Nikola Jovic, Jaime Jaquez Jr. shine and other observations from Heat’s summer league opener
The Miami Heat opened summer league action with a 107-90 win over the Los Angeles Lakers on Monday at Golden 1 Center as part of the California Classic. Here are some observations from the Heat’s blowout win over the Lakers in Sacramento:
▪ The Heat began its first summer league game of the year with a lineup of guards Dru Smith and Jaime Jaquez Jr., forwards and Drew Peterson and Nikola Jovic, and center Orlando Robinson.
Smith currently holds a two-way contract with the Heat.
Jaquez, who was drafted by the Heat with the 18th overall pick last month, Jovic, who was the Heat’s first-round draft pick last year, and Robinson, who signed a standard contract with the Heat over the weekend, are all on track to be on Miami’s 15-man roster this upcoming season.
Peterson went undrafted this year out of USC and is working to earn a spot on an NBA team.
▪ After scoring just three points on 1-of-6 shooting from the field in his summer league debut last year, Jovic opened his second summer league with a much better performance.
Jovic totaled 21 points on 7-of-12 shooting from the field and 2-of-4 shooting on threes, eight rebounds and three assists in 27 minutes on Monday. The only real blemish on his stat line were his four turnovers.
“Last year, it was really tough for me,” Jovic said. “Through the season, [Erik Spoelstra] put me in a few times in the starting lineup, so I kind of now understand how fast the game is. So I just needed some time to adapt. Today I felt great. I didn’t feel any pressure. I felt really confident. The game felt slow.”
Jovic, 20, added about 20 pounds since being drafted by the Heat with the 27th overall pick last year out of Serbia. Those gains were on display, with Jovic using his added muscle to dribble his way into the paint and finish over defenders.
“My body feels good,” Jovic said. “I think everybody can see that I’m using it in a proper way right now and I still feel like I could have finished a lot more times over guys.”
Jovic’s combination of size at 6-foot-10 and skill makes him an intriguing developmental prospect who could compete for a spot in the Heat’s rotation this upcoming season.
“He’s unselfish to a fault, so we’re just trying to encourage him to stay aggressive and just play his game” Heat assistant coach and summer league head coach Caron Butler said.
▪ Jaquez’s summer league debut was a success, as he closed Monday’s win with a game-high 22 points on 8-of-15 shooting from the field and 3-of-7 shooting from three-point range in 22 minutes.
After a slow start that included an air ball on his first shot attempt and three fouls in the first 5:35, Jaquez erupted for 12 points on 4-of-4 shooting from the field and 1-of-1 shooting from three-point range in the second quarter. Jaquez’ big second quarter also included a ferocious dunk over 6-foot-11 Lakers center Colin Castleton.
“I thought I got some great looks, they didn’t go in,” Jaquez said of his slow start. “But you just got to keep being aggressive, keep being confident and I think that’s what I was able to do is get to my spots and find open shots.”
Jaquez always seemed to be in control with the ball in his hands in his first summer league action, using pump fakes and spin moves to create space, decisively taking the open spot-up three when it was there and also aggressively dunking over defenders. It was a very encouraging start for the Heat rookie.
“I just told him, just have confidence,” Butler said. “He’s a high draft pick for us. We know that we’re going to exhaust him on the offensive end and teach him the principles of the terminology defensively and he just did a remarkable job of just staying with it. He’s a guy who has got it out the mud his entire career, so he doesn’t lack confidence.”
▪ Days after the Heat decided to move him from a two-way contract to a standard deal, Robinson opened his second summer league with 13 points on 5-of-13 shooting from the field and eight rebounds in 28 minutes.
One of Robinson’s goals this offseason is to make the three-point shot a bigger part of his offensive package. He shot 0 of 6 on threes with the Heat and just 2 of 12 (16.7 percent) on threes in the G League last season, but shot a respectable 37 of 105 (35.2 percent) from three-point range in his final college season before entering the NBA last summer.
Robinson put his three-point shot to the test on Monday and the results were encouraging. He shot 2 of 3 from beyond the arc in the win.
“Very confident,” Robinson said when asked about the confidence he’s built in his three-point stroke. “I’ve been putting up a lot of shots. I made it one of my focuses to improve last year, so it’s been a main focus of mine. I’ve put in the work and you got to show what you can do.”
▪ Smith recorded 13 points on 4-of-8 shooting from the field, 1-of-3 shooting on threes and 4-of-5 shooting from the foul line, seven rebounds, five assists and three steals in 26 minutes on Monday after signing a two-way deal with the Heat on Saturday.
▪ Guard Jamaree Bouyea, who also signed a two-way contract with the Heat over the weekend, finished Monday’s summer league contest with six points on 3-of-7 shooting from the field, four rebounds, nine assists and two steals in 27 minutes.
▪ Peterson, who has been one of the Heat standouts in the first few days of summer league practices, contributed four points on 1-of-3 shooting from three-point range, four rebounds, four assists and two steals.
The 6-9 Peterson is known for his three-point shooting. He shot 42 of 116 (36.2 percent) from three-point range as a redshirt senior last season and 126 of 326 (38.7 percent) from beyond the arc during his three seasons at USC.
▪ Chase Audige, who went undrafted this year out of Northwestern, is known for his defensive ability. He was named the Big Ten Co-Defensive Player of the Year last season as a 6-foot-4 and 200-pound guard.
Audige’s defensive ability was on display for the Heat in Monday’s summer league opener, pressuring Lakers ball-handlers all the way up the court and even forcing a few turnovers.
But Audige also made most of his threes on the other end, finishing his first summer league game with 18 points behind 4-of-7 shooting from beyond the arc. This is important because he shot just 31 percent from three-point range in his three seasons at Northwestern.
If Audige can really improve as a three-point shooter while also serving as a disruptive perimeter defender, there may be a place for him on an NBA roster.
▪ Forward Jamal Cain was the only player on the Heat’s 15-man summer roster who was not available to play Monday. Cain, who spent last season as one of the Heat’s two-way contract players, is recovering from a sprained ankle he sustained in Miami before the team left to the West Coast.
▪ It must have been a strange night for Gabe Vincent, who was in attendance for Monday’s summer league matchup between the Heat and Lakers. Vincent left the Heat in free agency a few days ago to join the Lakers on a three-year contract worth $33 million.
▪ Monday marked the first of two games that the Heat’s summer league team will play in the California Classic. After taking the Fourth of July off, the Heat is back at it Wednesday against the Sacramento Kings at Golden 1 Center (10 p.m., ESPN) before moving on to Las Vegas Summer League to play at least five games.
This story was originally published July 3, 2023 at 9:14 PM.
