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Heat fall to Raptors in summer league despite Jahmir Young’s 30
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- Heat fall to Raptors in summer league despite Jahmir Young’s 30
This was the flip side for the Miami Heat.
Earlier in the day at Kaseya Center, the Heat celebrated the biggest and brightest of what might come next, with Giannis Antetokounmpo and Bobby Portis introduced as the newest members of the team.
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Three times zones and six hours later, the Heat's shorthanded summer roster limped closer to the finish of the Las Vegas NBA Summer League with a 99-90 loss to the summer roster of the Toronto Raptors on the UNLV campus.
With most of the prime attractions from the Heat summer roster having returned to Miami, Wayne Ellington, the Erik Spoelstra assistant who is guiding the Heat summer roster, found himself with limited buttons to push.
Still, Ellington was pleased his remaining roster pulled within three late after previously trailing by as many as 17.
"We showed some character. We showed some grit," Ellington said. "We came in, we were down 10 at halftime. We tied it up.
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"These guys, are hard workers. They play really hard. They're about the right stuff, had complete buy-in. I wish we could have pulled this one out."
While there were 30 points from Jahmir Young and 19 from Tre White, as well as 11 points, eight assists and six rebounds from undrafted University of Miami guard Tre Donaldson, it wasn't enough to keep the Heat from falling to 1-3 in Las Vegas and 3-4 overall this summer, when also counting their three previous games at the California Classic summer league in San Francisco.
Five Degrees of Heat from Thursday night's game:
1. Still going:While most players with NBA experience typically are finished after the opening games of summer league, Young has persevered, in hopes of catching the attention of the Heat or another team.
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After starting last season on a Heat two-way contract and later being promoted to a standard deal the final week of the season, the 25-year-old guard who went undrafted out of Maryland in 2024, currently is without a deal for next season.
He nonetheless has persevered through the Heat's summer program, Thursday night closing 12 of 24 from the field, including 5 of 13 on 3-pointers, along with 12 rebounds.
"That just shows Jahmir's character," Ellington said. "He's a guy that is about the right things. He always has been. Since he's been with us, he's done everything he's asked. And as a coach, you can only appreciate that."
Young said he was able to find his rhythm during the game.
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"Just taking my time," he said, "taking what the defense is giving me,"
Young is eligible to be signed to a two-way contract or standard contract by any team.
2. Limited roster:Guard Trevor Keels, who finished last season on a Heat two-way contract, became the third Heat player to exit summer league early.
Keels returned to Miami for treatment on the sprained MCL in his right knee sustained in Saturday's loss to the Orlando Magic, closing with 32 points in that game .
Keels remains without a Heat contract for next season, a free agent available to be signed by any team.
"It was just best for him to go ahead and go home and start his PT as soon as he can," Ellington said.
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Previously sent back from summer league were wing Myron Gardner (ankle) and second-round pick Ryan Conwell (hip).
Gardner has a $500,000 guarantee for next season, with Conwell having recently signed a three-year contract.
3. About Vlad:Center Vlad Goldin remains a curious summer case for the Heat.
After the Heat bypassed their Monday deadline to withdraw their qualifying offer for a two-way contract, Goldin on Thursday exercised that qualifying offer for a 2026-27 two-way deal.
What that means is Goldin now has a $91,000 guarantee for the coming season, but the Heat still can lift his two-way deal in favor of another player.
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Goldin, the former FAU Final Four center who was signed by the Heat two-way contract after he went undrafted out of Michigan in 2025, had one of his better summer efforts Thursday, closing with eight points and nine rebounds.
"This is all part of his development," Ellington said. "I mean, you see the flashes."
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4. Yes, that was:Calling the game for ESPN2 was former NBA breakout star Jeremy Lin.
Best known for his 2011-12 season with the New York Knicks that spawned "Linsanity," Lin, 37, last played professionally in Taiwan in 2025. He last played in the NBA in 2019, with the Toronto Raptors.
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Lin was a teammate of Ellington's with the 2014-15 Los Angeles Lakers, joking during the broadcast how he and Ellington helped lead those Lakers to a 21-41 record, the first 60-loss season in Lakers history.
"A genuinely very kind person," Lin said of Ellington. "It doesn't seem like he has bad days."
5. Last call:The Heat close out their eight-game summer schedule with their fifth game in Las Vegas, when they face the Detroit Pistons' summer roster at 9 p.m. Eastern (ESPN) on Friday night.
While there is a tournament element to the Las Vegas league, the Heat were eliminated from such contention with their earlier losses to the Magic and Cleveland Cavaliers summer rosters.
