Miami Heat Grab Bag: NBA Draft Rumors
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.
Draft Rumors
ESPN’s Joe Goodman says the Miami Heat should draft Wisconsin’s Sam Dekker with the no. 10 pick.
"“The Heat need to hit a home run here, and Dekker showed the potential with his play in the NCAA tournament. He’s long, athletic and displayed a mental toughness with huge games on the sport’s biggest stage,” Goodman wrote Monday. “Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh and Luol Deng aren’t spring chickens. This team needs some fresh legs to go along with Hassan Whiteside.”"
I’m a fan of Dekker’s game. He could be a solid glue guy, do some things to help move the ball and take advantage of creases in opposing defenses. On defense, the 6-foot-9 small forward has good size. He reminds me a bit of Mike Dunleavy, though Goodman may see him more as Chandler Parsons. If the Heat pick at no. 10, Dekker would be a reach. I think a strong March on a Wisconsin team that went deep in the tournament helped his case, and may not be worth a lottery pick. Goodman himself says the Heat need to “hit a home run here” and I’m not sure Dekker offers that potential. If someone like Kelly Oubre or Stanley Johnson are still on the board, Heat fans would be shocked if the Heat selected Dekker.
Chris Bosh: “I’ll Be Ready For Opening Night”
Chris Bosh will be ready to go for the Miami Heat by opening night, according to the man himself. Appearing on NBA TV before joining the TNT crew as a guest host during the basketball games, Bosh said his recovery is going according to plan.
“Yes, I will be ready on opening night. I’m looking forward to being the best version of myself in 2015-2016 at the start.”
NBA Scouting Combine
Pat Riley and the crew are at the NBA’s scouting combine, which started this week. I wrote here about six players the Heat will likely be watching closely.
I recommend reading the post, since I go in detail about how these guys project at the NBA level, but I wrote about Willie Cauley-Stein, Frank Kaminsky, Stanley Johnson, Kelly Oubre, Sam Dekker and Devin Booker.
It’s important to note that the international prospects, Kristaps Porzingis and Mario Hezonja, aren’t in attendance. Neither are the projected top three picks, Jahlil Okafor, Karl Towns and Emmanuel Muddiay.
Check Out the Podcast
On the latest Heat Check podcast, David and I go in depth on what the Miami Heat should be looking for in the NBA Draft, what kind of players might be available and give away our number one guy on our wish list (hint: it’s in the title). We also talk about how the draft could impact Miami’s free agency strategy, and vice versa.