After another 2-1 showing in this week’s California Classic, the Miami Heat will travel to Las Vegas, Nev., for the NBA 2K26 Summer League, where they will play (at least) five more games.
Miami took home the Summer League championship last year, going a perfect 6-0 in Sin City, led by Kel’el Ware, Pelle Larsson and Keshad Johnson, among others.
After each played just two of the Heat’s three California Classic games, each of those three second-year players will be suiting up yet again for the team’s opener on Friday against the Atlanta Hawks, Anthony Chiang of the Miami Herald reported Thursday.
Heat will have 3 second-year players available on Friday:
There’s no telling how long each player will play not only on Friday, but for the entirety of the tournament. Last year, then-second-year forward Jaime Jaquez Jr. only played in the first two games in Las Vegas after not playing in the California Classic. He dominated, averaging 26.0 points on 58.1/42.9/81.3 shooting, in addition to 8.0 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 1.5 steals per contest.
Jaquez, 23, ultimately struggled mightily in his second season, which proves that we should not overreact to Summer League–one way or another, even though you want to see your best young players do well.
Each of the Heat’s three second-year players have all had moments, with Larsson, the No. 44 overall pick in last year’s draft, and Johnson (undrafted) as the two standouts. Larsson averaged 16.5 points on 40.9 percent shooting with four rebounds and two assists in 25.5 minutes; Johnson averaged 12.0 points and 6.5 rebounds on 56.3 percent shooting across 28.1 minutes.
Ware, who earned second-team All-Rookie honors, had minimal impact over his two games despite averaging 13.0 points and 5.0 rebounds in 27.5 minutes. He was one of the league’s top Summer League performers a year ago. That has not translated over.
Miami’s Summer League roster also features first-round rookie Kasparas Jakucionis — who struggled mightily in the California Classic — in addition to rookies Vlad Goldin (two-way) and Dain Dainja plus veteran guard Kira Lewis Jr.
What are you hoping to see from each of the Heat’s three second-year players? Let us know in the comments!
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Going to be interesting to see how Pelle does this season. I like a lot of aspects of his game and hope he gets some PT to show his potential.