For the second time in three seasons, the Miami Heat will be picking at their pre-lottery position in June’s NBA Draft.
The ping pong balls didn’t give the Miami Heat a lucky break. As expected, Miami will be picking at 14 in the upcoming NBA Draft. They entered the NBA Draft lottery with a 98 percent chance of keeping their pick and that’s exactly what happened.
It’s the second time in three seasons that the Heat did not move from their pre-lottery position (2014, picked No. 10 overall).
Since the lottery expanded to 14 teams in 2004, no team with odds as small as Miami ever landed a top-three pick. The longest odds to win a top-three pick was the Chicago Bulls, who jumper the Heat to land the top overall pick in 2008 despite a pre-lottery position of nine. In 2014, the Cleveland Cavaliers also won the top pick with a pre-lottery position of nine.
The final draft order
1. Boston
2. L.A. Lakers
3. Philadelphia
4. Phoenix
5. Sacramento
6. Orlando
7. Minnesota
8. New York
9. Dallas
10. Sacramento
11. Charlotte
12. Detroit
13. Denver
14. Miami
What does this mean for Miami?
The Heat are fortunate that this draft is loaded with talent. They should be able to at least find a contributor with their pick. Players like Louisville guard Donovan Mitchell, Indiana forward OG Anunoby, Gonzaga center Zach Collins, North Carolina forward Justin Jackson, Duke shooting guard Luke Kennard, Cal power forward Ivan Rabb and UCLA power forward T.J. Leaf all project to be available around when the Heat pick.
Anunoby, Collins and Mitchell in particular have the potential to be All-Star level NBA players. Jackson could be a plug-and-play forward who immediately helps the offense. Kennard projects as a poor man’s J.J. Redick and Rabb a poor man’s Al Horford.
Either way, Miami needs to find a contributor here. They likely won’t have a first-round draft pick until 2019 at the earliest, and owe second round pick all the way through 2022 (they currently don’t have a second-round pick either this year). That means they need to make this pick count, as it could be the only way to add top-end talent through the draft for the next few years.