What have been Okpala’s initial impressions of Heat? ‘They push me’ and ‘they get serious’
KZ Okpala’s first month in the NBA has been different.
The Heat selected the 20-year-old Okpala with the second pick in the second round (No. 32 overall) in the June 20 draft. But because Miami acquired the 6-9 forward out of Stanford in a draft-night trade — from Indiana through Phoenix — in exchange for three second-round picks in 2022, 2025 and 2026, the Heat’s acquisition of Okpala could not become official until the end of the NBA moratorium on July 6.
That delay forced Okpala to miss the entirety of summer league earlier this month, with the Heat making the decision to hold him out because it was already a week into summer league when he became part of the team’s roster.
“It was weird for sure,” Okpala said during an appearance Wednesday at Jr. Heat Basketball Camp at South Broward High. “But my parents always tell me control the thing you can control, so it was like that.”
But the past few days have represented somewhat of an introduction to his new team, with Okpala arriving to Miami on Monday for workouts with Heat coaches.
“They push us. They push me. We work really hard,” Okpala said of his initial takeaways from his first few days of workouts in Miami. “When I got here, as soon you get here, they get serious. We get to it. So I think that’s the biggest thing for me. That’s going to allow me to grow up.”
Still early in the process, the focus of workouts has been on Okpala’s ball-handling, outside shooting and finishing skills around the basket.
“It’s been good for the most part,” he said, “just learning new things, putting myself into a new environment, it’s been good. I’m in a good hands, for sure.”
“Everything is just done the right way, the correct way. Everybody on the staff, no one cuts corners. Everything is done professionally and the right way.”
Okpala, who described himself as “a worker,” averaged 16.8 points and 5.7 rebounds last season as a sophomore, while shooting 46.3 percent from the field and 36.8 percent on three-pointers.
Though the past month hasn’t gone as planned for Okpala, he’s happy with where he ended up. The Heat has already signed him to a three-year, $4.2 million minimum salary contract, with all three years of the deal guaranteed.
“It’s just beautiful. It’s similar to where I’m from, Orange County, California,” Okpala said of Miami. “So I think the transition will be easy.”
THIS AND THAT
▪ Forward Nick Mayo, who played on the Heat’s summer league team earlier month, has landed with the Chiba Jets Funabashi of the Japanese league. Mayo, who went undrafted this year out of Eastern Kentucky, averaged 9.5 points and 2.5 rebounds for the Heat in the Las Vegas summer league.
▪ Recently retired Heat guard Dwyane Wade will serve as a global ambassador at the second Jr. NBA Global Championship, which will take place Aug. 6-11 at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in Orlando. Wade will be at the event “to watch the competition, interact with the youth teams and participate in leadership development programs,” according to the news release announcing the news.
The Jr. NBA Global Championship is a youth basketball tournament for the top 13- and 14-year-old boys’ and girls’ teams from around the world.
This story was originally published July 24, 2019 at 3:13 PM.
