Mike Miles Jr. is on the Dallas Mavericks’ summer league roster.
For Miles, that’s a good thing considering he played his high school basketball in nearby Lancaster and his college basketball in Fort Worth at Texas Christian University.
“I don’t have to go anywhere and pack up and move,” Miles said. “I grew up 20 minutes away from here, so it’s a blessing.”
After earning second-team all-Big 12 accolades the past two seasons, Miles left TCU following his junior year to declare for the NBA Draft. Some 58 players were drafted last month by NBA teams, but none of them were Mike Miles Jr.
However, Miles described that as a positive.
“Not getting drafted was the blessing,” he said. “And being able to stay here (in the Dallas-Fort Worth area) through college and high school, and now in the NBA, it’s just a blessing.”
The Mavs’ summer league team went through their first practice session on Tuesday in preparation for the NBA 2K24 Summer League, which starts Friday in Las Vegas and runs through July 17 on the campus of the University of Nevada-Las Vegas. And it didn’t take long for Miles to impress Mavs summer league coach Jared Dudley.
“Miles is going to be a good player for us,” Dudley said. “Just his aggressiveness, I’ll say, offensively.
“Every kid in summer league goes 100 miles an hour. Once you tell them to calm down and run the show, be at the nail defensively because we want to be able to contain our guys, he picked it up right away.”
A 6-2, 205-pound guard, Miles averaged 15.4 points and shot 38.2 percent from the field and 29.5 percent from three-point range as a sophomore for TCU. Last season for the Horned Frogs he averaged 17.9 points and converted 49.7 percent of his field goals and 36.2 percent of his three-pointers.
Miles admits there’s been some misconceptions on what he can and cannot do on the basketball court. He took time Tuesday to clear all that up.
“I just play my game,” Miles said. “Obviously, everyone knows I can attack (the basket).
“People don’t think I can shoot as good. But I actually can. I’m a pretty good shooter, if I may say so. I’m just trying to show everybody my game, show them that I am the same player and I’m a good player.”
Miles certainly got no argument from Dudley.
“You could tell his (high) IQ, he’s been playing college a little bit longer than most of these other guys,” Dudley said. “So for Miles, he’ll be a good offensive talent, especially for summer league.”
Miles said there’s no added pressure representing Dallas in the summer league since he’s a home grown talent.
“It’s kind of fresh because I’m at the next level – the first year getting to learn everything,” he said. “But at the end of the day, I just play basketball.
“The base of the game stays the same. Players get better, faster, stronger, but how you play stays the same. So, go in and play how I know how to play.”
Mavs guard Jaden Hardy, who also is on the summer league roster, is already a Mike Miles Jr. fan.
“I feel like he’s a really good guard,” Hardy said. “He has the ability to create advantages, and be able to knock down open shots, so I feel like he’s a good guard to have, for sure.
“When it comes to spacing, he’s one of those guys that can knock down some shots.”
Miles already has his goals laid out for summer league.
“Personally, I just want to try to get better every day I’m down there (in Vegas),” he said. “Just try to pick up everything and learn everything I can from everybody that’s there – coaches, players, everybody.
“But the main goal is to win. I’ve won everywhere I’ve been. And that’s the goal — to go down there, to get the championship and represent Dallas.”
Twitter: @DwainPrice
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