Pair of guards working to maximize summer opportunity with Heat. And Jovic, Yurtseven updates
Kyle Allman Jr. is representing the Miami Heat in summer league while negotiating a potential new contract with Paris Basketball to continue his basketball career overseas. In other words, the 24-year-old guard is still considering all of his options for next season.
“I’m open to everything,” Allman said. “I can go back to Paris. Obviously, we’re still negotiating stuff. But I’m open to everything.”
Allman, who went undrafted out of Cal State Fullerton in 2019, has stood out at times as a member of the Heat’s summer squad. He was shaky in Saturday’s win over the Boston Celtics to open Las Vegas Summer League with four points on 2-of-11 shooting and two assists, but has impressed as a facilitator.
Allman (6-4, 183) has averaged 7.8 points, 3.3 rebounds and five assists through the Heat’s first four summer league games (three starts), including the three games in the California Classic to kick off summer play. He has hit just 27.5 percent of his shots this summer, but dished out 10 assists in a win over the Golden State Warriors’ summer league team last Tuesday in San Francisco.
“I know the numbers have been up and down, but he’s just really helped our team, especially these last couple days,” Heat assistant coach and summer league head coach Malik Allen said, with Miami set to play its second of five Las Vegas Summer League games on Tuesday against the Atlanta Hawks at Thomas & Mack Center (7 p.m., NBA TV).
This marks the longest stretch Allman has played at the NBA level, as he appeared in just one summer league game with the Toronto Raptors after going undrafted in 2019. He then went on to spend the 2019-20 season in the Greek Basket League.
“I played in the Salt Lake City one. I just didn’t go to Vegas with them,” Allman said of his decision to leave the Raptors’ summer league team three years ago. “I felt like they kind of had their team and I would have went to ride the bench. So I just made a decision. But I always felt like I was close. Even now, I feel like I’m getting closer to being where I want to be.”
Where Allman wants to be is in the NBA, but he has also established himself as a quality player overseas. After playing in Greece, he spent the 2020-21 season in the Latvian–Estonian Basketball League and then took his career to France to play for Paris Basketball last season.
Allman, who was born in Brooklyn, New York, averaged 15 points while shooting 45.1 percent from the field, 3.8 rebounds, 4.6 assists and one steal for Paris Basketball. He led the team in points, field goals made, defensive rebounds and assists.
“I wound up in Latvia because they were Champions League, so I wanted to play European competition,” Allman said, discussing his international career. “After that, Paris had a great opportunity. They were kind of building up the program in a really good league and they had good intentions with a couple good guys who played in the NBA and who had aspirations to play in the NBA.”
Playing for the Heat’s summer league team has required an adjustment from Allman, though. The game is played differently overseas.
“Just NBA sets are different, pace is different,” Allman said. “It’s like the way they do things is so different than what I’m used to. I’ve never played in the NBA, so it’s just so different from the sets I run overseas and what I got used to for nine, 10 months at a time. So I’m just learning. It’s definitely been a transition and a lot has been thrown at me in a week. But I’m built for it.”
Whether Allman will stick in the NBA or continue his international career next season is still be determined. He’s only on a summer contract with the Heat and has not yet signed an Exhibit 10 deal to continue his learning process with the organization in training camp.
The Heat’s two-way contract slots are currently occupied by guards Mychal Mulder and Javonte Smart
“He’s continuing to understand,” Allen said of Allman. “The first couple days, it just seems like a lot when you’re new. He’s got, obviously, professional experience but you’re just coming to a totally different line of thought and thinking from just talking to him. He said, ‘I’ll be fine. I’m going to get it. I just got to keep learning,’ and he has.”
▪ Jamaree Bouyea, who went undrafted last month out of San Francisco, is another guard on the Heat’s summer league roster who has stood out.
Bouyea, 23, was especially impressive in the second half of Saturday’s win over the Celtics in Las Vegas, as he totaled nine points on 4-of-6 shooting from the field, four rebounds, two steals and two blocks in the final two quarters of the contest.
The 6-2 and 170-pound guard has averaged 6.5 points on 10-of-25 (40 percent) shooting from the field, 3.3 rebounds, 3.8 assists, 1.3 steals and one block per game through the Heat’s first four summer league games.
“They know I’m trying to win games,” Bouyea said of feedback he has received from the Heat. “A big part of summer league is people want to showcase their talents and their offensive talents. I think not too many people want to showcase how to win games and do whatever it takes to win games. So I’m just trying to thrive in my role off the bench and maximize my opportunity.”
YURTSEVEN AND JOVIC STATUS UPDATE
The Heat’s summer league team could be without both center Omer Yurtseven and rookie forward Nikola Jovic for Tuesday’s matchup against the Hawks in Las Vegas.
Both Yurtseven and Jovic were held out of Monday’s practice held on UNLV’s campus.
Yurtseven has already been ruled out and will miss his second straight game because of a quad injury he suffered recently while playing for the Turkish national team.
“He seems to be getting better,” Allen said Monday of Yurtseven. “He was shooting a little bit. He responded well to treatment. He’s day to day. So we’ll just see. He won’t play tomorrow, I know that. So we’ll see how it goes after that.”
Jovic, who was drafted by the Heat with the 27th overall pick last month, is dealing with a bruised quad that has his status for Tuesday’s game up in the air.
“It happened in [Saturday’s] game, in the second quarter, actually,” Jovic said of the injury. “I just jumped to block a shot and a guy just kneed me in my quad. It’s more of a contusion, nothing special, but I was unable to practice right now. I hope I’ll recover soon. I don’t know what time I’ll be back, but I think I’ll be back really soon.”
Allen stopped short of ruling out Jovic for Tuesday’s summer league game, noting that the 19-year-old was “feeling a bit better” on Monday.
Yurtseven and Jovic are the only two members of the Heat’s summer league roster who have fully guaranteed NBA contracts with the team for this upcoming season.
▪ Heat forward Udonis Haslem, who is still deciding whether to return for a 20th NBA season, was at Monday’s summer league practice in Las Vegas. He worked with a few players on the court toward the end of the session.
