Miami Heat Grab Bag: NBA Draft Lottery Fallout
By Wes Goldberg
Welcome to a (somewhat) weekly grab bag of thoughts and observations from the past few days in the world of Miami Heat basketball and the NBA.
Pat Riley Wants Someone Molded Like Klay
Joseph Goodman of the Miami Herald reports that Pat Riley would like to draft someone like Golden State Warriors guard Klay Thompson.
"In a perfect world, Riley has made it clear he would like to draft a player similar to Golden State shooting guard Klay Thompson, who was the 11th pick of the 2011 draft. A player such as Thompson would complement the Heat’s current backcourt, which is heavy on attackers but could use some additional shooting touch from outside.“A lot of times you have a player or two players who are playmakers that are your best playmakers and best scorers, but they might not have that kind of range or that kind of game, so you need to go out and get two or three of those kinds of players,” Riley said after the regular season. “And so, while we felt we had enough maybe on the perimeter, that might be an area where we look, but I don’t want to be a one-dimensional guy.”"
If the Heat are looking for the next Klay Thompson, Kentucky’s Devin Booker seems to be their guy. Booker as been compared to the Warriors’ shooter by many draft experts, including ESPN’s Chad Ford. He has the best 3-point shot of anyone in the draft and, at nearly 6-foot-6 and 206 pounds, has a similar frame to the 6-foot-7, 205 pound Thompson.
DraftExpress.com currently has Booker ranked as the no. 12 overall prospect.
Miami Keeps Its Pick Now, Not Later
The Miami Heat dodged a bullet when it retained the 10th overall pick after the NBA Draft Lottery Tuesday, but they still owe three future first round picks. The South Florida Sun-Sentinel’s Ira Winderman gets into more detail about it here, but the gist of it is that the Heat will be out of three first round picks between 2016 and 2021.
That makes Miami’s no. 10 pick in this NBA Draft even more important. Likely without the means to draft a player in the lottery for quite a while, the Heat don’t have much of a margin of error–if any at all–with this upcoming pick. The Heat need someone who can contribute now during this window and in the future.
Which Means…
Which means the Heat could opt to trade the pick. Well, not really, as Chris and I wrote about here and here, the Heat could opt to trade the player they select with the no. 10 pick for a veteran. We both mention Denver’s Wilson Chandler as a possibility.
Someone takeaways from our post-lotto columns…
From my post “Miami Heat Keep No. 10 Pick, So What’s Next?”
"While drafting a center or power forward may seem like a waste for a Heat team featuring Chris Bosh and Hassan Whiteside in the front court, there are two main reasons why drafting a bigman now makes sense:1. Whiteside’s contract expires at the end of next season and will join the vaunted free agent class of 2016. It’s no guarantee the Heat will re-sign him.2. A big could very well be the best player available by the time the Heat are on the clock.Not to mention that the Heat could add some youth to the current crop of backup dancers. Chris Andersen and Udonis Haslem aren’t getting any younger and Josh McRoberts has struggled with injuries for most of his career.[…]There is also the possibility that the Heat trade the pick. Well, not really. They can’t trade the pick, due to the Stepien Rule (which prohibits teams from trading consecutive first round picks, and since Miami owes its pick to the 76ers next season…well) but they can trade the player that they choose at no. 10. Ah, loop holes. With Pat Riley, who has stated his preference for veteran players over rookies on multiple occasions, this is certainly a possibility."
And from Chris’ post “Should the Miami Heat Trade Their Pick?“
"When the pick becomes an actual living, breathing player, someone with feelings and emotions, then a trade can be consummated. So whether they negotiate terms before the draft using back channels, or put the framework together after the pick is made, it’s another option that Riley can explore. Maybe call a rebuilding team looking to dump salary and get a little younger might be interested in a swap – someone like Denver, with Wilson Chandler or Danilo Gallinari, comes to mind. Does Johnson/Oubre/Booker and some expiring deals entice the Nuggets?The point is that there are new options available to the Heat that wouldn’t have been there had they not had some luck with the lottery. Even with Deng and Goran Dragic hopeful to return, Whiteside’s continued growth, and Chris Bosh and Josh McRoberts coming back from injuries, the Heat have questions of health with Wade and Deng, the quality of the depth behind them, a work in progress with Napier behind Dragic, and whatever they get out of Chalmers, Napier, Ennis, and Chris Andersen. The Heat will want to bolster that group with as much talent they can find. A drafted player doesn’t guarantee any kind of success, so rolling the dice on another unknown could derail next season’s Heat."
That’s it for the Miami Heat Grab Bag. Stay with AllUCanHeat.com for more news and draft rumors.