Miami Heat announce initial Summer League roster for 2018

The names of the 14 players on the initial 2018 Summer League roster for the Miami Heat were revealed in its official press release.

“Practice sessions will begin Friday, June 29 and will continue through Sunday, July 1 in Sacramento.

“The HEAT begins summer league play on Monday, July 2 in Sacramento, and will play three games over the four-day event before heading to the NBA Summer League in Las Vegas with their first game scheduled for Saturday, July 7.

“The team will play a tournament style schedule, with a champion being crowned on Tuesday, July 17. At a minimum, the team will play at least five games in Las Vegas.”

#13 Bam Adebayo, C/F, 6-10, 255 lbs, 07/18/97, Kentucky/USA

#61 Dikembe Dixson, F, 6-7, 200 lbs, 09/06/96, UIC/USA

#52 Matt Farrell, G, 6-1, 175 lbs, 03/15/96, Notre Dame/USA

#5 Derrick Jones Jr., F/G, 6-7, 200 lbs, 02/15/97, UNLV/USA

#63 Jarrod Jones, F/C, 6-9, 230 lbs, 05/27/90, Ball State/USA

#54 Daryl Macon, G, 6-3, 185 lbs, 11/29/95, Arkansas/USA

#71 Yante Maten, F, 6-8, 240 lbs, 08/14/96, Georgia/USA

#70 Landry Nnoko, C, 6-10, 250 lbs, 04/09/94, Clemson/Cameroon

#51 Ike Nwamu, G, 6-5, 210 lbs, 06/03/93, UNLV/USA

#62 Duncan Robinson, F, 6-8, 215 lbs, 04/22/94, Michigan/USA

#64 Justin Tillman, F, 6-8, 220 lbs, 02/02/96, VCU/USA

#65 Rashad Vaughn, G, 6-6, 210 lbs, 08/16/96, UNLV/USA

#14 Derrick Walton Jr., G, 6-1, 185 ils, 04/03/95, Michigan/USA

#53 Tai Webster, G, 6-2, 180 lbs, 05/29/95, Nebraska/New Zealand

Three additions were made since the preliminary invites came out last week.

Landry Nnoko went undrafted in 2016, played professionally in Italy for a year, and came back stateside to earn honors as the G League’s 2017-18 Defensive Player Of The Year. At 6’10” and 250 lbs with plenty of motor, NNoko fits the Clint Capela mold at center.

Rashad Vaughn, still only 21 like Jones Jr. after three seasons in the NBA (Bucks, Nets, Magic), presents the same challenge in discovering whether he can earn a spot in the Miami rotation with Heat Culture as his guide.

Tai Webster, hails from New Zealand like Steven Adams, went undrafted out of Nebraska in 2017. While there he outdid Lonzo Ball for one game.

“In his final year with the Cornhuskers, Webster averaged 17 points, 5.1 rebounds, four assists and 1.4 steals a game, but was even better against top competition.

“Against UCLA, he went head-to-head with much-vaunted $1 billion prospect Lonzo Ball and overshadowed him. Webster compiled 19 points/seven assists/seven rebounds, while Ball had 13 points/seven assists/three rebounds before fouling out.”

The games themselves aren’t as important as the behind-the-scenes impression each player gives the coaching staff and management upon close inspection starting this Friday.

Since most of players from the other teams in Summer League will be undrafted free agents, the Heat might find a potential candidate for themselves among the hundreds to players seeing action during the exhibition games.