The Miami Heat closed their NBA Summer League circuit out on Tuesday afternoon, being defeated in the final moments by a Dallas Mavericks team hunting for their first victory of the tournament. They would get it too, 82-83, but not without great contest from the Miami Heat’s summer club.
This could be a KZ Okpala post. It could be about how he was one of the two main catalysts for the double-digit comeback effort.
It could be about how he knocked down big shots when they needed them, going 4-5 from deep with a huge clutch shot in the end to bring them all the way back and going 6-11 from floor as a whole, without the offensive excellence of Max Strus or Omer Yurtseven in the lineup. It could be about how “all the little things” he does were on full display this afternoon and helped the Miami Heat come back in the first place to have a chance, such as the KZ effort to make the tip that led to the offensive board on the huge Micah Potter put-back near the end of the game to tie it at around 80.
But it isn’t. This one is about DeJon Jarreau.
The Miami Heat have tough decisions to make on their two-way slots, however and hopefully, DeJon Jarreau continued to make it easier for them Tuesday.
Jarreau led the Miami Heat on Tuesday from a point guard’s perspective, though he wasn’t that far off statistically. Though he only finished third in scoring, behind Okpala’s 16 points and Micah Potters big 15 points for the team in crucial moments, he finished tied for first in rebounds with 10 alongside Potter, and also dropped off two dimes to go along with his pesky defense.
That’s where a moment will be spent though. On a transition Devontae Shuler dunk attempt, Jarreau knew exactly what was coming but still risked it all to go up and contest the hard slam-dunk attempt.
Literally, he risked injury, reputation, and the wrong kind of virality. That last one is terribly important to everyone in these times we live in… but he still made the effort.
That kind of heart, effort, and controlled carelessness is what it takes to, not only, be a successful undrafted player to regular guy in this league, but especially a Miami Heat type of guy.
Guys like that go on to have long careers and make a ton of money because of it. To go along with that stuff though, Jarreau also continued to show off a versatile and electric offensive package that hadn’t been seen as much.
He hit range shots, he hit tough contested shots, and made tough acrobatic finishes at the rim. He was on his game, though the points total wasn’t terribly huge.
Everything he has shown, his skillset, and what he showed, especially, on Tuesday should bode well for him moving forward. He deserves one of the two-way slots and hopefully, the Miami Heat decision-makers feel that way too.