Spoelstra calls Okpala’s G League assignment ‘super important.’ And a Heat injury update.
Forward KZ Okpala is set to begin the next phase of his rookie season.
The Heat’s second-round pick was sent Thursday to play in the G League for the organization’s developmental affiliate, the Sioux Falls (South Dakota) Skyforce. The G League is part of the team’s plan for Okpala, who missed 19 consecutive games with the Heat due to a strained left Achilles before returning for Tuesday’s win over the Hawks.
“Super important and a little bit delayed,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said Thursday of Okpala’s G League assignment, referring to the injury that forced Okpala to miss more than a month. “I would have preferred right now, obviously in a perfect world, if he could have played 10 games with [Sioux Falls] and gone through our training camp and their training camp. That hasn’t been the case. It just didn’t play out that way for him. But there’s plenty of time still for him to get experience over there. And he’ll get practice time, plus the games. I’ll be interested to see how it goes.”
Okpala, 20, who was acquired by the Heat in a draft-night trade with the second pick in the second round (No. 32 overall), has grabbed one rebound in three minutes of action in three NBA games this season. The move to the G League will give Okpala a chance at consistent playing time.
The 6-8 and 215-pound Okpala averaged 16.8 points and 5.7 rebounds last season as a sophomore at Stanford. He joins a Skyforce team that has started the season with a 5-8 record under first-year head coach Eric Glass, who previously served as a Heat video coordinator/player development coach.
Okpala isn’t the first second-round pick the Heat has sent to the G League. Josh Richardson, who was the Heat’s second-round pick in 2015, played four G League games with the Skyforce as a rookie and also played in 52 regular-season games for the Heat that season.
With Okpala going to Sioux Falls, guard Daryl Macon rejoined the Heat on Thursday as part of his two-way contract.
LeBron is still LeBron
Even with Lakers All-Star forward LeBron James turning 35 on Dec. 30, he has shown little signs of slowing down any time soon. James is averaging 25.8 points, seven rebounds and 10.8 assists in 34.5 minutes in his 17th NBA season.
“I think he has got the fountain of youth that we’re all searching for,” Spoelstra said of the player he coached for four seasons with the Heat from 2010 to 2014. “But I said it before we played them the last time, the fountain of youth for LeBron James is a bunch of work and no days off when no one is watching. This doesn’t happen by accident. During the summer, he rarely takes a bunch of time off. So it’s not like he’s working to get himself fully back into shape after enjoying three or four months of doing nothing. He’s usually about, at any point during the summer, probably three or four or five days away from being ready to rock for training camp.”
James enters Friday’s matchup against the Heat with a 1-4 record in games he has played at AmericanAirlines Arena since leaving Miami in the summer of 2014. The record is 1-7 if you count the games that James missed due to rest as a member of the Cavaliers during that stretch.
Short-handed Heat
The Heat will continue to play without guards Goran Dragic (right groin strain) and Dion Waiters (sick), and forward Justise Winslow (lower back strain) on Friday against the Lakers. All three have been ruled out.
In addition, rookie guard Tyler Herro (illness) is questionable for Friday’s game. Herro missed Thursday’s practice.
▪ According to TickPick, a secondary ticket marketplace, the average purchase for Friday’s Heat-Lakers game at AmericanAirlines Arena is $242.81. That makes it the most expensive ticket for the entire Heat home season, 115 percent higher than the overall season average of $113.12.
▪ Friday’s Heat-Lakers game was moved from 8 p.m. to 7 p.m. because of of a change with ESPN’s scheduling. Doors at AmericanAirlines Arena will open at 6 p.m.
This story was originally published December 12, 2019 at 3:16 PM.
