Bouyea flashing big upside in 10-day deal with Heat
The past week has been a whirlwind for Jamaree Bouyea. A whirlwind that had the Miami Heat’s developmental guard showing up to his postgame media session in a Sioux Falls Skyforce hoodie.
“I was on the road with the Skyforce and this is all I had in my suitcase,” Bouyea said.
That’s because Bouyea was preparing for a G League game against the Long Island Nets in New York last Tuesday with the Heat’s G League affiliate, the Skyforce, when he learned he would be heading to Miami on a 10-day contract.
Bouyea is back in New York this week, only as a member of the Heat for Wednesday’s matchup against the Brooklyn Nets at Barclays Center (7:30 p.m., Bally Sports Sun) that will send Miami into the All-Star break.
“We had a game in Long Island vs. the Brooklyn Nets’ affiliate,” Bouyea recalled. “Probably like an hour or two before the game, my agent called me and told me that I’d be having a 10-day with the Heat. It was a joyful moment. I had to call my mom and let her know that I was going to Miami.”
With the Heat facing injury issues in the backcourt, Bouyea has been relied on to log meaningful minutes immediately. He has played in three of the four games since joining the Heat, making his NBA debut in Friday’s win over the Houston Rockets.
With guards Tyler Herro, Kyle Lowry and Victor Oladipo out with injuries, Bouyea logged an NBA career-high 28 minutes off the bench in Monday’s 112-108 home loss to the Denver Nuggets. He took advantage of the extended playing time, also setting career highs in points (10), rebounds (2), assists (3) and steals (3).
“With Tyler being out and Kyle being out, and my teammates and coach [Erik Spoelstra] believing in me, they just instill confidence in me and told me to shoot the ball when I was open and make plays,” Bouyea said. “So I think getting out there and getting comfortable was the biggest thing I had to do.”
The performance drew compliments from his Heat teammates.
“He was great tonight,” said Max Strus, who also spent time in the G League before breaking into the NBA. “It’s tough. You’re coming into the game coming up here from the G League and being asked to play and help on a team that’s trying to make a little run here.
“We asked a lot of him, and we wanted him to be more aggressive, we want him to be himself. We know he’s a heck of a player. So he stepped up and showed what he was capable of.”
Bouyea, 23, went undrafted out of San Francisco last year. He has been in Miami’s developmental program ever since, playing for the Heat’s summer league team and spending training camp with the Heat before he was waived before the regular season.
Bouyea (6-2, 180) then transitioned to the Heat’s G League affiliate, where he has impressed with his quickness on both ends of the court. He has averaged 19 points on 52.2 percent shooting, 5.3 rebounds, 5.8 assists and 1.4 steals in 16 appearances for the Skyforce after earning All-West
Coast Conference First Team honors in each of his final two college seasons.
“He has gotten a lot better,” Spoelstra said. “He gives you that speed and quickness factor that is unique, and he’s made progress defensively. He can be extremely disruptive with that quickness. And then in terms of getting a team organized and all that stuff, that will be something that he’ll continue to work on. I’ve seen a lot of improvement in that area, as well.”
Bouyea knows his most realistic path to NBA minutes is through his defense, with his threepoint shot still a work in progress. He shot 2 of 4 from three-point range in Monday’s loss, but made just 29.3 percent of his attempts in the G League this season.
Through his first three NBA games, Bouyea has recorded four steals and two blocks.
“Just trying to play defense and stay in the game,” Bouyea said. “I think that’s my biggest opportunity. If I play defense, I can stay in the game. But I have long arms and big hands. So I think if I get the opportunity to get the ball or steal the ball, I’m definitely going to try it.”
The Heat’s ability to develop undrafted prospects into rotation players is well-documented. That list includes Udonis Haslem, Tyler Johnson, Caleb Martin, Rodney McGruder, Kendrick Nunn, Duncan Robinson, Gabe Vincent and Strus. And Omer Yurtseven, Orlando Robinson and Haywood Highsmith could soon join that list.
Does Bouyea have a chance to also add his name to that list?
“Down in Sioux Falls, I was just trying to go day by day and just go game by game and continue to perform how I was doing,” Bouyea said. “I think the Heat staff, coach Spo and all the assistant coaches, as well, and the front office kind of stayed in touch and just told me just keep being patient and keep playing hard and my time would come, and now I’m here.”
Bouyea’s 10-day deal is set to expire shortly after the All-Star break, and Miami will again have two empty slots on its 15-man roster. Players can be signed for up to two 10day contracts before they must either be signed for the remainder of the season or waived.
The Heat could delay its long-term decision on Bouyea by signing him to a second 10-day deal. Or Miami could sign a veteran from the buyout market, sending Bouyea back to the Skyforce where he could be poached by another NBA team.
Another option is to convert center Orlando Robinson’s two-way contract to a standard deal — making him available for the rest of the regular season and playoffs — and then move Bouyea into that vacant two-way spot. Robinson is eligible to be on the Heat’s active roster for just five more games as part of his two-way deal.
Signing Bouyea to a two-way contract would not make him eligible for the playoffs, but it would protect him from being signed by another team.
“I feel like if we keep him around,” Heat center Bam Adebayo said, “he’ll continue to show he can really play basketball.”