Since coming into existence in 1988, the Miami Heat haven’t found much success with the NBA draft, save for a few glaring exceptions.
Throughout their franchise history, the Miami Heat have had only six top-10 picks — four of which came within their first four seasons — and they’ve made just one top-three selection. They had the No. 3 overall pick in 1990, but they shipped it to the Denver Nuggets for Nos. 9 and 15, which they’d later use on Willie Burton and Dave Jamerson, respectively.
Trades involving draft picks became a common theme for Miami over the ensuing years.
In September 1992, the Heat sent Isaiah Morris and their 1993 first-round pick to the Detroit Pistons for John Salley, who went on to play only three nondescript seasons in Miami. Three years later, they sent Glen Rice, Matt Geiger, Khalid Reeves and their 1996 first-rounder to the Charlotte Hornets for Alonzo Mourning, Pete Meyers and LeRon Ellis. (Here’s guessing they don’t regret that move.)
They dove back into the trade well during the early 2010s during the “Heatles” era, making only two picks across the 2011 through 2013 drafts. They promptly traded away both of those players — Bojan Bogdanovic (No. 31 in 2011) and Arnett Moultrie (No. 27 in 2012) — before either played a minute in a Heat uniform.
Since the Heat have made only 55 selections over the past 30 seasons, it’s relatively simple to home in on their best picks of all time. Ranking those players is more challenging, though. (Players who Miami acquired in draft-day trades — here’s looking at you, Mario Chalmers — weren’t included for consideration here.)
Based on production during their time in Miami and expected value based on draft slot — i.e., successful second-round picks are weighted more heavily than lottery picks with relatively equivalent production — the following 15 players stand out as the best draft picks in Heat history.
Honorable mentions: Justise Winslow (No. 10, 2015); Rasual Butler (No. 53, 2002); Dorell Wright (No. 19, 2004)
Next: No. 15
Career stats with Miami: 194 GP, 7.0 PPG, 4.3 RPG, 0.5 APG, 0.5 SPG, 0.5 BPG, 54.8 FG%, 26.3 3FG%, 70.6 FT%
In exchange for the Heat not selecting a 40-year-old Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in the 1988 expansion draft, the Los Angeles Lakers agreed to send them either a 1991 or 1992 second-round draft pick of Miami’s choosing.
The Heat opted for the latter, taking Matt Geiger at No. 42 overall in 1992.
Geiger spent the first three years of his NBA career in Miami before moving on to Charlotte and later Philadelphia. He was a bit player in his first two seasons, averaging only 6.1 points in 14.6 minutes per game across 120 outings, but he came into his own during his final season with the Heat.
During that 1994-95 campaign, Geiger moved into the starting lineup for 43 of his 74 appearances, and he finished the season with career highs in points (8.3), rebounds (5.6), assists (0.7), blocks (0.7), steals (0.6) and minutes (23.1) per game. He led the Heat in field-goal percentage (53.6 percent) that season, and he ranked second in rebounds behind only starting center Kevin Willis (10.7).
In November 1995, the Heat sent Geiger along with Glen Rice, Khalid Reeves and their 1996 first-round pick to the Charlotte Hornets for Alonzo Mourning, LeRon Ellis and Pete Myers. Mourning went on to earn five All-Star Game nods, lead the league in blocks in back-to-back seasons and help guide the Heat to their first-ever championship a decade later.
Between Geiger’s on-court contributions for Miami and his inclusion in the Mourning trade, he deserves a spot among the Heat’s all-time best draft picks. Getting that type of value out of a mid-second-rounder is worth its weight in gold.
Next: No. 14
Career stats with Miami: 225 GP, 6.8 PPG, 1.5 RPG, 1.4 APG, 0.6 SPG, 0.0 BPG, 39.9 FG%, 34.9 3FG%, 84.4 FT%
The Heat traded their 2000 first-round draft pick to the Utah Jazz in 1996 for Martin Muursepp. He played only 10 games for them before they traded him to the Dallas Mavericks for Jamal Mashburn the following February.
With their second-round pick in 2000, they snagged a far more productive rotation member in Eddie House.
