Former Maryland basketball star Jahmir Young got his big break Friday. And if you’ve followed his path from under-recruited high school prospect to mid-major star Charlotte, to All-Big Ten at Maryland and then to the G League grind, it felt less like a surprise and more like an inevitability.
The Miami Heat converted Young’s two-way deal into a standard two-year NBA contract Friday night, making him a full-time NBA player for the first time and giving him his clearest runway yet at sticking in the league after spending much of his first couple of years in the G League. The move came just hours after the team waived Terry Rozier in the wake of his gambling scandal, opening the door for the former Maryland star to join the team.
That means Young will get his first taste of playoff basketball. The Heat has clinched a spot in the NBA’s play-in tournament.
Young has bounced around, starring at Maryland, grinding in the G-League, getting waived by the Chicago Bulls and then rebuilding his case in the G League. With the Sioux Falls Skyforce, Young averaged 26 points, 8.9 assists and 4.6 rebounds per game, earning All-NBA G League Second Team honors and putting together one of the most productive seasons of any guard in the league. He’ll earn at least $1.27 million per year, the league’s minimum salary.
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In January, he piled up nearly 30 points and 10 assists per night while shooting over 50 percent from the field and 40 percent from three. He scored 20 or more points in 18 straight games at one point, breaking the franchise record, and posted outings like a 36-point, 12-assist performance and a 22-point, 18-assist game. In February, he was selected to play in the Rising Stars event during NBA All-Star Weekend.
There wasn’t much left for him to prove in Sioux Falls, but he’d yet to stick on Miami’s roster, averaging 4.5 minutes in 12 appearances with the Heat this season. With a roster spot and Rozier out of his path, he’ll get a chance to make Miami his full-time home.
“Jahmir has been one of the better surprises of the season,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said earlier this season. “He’s been playing simply fantastic basketball in Sioux Falls. And then whenever we have an opportunity to see him, he’s just a handful because he’s going full speed.”
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Spoelstra and the Heat have built a reputation on finding and maximizing overlooked players like Young, who was undrafted despite a prolific college career he finished with 2,597 points, 766 rebounds and 492 assists, making him the only active player at the time to hit all three marks. With his blazing speed and slashing ability, Young was one of the most productive guards in the country during his two years in College Park. He averaged 18.0 points, 5.7 rebounds and 3.6 assists per game across his Maryland career and capped it with a 20.4-point-per-game senior season while playing over 35 minutes a night.
One of the most well-liked individuals and hardest workers to come through the program in recent years, he earned first-team All-Big Ten honors in 2024 and was named second-team in 2023, becoming one of the league’s most consistent shot-creators and late-clock options.
“Our guys are always telling him, ‘Hey, dial it back a little bit,'” Spoelstra said. “And we’re always telling him, ‘No, be who you are. Be a total nightmare to guard.'”
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