Heat’s Jamal Cain hit with a two-way detour but doesn’t see it as a dead end

With the addition of Delon Wright on the buyout market, the Miami Heat roster is whole, for the first time this season on Friday night against the New Orleans Pelicans at the NBA 15-player limit under standard contract.

For second-year forward Jamal Cain, it is a development that is accompanied by mixed implications.

With 15 players under standard contract, the Heat no longer are operating at a reduced number of days their players under two-way contracts, such as Cain, can be on the game-night active roster.

But with Wright being given that 15th spot, it means Cain’s goal of moving to a standard contract again remains on hold.

“I don’t see anything as a disappointment,” Cain said ahead of the start of the Heat’s four-game trip that continues Monday night against the Sacramento Kings. “I’m still working towards it. I know eventually it will come, just not right now.

“So I’m just going to keep getting better, and when the opportunity comes, I’m going to be ready.”

When training camp broke in October, the decision was made to move point guard Dru Smith to a standard deal. Bypassed at the time, Cain vowed to continue to work toward that goal. Smith then suffered a season-ending knee injury in November, turning his non-guaranteed deal into a fully-guaranteed contract.

All the while was the carrot of that vacant 15th standard roster spot, which not only would have meant a doubling of salary but also playoff eligibility. So Cain went into overdrive working on his defense, his rebounding, his shooting.

But with Terry Rozier (knee) and Josh Richardson (shoulder) both sidelined before the All-Star break, and with both still sidelined coming out of the break, the move was made to Wright and his nine seasons of experience.

So, for Cain, the two-way grind continues.

“No one’s really spoken to me about how the contracts and all that stuff works right now,” Cain said, stressing it was not his place to involve himself in such matters. “I see all the contract spots are filled. It’s not a burden on me. I just don’t want to take the wrong mentality.

“I’m still here with the team. They still like me; I’m still here. So that’s all that really matters.”

Had the Heat not filled the 15th roster spot, the Heat’s three two-way players — Cain, Cole Swider and Alondes Williams — would have been limited to a combined 18 total games on the active roster the balance of the season. Teams operating below 15 standard contacts may only have two-way players active a combined total of 90 games.

Now, with the Heat at 15, the rules revert to each two-way player allowed to be on the active roster a maximum of 50 games (with that figure prorated for two-way players added during the course of the season, as is the case with Williams).

The Heat exited the All-Star break with 27 games remaining, with Cain on his two-way contact now eligible to be active for 21 of them, Swider 24 and Williams 17.

That means Cain not having to sweat the administrative elements when it comes to dressing out for games.

“I know these guys do a great job with that,” Cain said of the coaching staff and front office monitoring such eligibility. “They for sure know what they’re doing. So I just sit back, be patient, just wait for my number to be called.”

With Smith holding a non-guarantee year on his contract for next season, the Heat could hold on to him as a developmental prospect for next season, or could waive him with minimal luxury-tax penalty to make one of the current two-way players playoff eligible with a standard roster spot.

For now, Cain plans to do as he did when the standard roster was at 14 and when there were the possibilities of both a standard deal or even fewer remaining games to be available on his two-way contract.

“I 100 percent feel like I’ve grown as a player this season,” he said. “Just confidence wise, for sure, and just knowing my spots on the floor. Because at first I was just playing just off of instinct. Now I have to play with a little bit more mental focus and it’s definitely helped me a lot.”