As a rookie, House came off the bench in 50 games, averaging 5.0 points, 1.0 assists, 0.8 rebounds and 0.4 triples in 11.0 minutes. The Heat, who finished 50-32 that season with Eddie Jones, Anthony Mason, Brian Grant and Tim Hardaway leading the way, didn’t have much room in their rotation for a rookie second-round pick, but House did turn heads with a 23-point outing on 10-of-16 shooting in only his fourth regular-season game.
Over the following two years, House’s role grew steadily, and he even started 10 of the 119 games he appeared in. While his shooting efficiency plunged below 40 percent during those two seasons, he chipped in 7.8 points, 1.8 assists, 1.8 rebounds, 0.8 triples and 0.7 steals in only 18.9 minutes per night, making him one of Miami’s more productive reserves.
House left the Heat to sign with the Los Angeles Clippers in 2003, but he returned seven years later to join the newly formed triumvirate of LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh. More than half of his shot attempts came from 3-point range during the 2010-11 season, as he served as a spot-up shooter who helped Miami make it to the NBA Finals that year before falling to Dirk Nowitzki and the Dallas Mavericks.
House was nothing more than a role player during his four years in Miami, but getting that type of production out of a No. 37 overall pick is invaluable.
Next: No. 13
Career stats with Miami: 181 GP, 9.6 PPG, 2.3 RPG, 1.3 APG, 0.4 SPG, 0.1 BPG, 46.1 FG%, 32.8 3FG%, 77.9 FT%
Had Harold Miner lived up to his immense potential, he would rank far higher here.
During his three-year career at USC, Minor averaged 23.5 points on 45.3 percent shooting and earned the nickname “Baby Jordan” thanks to his rim-rattling dunks. After being named the Pac-12 Player of the Year in 1991-92, he declared for the 1992 draft, where Miami selected him at No. 12 overall.
The Jordan comparisons quickly began to fade, as Miner didn’t start a single game during his rookie season despite appearing in 73 contests. He won the Slam Dunk Contest at All-Star Weekend as a rookie — and did so again two years later — but that wound up being one of the highlights of his Heat career.
To some degree, Miner’s underwhelming Heat tenure wasn’t entirely his fault. The Heat had spent the No. 5 overall pick on fellow 2-guard Steve Smith the year prior, and the positionless craze sweeping over the NBA these days was still decades away. Miner was the relegated to the bench for all but 47 of his 181 appearances in a Heat uniform, although he did churn out double-digit scoring totals in each of his first two seasons with Miami.
In June 1995, the Heat packaged Miner with a second-round draft pick to the Cleveland Cavaliers for a second-rounder, which speaks to how far his stock had fallen in only three seasons. After 19 underwhelming games in Cleveland, the Cavaliers released him in August 1996, and he would never play another regular-season NBA game again.
Miner was arguably Miami’s biggest draft whiff in its formative years, as players such as Doug Christie, Jon Barry and Latrell Sprewell went off the board later in the first round. Though the “Baby Jordan” moniker proved to be misplaced, his two Dunk Contest titles and production as a reserve in the early 1990s do count for something.
Next: No. 12
Career stats with Miami: 69 GP, 6.9 PPG, 5.5 RPG, 1.5 APG, 0.5 SPG, 0.6 BPG, 51.2 FG%, 0.0 3FG%, 72.1 FT%
Is it premature to feature Bam Adebayo here after only one season in the NBA? Probably.
But given the flashes he showed as a rookie and the direction in which the league is headed, it’s difficult to imagine him not soaring up these rankings in the coming years.
Adebayo’s per-game output doesn’t stand out, but he was jostling for frontcourt minutes with the likes of Hassan Whiteside, Kelly Olynyk and James Johnson. As a rookie big man on a team with no shortage of offensive firepower—from Whiteside, Goran Dragic and Josh Richardson to Olynyk, Tyler Johnson and Dion Waiters—Adebayo’s role was to play sound defense, clean up the glass and convert easy shots around the basket.
A whopping 62.4 percent of Adebayo’s shot attempts this season came within three feet of the hoop, but he did flash the ability to step out and hit an occasional long-range jumper. As he works to stretch out his shooting range and become more consistent, he’ll become that much more of an asset to a Miami team that seems ready to part ways with Whiteside.
