointer.

"I'm not disappointed," Jones Jr. said. "Ankle sprains happen. It's the game of basketball. So you've got to do what you can do. I'll go get some treatment and whatever the trainers tell me to do, that's what I'm going to do."

Jones Jr. went down right in front of the Heat’s front office leaders including team president Pat Riley, who spent most of the first quarter Sunday deep in conversation with Oklahoma City Thunder general manager Sam Presti.

The Heat, which is just below the league's $123 million luxury tax and is looking to move salary off the roster in order to accommodate the return of three-point specialist Wayne Ellington and 12-time All-Star Dwyane Wade, is interested in Thunder forward Carmelo Anthony according to ESPN.

Anthony, 34, is coming off his worst season as a pro and is set to part ways with OKC at some point this summer either through the league stretch provision, a buyout or a trade.

Riley, 73, said last month after the draft the financial hurdles the team was facing this summer with all of its salary cap space tied up could lead to a quiet summer on the free agent front. Jones Jr. has been Miami’s only roster addition thus far.

The Heat, which is now 0-2 in Las Vegas after Sunday's 94-90 loss to the Hornets, is off Monday and plays its next game Tuesday in the Thomas and Mack Center at 4:30 p.m. against Utah (ESPNU).

▪ Wearing a Tyler Johnson jersey, Heat swingman Rodney McGruder sat on Miami's bench for the second game in a row and cheered his teammates on. McGruder wore a James Johnson on Saturday.

HEAT’S TWO-WAY FOCUS

Chet Kammerer, Miami's Vice President of Personnel and the head of the team's scouting department, said Sunday he, Adam Simon and Keith Askins are combing over the rosters of all 30 teams in Las Vegas to decide on who the Heat will sign as the first of two two-way contract players for next season.

“I think we're probably leaning to get a two-way done sometime after summer league and then we might keep one open just because we like the flexibility,” Kammerer said of the Heat.

“Last year we struggled to find somebody we all really liked. We liked certain guys but we weren’t convinced they were the right guys. So, we’re kind of in the middle of in the middle of the whole thing right now, trying to evaluate each game. We just played one game here. But by the end of the week we'll have a lot better feel.”

Of the players on the Heat's summer league roster former Michigan forward Duncan Robinson has been a clear standout.

He's started all five of the Heat's summer league games thus far and has shot well, averaging 11.3 points and shooting 57 percent in the California Classic and then making seven three-pointers in his first two games here in Las Vegas. That's something the Heat clearly values.

“We talked to [coach Erik] Spoelstra. He talked about the one quality he likes the most or wants the most is shooters,” Kammerer said. “To me [Duncan is] an elite shooter and he’s proven that so far here.

“I think he’s done a little bit more than we anticipated. He’s had two dunks now off the dribble in the half court, which was kind of unexpected. And [Saturday] he had six rebounds in 20 minutes. Those are big factors.”

This story was originally published July 8, 2018 at 6:56 PM.