Heat waive Jamaree Bouyea, sign RJ Hampton to two-way
Miami adds another developmental piece.
The Miami Heat have made a few subtle moves to the young part of their roster today.
Jamaree Bouyea has been waived from the team and they have brought in 22 year old PG RJ Hampton on a two-way deal.
There were other young guys that have been picked up, but won’t find their way to the Heat’s roster just yet.
Jon Elmore and Chieck Diallo will most likely get G-League reps.
Hampton is just another find to Miami’s developmental program as of late.
He last played for the Detroit Pistons, and averaged 6.4 PPG last season in limited opportunity.
He had a career night in a game against the Brooklyn Nets last season where he dropped 27 points and 5 three’s.
Hampton is listed at 6’4, which is a little bigger for a PG but the length at that position could be nice.
As a defender, he can absolutely hold his own and has a long wing span.
Offensively, he is raw but shows a lot of fluidity in his shot motion and play style.
Hampton was very excited to hear the news that the Heat were bringing him on.
Welcome to South Beach, RJ!
You can't lose what you don't have. Miami never had Dame...for one minute, so they lost nothing but a little time.
What Miami does have is a very good core of playoff tested veterans (Butler, Bam, Herro, Love, Lowry, Martin, Richardson and DRobinson), a good group of younger players with potential (Jovic, Jaquez, Highsmith, Cain, ORobinson, Bryant, Champagnie and Hampton), future draft picks, one of the top general managers and one of the top coaches in the NBA.
I have no doubt that Riley will put a trade or two together which will help solidify the Heat's offense and defense. Jrue Holiday would be a great acquisition. But I'm not holding out hope that Cronin is interested in dealing with Pat at this point. Oh well. There are still many other options. Time will tell.
Meanwhile, I am looking forward to the future growth and development of our younger players:
Herro - I see him returning with a chip on his shoulder and a lot to prove to everyone, including the coaches, the fans, opposing teams, media critics and himself. I've always seen him as a player similar to Devin Booker (same size, weight, build, 3-point shooting touch, athleticism). Neither could play a lick of defense when they came into the league. Booker has since worked very hard on both his offense and defense and has developed into a very good two-way (all-star caliber) player. Herro can too if he works at it.
Jaquez and Jovic - Both have potential to be very good rotational players or more...by the time the playoffs roll around. One or the other could be included in a trade to acquire a starting two-way point guard.
Highsmith, ORobinson and Cain - All three have potential to develop into very good rotational players.
Bryant, Champagnie and Hampton - All appear to have potential as rotational players. I'm curious to see what the Miami culture and coaching system can do to help them blossom.
Overall, I'm excited for training camp to open. I expect a few surprises from some of our developmental projects and can't wait to see how Jovic and Jaquez are able to mesh with the veterans.
The Miami Heat glass is definitely half-full and rising and I can't help but be optimistic about the upcoming season. Life is good!
GO HEAT!!!
There is a lot of time between yesterday and the coming post season. Just one day (i.e, yesterday)will not define Heat's regular season or the post season for that. I remember that last season the pundits picked either Lakers or Warriors to come out of the West neither did. In the East Buck and Celtics were picked to come out of the East and neither did.Sure the Bucks on paper appear to have the most potent offense of any NBA team today. However, there are so many intangibles including coaching, team chemistry, health, mid season trades etc, that may decide who coms out best. Hopefully, it will be the Heat. Call it blind optimism if you like.