It’s telling that Adebayo played the exact same number of minutes as Whiteside during Miami’s first-round playoff loss to the Philadelphia 76ers, as head coach Erik Spoelstra seemed more comfortable using the rookie than his $98 million man. Whereas Whiteside’s defensive focus waned as the Sixers stretched Miami out with lineups featuring five viable 3-point threats, Adebayo’s lateral quickness allowed him to close out on shooters without sacrificing the ability to recover and protect the rim.
Adebayo, last year’s No. 14 overall pick, already appears to be a draft-day steal. The question moving forward is how quickly he can convince the Heat to give up on Whiteside and install him as their starting center.
Next: No. 11
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
Career stats with Miami: 238 GP, 12.3 PPG, 5.0 RPG, 1.1 APG, 0.7 SPG, 0.5 BPG, 46.4 FG%, 33.2 3FG%, 78.3 FT%
To this day, Michael Beasley remains the only top-three pick in Heat history. While it’s unfair to deem him a total bust — he’s no Anthony Bennett — it is fair to say he only scraped the surface of his potential in both Miami and the NBA as a whole.
After putting up 26.2 points on 53.2 percent shooting and 12.4 rebounds per game during his lone season at Kansas State, Beasley looked like a can’t-miss prospect heading into the 2008 draft. Though the Chicago Bulls jumped over them during that year’s lottery, getting the second-best player in a presumed two-superstar draft was one heck of a consolation prize for the Heat.
Before Beasley even made his NBA debut, however, the league fined him $50,000 for his involvement in an incident at the Rookie Transition Program. That wound up being a fitting encapsulation of his professional career, as repeated off-court troubles (often involving marijuana) derailed whatever progress he made on the court.
Beasley averaged 14.3 points on 46.1 percent shooting and 5.9 rebounds per game during his first two seasons in Miami, even starting all 78 games as a sophomore. When LeBron James and Chris Bosh decided to join Dwyane Wade down in South Beach in the summer of 2010, however, the Heat had to salary-dump Beasley to the Minnesota Timberwolves in exchange for a pair of second-round picks.
Beasley found his way back to the Heat three years later, as the defending back-to-back champions were looking to bolster their wing depth on the cheap. His per-game averages unsurprisingly dipped compared to his first two seasons in Miami—James, Wade and Bosh gobbled up a grand majority of the team’s offseason possessions—but he shot 49.9 percent overall and 38.9 percent from deep to help the team get to its fourth straight NBA Finals.
Beasley stayed one more season in Miami after James departed for Cleveland, but he has since bounced around to the Houston Rockets, Milwaukee Bucks and the New York Knicks. Though he’s carved out a 10-year NBA career, he’s been nowhere near as productive as the Heat likely expected when they took him second overall a decade ago.
Next: No. 9
Career stats with Miami: 146 GP, 12.5 PPG, 5.0 RPG, 2.3 APG, 1.5 SPG, 0.3 BPG, 40.2 FG%, 29.5 3FG%, 80.2 FT%
After snapping a streak of six straight playoff appearances with a 36-win campaign in the 2001-02 season, the Heat wound up with the 10th overall pick in the 2002 draft. When the Phoenix Suns plucked Amar’e Stoudemire one spot ahead of them, the Heat pivoted to select UConn swingman Caron Butler at No. 10.
Butler averaged nearly 13 points per game during his first two months in Miami, but his shooting efficiency (39.9 percent) left much to be desired. He began to turn that around when the calendar flipped to 2003, and he took off when Eddie Jones went down with a season-ending injury in early March, averaging 18.0 points per game on 46.1 percent shooting over his final 22 outings.
The stage appeared set for Butler to be Jones’ long-term sidekick in Miami, but the 2003 draft thwarted those plans. When the Heat selected Dwyane Wade with the No. 5 overall pick, it pushed Butler back in the pecking order.
That summer, Miami also signed 1999 No. 4 overall pick Lamar Odom in free agency, which relegated Butler to being the No. 4 option for the 2003-04 Heat. His per-game averages plunged to 9.2 points on 38.0 percent shooting and 4.8 rebounds, and he went from looking like a permanent fixture in Miami to a potential sinking cost.
