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Miami Heat: 15 best draft picks in franchise history

By Bryan Toporek

MIAMI, FL - APRIL 21: Dwyane Wade #3 of the Miami Heat brings the ball up the court in the third quarter against the Philadelphia 76ers during Game Four of Round One of the 2018 NBA Playoffs at American Airlines Arena on April 21, 2018 in Miami, Florida. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Mark Brown/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Dwyane Wade
MIAMI, FL - APRIL 21: Dwyane Wade #3 of the Miami Heat brings the ball up the court in the third quarter against the Philadelphia 76ers during Game Four of Round One of the 2018 NBA Playoffs at American Airlines Arena on April 21, 2018 in Miami, Florida. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Mark Brown/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Dwyane Wade /
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Willie Burton, Miami Heat
(Photo by Andrew D. BernsteinNBAE via Getty Images) /

Career stats with Miami: 223 GP, 10.1 PPG, 3.2 RPG, 1.3 APG, 0.7 SPG, 0.4 BPG, 43.9 FG%, 24.0 3FG%, 77.3 FT%

If not for the famed Miami Flu, Willie Burton may have gone on to have a far more productive career in the NBA.

In the days leading up to the 1990 draft, the Heat shipped their No. 3 pick to the Denver Nuggets for the Nos. 9 and 15 selections. They grabbed Burton at No. 9 and then sent their Nos. 15 and 30 picks (Dave Jamerson and Carl Herrera, respectively) to the Houston Rockets for No. 12 (Alec Kessler).

Burton dropped 25 points on 9-of-14 shooting in his regular-season debut against the Washington Bullets and followed that up with a 17-point, 12-rebound outing against the Milwaukee Bucks four nights later. Though he started only 26 of his 76 games as a rookie, his per-game averages of 12.0 points, 3.4 rebounds and 1.4 assists in 25.4 minutes hinted at a long-term role with the Heat.

But then, the Miami Flu struck.

“I slacked up on basketball, didn’t work out as hard,” he told John Heylar and Roger Thurow of the Wall Street Journal in 1996 about his offseason preparation following his rookie season. “I didn’t play as well as I was capable of playing.”

As the Heat added the likes of Steve Smith and Harold Miner in the following years, head coach Kevin Loughery slashed Burton’s playing time. He “descended more often into black moods, drank more and dabbled with drugs,” according to Heylar and Thurow, which “only dug him a deeper hole, as he showed up to more practices late and bleary-eyed.”

The Heat went on to waive him in November 1994, and he would only play four more seasons across the NBA before fading away for good. Given the flashes of promise he showed in his first two seasons, Burton had the potential to be an all-time Heat great, but his off-court lifestyle was ultimately his undoing.

Next: No. 10

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