Miami Heat: Should fans learn the name RJ Nembhard?
By Jack Simone
The Miami Heat played their first Las Vegas Summer League game last night. They ended up beating the Nuggets by a large margin, winning 97-77.
Omer Yurtseven and Gabe Vincent were not active for the game, and neither were AJ Lawson and Tyson Carter. So with all the absences, who was able to step up and help the Heat get a win?
Well, most people would immediately think of Marcus Garrett. The 6-5 combo guard played super well in the California Classic, and Miami Heat fans have taken notice.
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Though he did have a solid game, tallying 10 points and three steals, he was not the leader last night. Instead, it was RJ Nembhard who stole the show.
The rookie out of TCU played great and ended up leading the team in scoring. Who is Nembhard, and should Miami Heat fans start learning his name?
In last night’s game, Nembhard scored 18 points to go along with five rebounds, two assists, and two steals. He shot 8-12 from the field and 2-3 from three-point range.
The 6-5 guard spent four years at TCU, improving in each season. His senior year, Nembhard averaged 15.7 points, 4.3 rebounds, and 4.0 assists while shooting 40.0% from the field and 33.9% from deep.
Nembhard is another player who plays with great intensity – an archetype which the Miami Heat have clearly grown fond of. He also brings a useful skillset to the table.
Most of the criticism scouts gave him out of college pertained to his offensive game. On the defensive side of the ball, he’s been great.
He has the ability to guard point guards, shooting guards, and small forwards. The aforementioned intensity certainly helps him on that end of the floor as well.
Offensively, he does have some holes in his game. Outside of the obvious issues with three-point efficiency, he also needs to improve a bit as a playmaker.
Though he’s not an elite athlete by any means, his performance in last night’s Summer League game showed that he may have made some of the necessary improvements on offense.
It may be a small sample size, but he did manage to shoot 2-3 from deep last night. If he can consistently shoot well from range, he might be able to find a home in the NBA.
Miami could stand to add some size at the guard position. Many fans believe Marcus Garrett will earn one of Miami’s two-way spots, but maybe Nembhard could snag the other one.
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The Heat’s next Summer League game will be this Wednesday, August 11th at 5:00 p.m. Hopefully, Nembhard can keep up his great play.