The Heat cut bait on Butler in 2004, packaging him with Odom, Brian Grant, a 2006 first-round draft pick and a 2007 second-round draft pick in a trade with the Los Angeles Lakers for Shaquille O’Neal. Shaq Diesel went on to help the Heat win their first-ever championship one season later, while Butler played another 12 years with eight different NBA squads.
Had Butler stayed in Miami and not been supplanted by Wade and Odom, he could have been one of the Heat’s all-time great draft picks. Instead, he found himself a victim of circumstance.
Next: No. 8
Career stats with Miami: 186 GP, 10.3 PPG, 3.0 RPG, 2.4 APG, 1.2 SPG, 0.7 BPG, 43.4 FG%, 37.6 3FG%, 78.7 FT%
To some extent, it speaks volumes that a second-round pick from 2015 already ranks among the top 15 Heat draft picks of all time.
However, it’s also a testament to Josh Richardson.
In March, ESPN.com’s Zach Lowe deemed Richardson to be the Heat’s “best all-around player,” particularly due to his versatility on both ends of the court.
“He is a threat both on and off the ball — must-have versatility for a star-less team that compensates by turning all five players into live-wire threats,” Lowe wrote. “He is a terror on defense, quick enough to chase point guards and rangy enough to jostle bigger wings — and even some power forwards when Miami goes super-small.
Getting that type of value out of any draft pick would be a win in and of itself. Getting it out of a No. 40 selection is an outright steal.
As a rookie, Richardson started only two of his 52 games while averaging 6.6 points per night on 45.2 percent shooting. Two years later, he’s one of the rare players capable of blocking a shot, notching a steal and drilling a 3-pointer on any given night, as he averaged 12.9 points, 3.5 rebounds, 2.9 assists, 1.5 steals, 1.6 triples and 0.9 blocks in 33.2 minutes per game while starting each of his 81 regular-season appearances.
Richardson’s steady progression from role player as a rookie to every-night starter this past season suggests the best is yet to come from the 24-year-old. So long as he re-signs with the Heat once his current contract expires, he’ll have a chance to finish as one of Miami’s five best draft picks ever.
Next: No. 7
Career stats with Miami: 357 GP, 12.2 PPG, 3.0 RPG, 3.2 APG, 1.6 SPG, 0.4 BPG, 42.8 FG%, 27.5 3FG%, 79.8 FT%
Upon joining the NBA in 1988, the Heat and Charlotte Hornets had the opportunity to select players from other rosters in an expansion draft. Each of the NBA’s other 23 teams were able to protect eight players, but that wasn’t good enough for the Dallas Mavericks.
In exchange for getting the Heat to agree not to select Bill Wennington, Uwe Blab or Steve Alford, the Dallas Mavericks gave them the 20th overall pick in the 1988 draft. After Miami selecting Rony Seikaly at No. 9 overall with its first-ever pick, it then used Dallas’ No. 20 pick to grab Kevin Edwards.
During the Heat’s first year of existence, Edwards led them in scoring with 13.8 points per game on 42.5 percent shooting. Though he was undersized for a 2-guard at 6’3″, he started in 62 of his 79 games as a rookie and finished tied for second in minutes per game (29.7), trailing only starting floor general Rory Sparrow.
Edwards’ rookie season wound up being a high-water mark for his Miami tenure, as his minutes and production began to progressively dip over each of the next three seasons. Whereas he started 54 of his 78 games as a sophomore in 1989-90, averaging 12.0 points on 41.2 percent shooting, 3.6 rebounds and 3.2 assists in 28.3 minutes per game, he started only one of his 81 outings two years later while averaging 10.1 points on 45.4 percent shooting, 2.6 rebounds and 2.1 assists in 22.7 minutes per game.
Edwards never topped 30 minutes per night in any of his five seasons with the Heat, but he scored in double figures each year and was a superb on ball-defender. That’s none too shabby for a franchise’s second-ever draft pick.
Next: No. 6
Career stats with Miami: 159 GP, 16.0 PPG, 7.9 APG, 2.6 RPG, 1.7 SPG, 0.1 BPG, 50.0 FG%, 14.3 3FG%, 68.7 FT%
Miami has been shockingly adept at finding capable contributors with second-round picks over the years, but few can top Sherman Douglas despite his abbreviated Heat tenure.
