6 potential Miami Heat draft targets to watch in the Sweet 16

With the Sweet 16 set to tip off, we take a look at six players the Miami Heat could target in the first round of the 2017 NBA Draft.

The Summer of 2017 is going to be vitally important for the future of the Miami Heat.

Aside from Chris Bosh’s impending release, which will free up a ton of cap room, it’s also a rare year in which the Heat actually own a first round pick! Last year’s went to the Philadelphia 76ers and the one that follows this season’s goes to the Phoenix Suns.

The last time Pat Riley had a first round pick to use was 2015, and I’m sure you all remember who he chose. Though the jury is still out on Justise Winslow, early returns are… shaky. Yeah, we’ll go with shaky.

Furthermore, after the consummation of this season, almost half the current active roster is going to hit free agency. Though I expect Dion Waiters and James Johnson to return (just two of the six players bound for the open market), it’s far from a certainty.

That’s all to say, the Heat absolutely need to nail their sole selection of the 2017 NBA Draft.

So it may be a good time for us to transition our gaze from Miami’s tight playoff race to the NCAA Tournament. (Or, I guess you could theoretically have one eye on the playoffs and the other on the tourney. Whatever floats your boat.)

Although a few of the most talent-laden teams have already been eliminated (Duke immediately comes to mind), there are still plenty of potential Heat targets left we can watch.

For our purposes, we’re only going to focus on guys projected to go 12th overall or later by Draft Express (DX), since that’s around when Miami will probably be picking. Here are six of the most realistic options whose teams are still alive in the Sweet 16.