As the clock ticks down to their final days of eligibility for the season, the reality with Miami Heat two-way players Orlando Robinson and Jamal Cain is that it’s not over until it’s over.
Twice in the past three years, the Heat have used the final days, even hours, of their regular season to sign a G League prospect to a multiyear standard contract.
In 2019, Kendrick Nunn was added the final day of the season after Rodney McGruder was waived three days earlier. And in 2021, Omer Yurtseven was signed with two days remaining in the regular season.
The differences in both cases was there was a standard roster spot available to cast such future thought. For the Heat to do the same with Robinson, Cain or another G League prospect by their Easter Sunday deadline, a roster spot would have to be opened prior to Sunday’s regular-season finale against the visiting Orlando Magic.
Otherwise, Robinson and Cain would become restricted two-way free-agents in the offseason.
Already the process of locking up pieces for the future has begun around the league, with the Boston Celtics making a move for Justin Champagnie, who along with Cain and Robinson helped the Heat’s affiliate, the Sioux Falls Skyforce, advance to the G League Western Conference finals last Sunday.
Unlike Cain and Robinson, Champagnie was not contractually bound to the Heat, free to sign with any NBA team.
For their parts, Cain and Robinson are living in the moment with the Heat, back with the team following the conclusion of the Skyforce season, each eligible to be active with the Heat the balance of the regular season.
But when the postseason begins, that is when NBA eligibility ends for players under two-way contracts.
For now, neither Robinson nor Cain have inquired about their Heat futures, appreciative of the playoff race at hand.
“I feel like they’re more focused on the moment right now,” Cain said, with the Heat facing the Philadelphia 76ers on Thursday night at Wells Fargo Center, to be followed by a Friday night road game against Nunn and the Washington Wizards. “When it’s time for that decision, I feel like I’ll be ready for it. Whatever comes my way, I’ll be ready for it.
“Of course, I want to be here. This is the team that gave me a chance, that gave me an opportunity.”
Robinson, who was dominant with the Skyforce and thrived when needed by the Heat, also expressed an appreciation for time and place.
“I feel like they’re really focused on this season, trying to get to the playoffs and make a good run and try to compete for a championship,” he said. “So I’m sure they’ll communicate that with me when this is all said and done.”
Among the reasons teams lock in players during these waning days of the regular season is twofold.
Foremost, an impending free agent cannot be signed between the end of the season and the July start of free agency, when such a player can be signed by any team.
Beyond that, it allows teams to lock in a lower-cost deal in case a breakout season ensues, as was the case with Nunn, and, to a lesser degree, with Yurtseven.
But already there has been an embrace, with coach Erik Spoelstra saluting both Cain and Robinson in front of teammates when the two returned from Sunday’s winner-take-all G League playoff loss.
Next up is witnessing the NBA postseason up close and personal.
“We’re going to get a lot of experience just watching how the playoffs are played up here,” said Robinson, the 6-foot-11 center who went undrafted last June out of Fresno State. “I’ve never seen playoff ball up close at the highest level, so I’ll definitely be able to see the intensity and everything that comes with that.
“I’ll take in everything and apply it for next year.”
For Cain, the 6-7 wing who went undrafted last June out of Oakland University, there already has been a playoff moment, his game-winning 3-pointer putting the Skyforce in that G League Western Conference final.
Now, next up, is scout-team work in the postseason.
“Our playoff run was just very interesting,” Cain said, “because we got to be a part of something.”
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