After finishing 15-67 in their debut season, the Heat had the top overall pick in the second round of the 1989 draft. They used said selection on Douglas, who was fresh off a superlative career at Syracuse in which he averaged at least 16 points and 7.5 assists in each of his final three collegiate seasons.
The General carried that success over to the Association, where he quickly supplanted Rory Sparrow as the Heat’s starting point guard and earned a spot on the NBA’s All-Rookie first team. Though he started only one of his first 16 games as a rookie, he went on to start each of his final 65 outings, chipping in 15.2 points on 49.7 percent shooting, 8.1 assists, 2.5 rebounds and 2.0 assists in 31.9 minutes per game.
Douglas built upon his rookie-year success the following season, when he led the team in points (18.5), assists (8.5), steals (1.7) and minutes (35.1) per game while starting in each of his 73 appearances. He had the highest PER (18.0) and the most win shares (5.4) of any Heat player that season, and he was the only one who had a positive mark in offensive box plus/minus.
As a restricted free agent in the summer of 1991, Douglas turned down a reported four-year offer worth roughly $10 million, according to Jack McCallum of Sports Illustrated, “because he felt his value on the open market would be greater than that.” Instead, the Heat matched an offer sheet from the Los Angeles Lakers in mid-December, and Douglas held out until the calendar flipped to 1992 before returning to the court.
With the Heat having selected point guard Steve Smith with the fifth overall pick in the 1991 draft, they had less of a need for a frustrated Douglas, so they shipped him to the Boston Celtics for Brian Shaw in mid-January. Douglas bounced around the league over the next decade between the Heat, New Jersey Nets, Milwaukee Bucks and Los Angeles Lakers, but he never again reached the heights he did during his sophomore season.
Next: No. 5
Career stats with Miami: 202 GP, 14.4 PPG, 4.8 APG, 3.8 RPG, 1.0 SPG, 0.4 BPG, 45.1 FG%, 34.6 3FG%, 80.2 FT%
With Douglas heading into restricted free agency in 1991, the Heat gave themselves a backup plan by selecting 6’7″ combo guard Steve Smith with the No. 5 overall pick in that year’s draft.
In Douglas’ absence, Smith moved into Miami’s starting lineup from day one, beginning his NBA career with a 24-point, six-rebound, five-assist outing against the New York Knicks in his regular-season debut. He finished his rookie season having averaged 12.0 points and a team-high 4.6 assists across 61 outings, 59 of which he started.
As the Heat weighed how to end Douglas’ holdout, Smith showed enough flashes to give them confidence in riding him moving forward.
“The biggest reason that NBA observers consider the future of the Heat to be hot is the presence of a quarterback whose size, talent and unselfishness is evocative of another Michigan State product, Magic Johnson,” Sports Illustrated‘s Jack McCallum wrote in mid-January 1992.
Injuries limited Smith to only 48 games a sophomore, but he bumped his averages to 16.0 points on 45.1 percent shooting, 5.6 assists and 4.1 rebounds when he was healthy enough to suit up. The following season, he wound up averaging 17.3 points on 45.6 percent shooting — each of which were his career best to date — to go with 5.1 assists and 4.5 rebounds in 35.6 minutes per game.
The Heat wound up sending Smith with Grant Long and their 1996 second-round draft pick to the Atlanta Hawks for Kevin Willis and a 1996 first-round draft pick. Less than a year later, Miami hired Pat Riley as its team president and head coach, which set the stage for the team’s success over the past two-plus decades.
Next: No. 4
Career stats with Miami: 472 GP, 11.6 PPG, 7.0 RPG, 2.1 APG, 1.4 SPG, 0.5 BPG, 47.8 FG%, 20.6 3FG%, 76.8 FT%
Before Udonis Haslem became a franchise fixture in the 2000s, Miami first had Grant Long to set the standard for power forwards in South Beach.
After selecting Rony Seikaly and Kevin Edwards in the first round of the 1988 draft, the Heat made Long their first-ever second-round pick at No. 33 that year. He went on to carve out a productive six-plus-season career in Miami, making him the seventh-longest-tenured player in franchise history.
