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Jamal Cain looking to go from a two-way to a better way amid Heat roster uncertainty

ira winderman, south florida sun-sentinel
·5 min read

MIAMI — Jamal Cain has what a half-dozen players on the Miami Heat training-camp roster will be pursuing over the next month.

But this time around, he wants more.

Having contributed during his rookie season while on a two-way contract, the versatile forward who went undrafted in 2022 out of Oakland University spent the offseason attempting to work toward something more tangible than the two-way deal he secured during last year’s training camp.

Yet as the Heat prepare to regroup for camp in just over a week at Florida Atlantic University, the status remains the same, a two-way contract that pays half that of a standard deal, limits participation on the NBA level to no more than 50 games on the Heat active roster, and again would mean being ineligible for the playoffs.

“For me,” he said this week amid the Heat’s offseason workouts at Kaseya Center, “I feel like I always have something to prove. So each year, each month, each day I feel like I have something to prove, not only to the organization, but to myself.

“I’m just taking it a day at a time. I still have a lot of improvement to do and a lot of things to get better at. So making sure with the opportunities to get better, I’m making sure I capitalize on those.”

With the NBA allowing a third two-way contract per team for the first time, Cain, who appeared in 18 games with the Heat last season and led them with 18 points in the regular-season finale, finds himself with that status alongside fellow teammates Jamaree Bouyea and Dru Smith.

But with teams allowed to carry a maximum of 21 players in the offseason, which is where the Heat currently stand, there are a host of tryout players to potentially vie for the two-way slots, which can be swapped out at any time. That group includes prospects such as Cole Swider, Justin Champagnie and Alondes Williams, players with previous NBA experience, as well as undrafted rookies Drew Peterson (Southern Cal) and Caleb Daniels (Villanova).

Still, with teams allowed to carry a maximum of 15 players under standard contract, the possibilities remain for Cain to be moved to such a deal ahead of the season, as the Heat this summer did with center Orlando Robinson, the other player who finished last season on a Heat two-way contract. The Heat currently have 13 players on standard deals.

“I’ve also looked at that,” Cain said, both with resolve but also appreciation of the team’s commitment to his skillset. “My agent also looked at that. We talked about it. But that’s up to Miami. It depends on what they want to do.

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“But I feel like I’ve been taking the right strides and the right steps in the right direction to be ready. I think I’ve been doing the necessary things. So right now it’s up to the front office.”

While the Heat cycled through their other two way contract last season, with Smith eventually yielding his two-way spot to Robinson, Cain maintained a solid commitment from the Heat since his 2022 breakout during summer league. He went on to lead the Heat’s G League affiliate, the Sioux Falls Skyforce, in scoring last season, as they advanced to that Western Conference final.

Now, as with many on the Heat roster, he finds himself in a holding pattern with the holding pattern regarding a possible trade for Damian Lillard, the All-Star Portland Trail Blazers guard who has requested a trade to the Heat.

Should the Heat make such a deal and send out more players than they bring back, the quest for a standard contract could be simplified. But there also is the possibility of the Heat looking to instead move to veteran support with a win-at-all-costs move to Lillard, which could leave Cain on his two-way deal.

As with his eventual contract status, Cain said he has come to appreciate the reality of being able to control only what he can control. Because of that, the 24-year-old has pulled back in an aspect where many his age have become consumed.

“In this generation, at my age, we are on social media a lot,” he said. “But I also took a huge step back from that just for those reasons. Me, personally, I just try to focus on what I can do to make myself the best player I can be, and the outside noise is the outside noise. And I also know the NBA is a business, so you don’t take anything personal.

“With me, I’m just blessed to be in this opportunity and be able to play in a Miami Heat uniform. The outside noise, like I see it, but I don’t really pay it no mind.”

Instead, it has been about the work, sweat equity he hopes eventually will lead from a two-way to a better way.

“I feel like I’ve improved a lot on my on-ball defense and being able to guard bigger players and holding my ground,” he said of his somewhat lithe 6-foot-7, 205-pound build. “And on offense I think I’ve done a better job with my shot selection, being a better shooter and just being a better decision maker with the ball. And, again, always wanted to be stronger, because I’m not the biggest guy.”