This is a name that has been starting to make noise in Miami for a little over a year. Undrafted upon leaving college in 2022, Jamal Cain made his grades during the Summer League that followed in order to obtain a “ two-way contract“. Brilliant in the G-League with more than 20 points and 8 rebounds on average over 25 games in 2022-2023, the winger then tasted his first experience in the NBA with 18 games and a final outing with 18 points at 6/7 in shooting including 4/4 at 3-points last April against Orlando.
Since the summer has passed, Jamal Cain has done the job again during the Summer League, averaging 15.2 points over five games. And since ? Not much more, except that he signed a new “two-way contract”, allowing him to leave with the Sioux Falls Skyforce and hope to occasionally return to the NBA with the Heat. A situation which is far from satisfying him, even if he is not going to give up.
Things to constantly prove
“I feel like I always have something to prove”, he told the Sun Sentinel. “Every year, every month, every day, I feel like I have something to prove, not only to the franchise, but to myself. I take things day by day. I still have a lot of progress to make and a lot of things to improve. So I make sure to seize the opportunities that present themselves to me to progress.”
The sources of motivation remain numerous since he did rather well when called upon, whether in the Summer League, G-League or in the NBA, but also because the Heat have not yet completed their effective, and that he can therefore still see his “two way contract” be converted into a guaranteed contract.
This is particularly what happened to Orlando Robinson, who signed one last December before benefiting from a “real” contract six months later, which will be completely guaranteed in a week. “I also looked into it, my agent too. We talked about it. But it’s up to Miami to decide. It depends on what they want to do.”he slipped.
No time to give up
While waiting for the wheel to finally turn on his side, Jamal Cain has therefore increased the training sessions, at the Kaseya Center in particular, in order to arrive in the best possible shape during the training camp, and why not, encourage the leaders of the Heat to integrate him into the “major 15”.
“I feel like I’ve improved a lot in my defense on the ball, my ability to defend bigger players and hold my own.”he continued. “On offense, I think I did a better job of selecting my shots. And, again, I always wanted to be stronger, because I’m not the strongest.”
Off the field too, he has carried out a major cleaning up to give himself the maximum chance of achieving this.
“In this generation, at my age, we are very present on social networks. But I also took a lot of distance from it for these reasons. Personally, I try to focus on what I can do to be the best player I can be, and outside noise is outside noise. And I also know that the NBA is a business, so you shouldn’t take anything personally. For me, I’m just happy to have this opportunity and to be able to play in a Heat uniform. The rest I see, but I don’t really pay attention to it.”
Two-way contract : Designed to create a new bridge between the NBA and the G-League, this type of contract allows each team to secure the services of two or three additional players, to develop them mainly in their affiliated development league franchise but also up to 50 matches in the NBA.