As a rookie, Long ranked third on the team in both points (11.9) and rebounds (6.7) per game, but he led all Heat players in win shares (4.6) and ranked second in PER (13.7). The bruising 6’8″ big man particularly made his impact felt on defense, where he ranked second on the team in steals (1.5) and third in blocks (0.6) per game.
Long’s production dipped a bit over the following two seasons, but he bounced back with a career-best year in 1991-92. While starting all 82 games, he finished third on the team in points per game (14.8), second in rebounds (8.4), first in steals (1.7) and was tied with Willie Burton for second in blocks (0.5).
Long went on to play two more full seasons in Miami before the Heat traded him, Steve Smith and a second-round pick early in the 1994-95 campaign to the Atlanta Hawks for Kevin Willis and a 1996 first-round pick. On the all-time franchise leaderboard, he currently ranks third in steals (666), fifth in rebounds (3,281), 10th in points (5,473) and 12th in assists (1,002).
While Long never reached the stratospheric heights that Sherman Douglas did during his brief tenure in Miami, his longevity makes him the best second-rounder in Heat history to date. Josh Richardson is rapidly sneaking up on him, though.
Next: No. 3
Career stats with Miami: 439 GP, 15.4 PPG, 10.4 RPG, 1.3 APG, 0.7 SPG, 1.4 BPG, 48.3 FG%, 16.7 3FG%, 66.2 FT%
Rony Seikaly will always hold a special place in Heat history, as he was the franchise’s first-ever draft pick at No. 9 overall in 1988.
It didn’t hurt that he had a productive six years in Miami, either.
Kevin Edwards and Grant Long overshadowed Seikaly in the Heat’s inaugural season, but the Syracuse product flipped the tables in 1989-90. That year, Seikaly led all Miami players in points (16.6), rebounds (10.4), blocks (1.7) and minutes (32.6) per game while starting 72 of his 74 outings, which resulted in his winning the NBA’s Most Improved Player award.
Seikaly was remarkably consistent over the following four seasons, averaging a double-double while finishing with at least 15 points and 10 rebounds per game each year. He still holds the Heat’s single-game rebounding record after pulling down an eye-popping 34 boards against the Washington Bullets in March 1993, and he sprinkled in 18 outings of 30 or more points throughout his Miami tenure, too.
To this day, Seikaly ranks third on the all-time Heat leaderboard in rebounds (4,544), fourth in blocks (610), fifth in games started (395) and sixth in points (6,742). His Miami tenure came to an end in November 1994 when the Heat shipped him to the Golden State Warriors for Sasha Danilovic and Billy Owens, much to the chagrin of their fans.
The “Spin Doctor” gave the Heat a foundation to build around down low in their early seasons, which makes Seikaly one of the franchise’s three best draft picks of all time.
Next: No. 2
Career stats with Miami: 478 GP, 19.3 PPG, 4.9 RPG, 2.2 APG, 1.2 SPG, 0.3 BPG, 45.9 FG%, 38.6 3FG%, 83.5 FT%
Rony Seikaly may have been the Heat’s first-ever draft pick, but Glen Rice was their first-ever homegrown star.
One year after drafting Seikaly, Grant Long and Kevin Edwards, the Heat spent the first of their three picks in the 1989 draft on Rice at No. 4 overall. The Michigan product was fresh off a season in which he averaged 25.6 points and 6.3 rebounds per game while winning the Big Ten Player of the Year award and being named to the NCAA All-Tournament team.
Rice got off to a somewhat inauspicious start during his first season in Miami, starting only 60 of his 77 games while averaging 13.6 points on 43.9 percent shooting, 4.6 rebounds and 1.8 assists in 30.0 minutes per night. Within two seasons, his per-game averages jumped up to 22.3 points on 46.9 percent shooting, 5.0 rebounds and 2.3 assists in 38.1 minutes, and he started each of his 79 outings in that 1991-92 season.
Rice’s drastic uptick in scoring production came in large part because he began bombing away from deep. Over their first two years of existence, the Heat combined for 185 triples as a team. Rice hit 155 on his own in the 1991-92 season, which was a whopping 60.3 percent of Miami’s 3-pointers (257) that year.
Rice drilled at least 130 triples in each of his final four years in Miami, while no other Heat player had more than Steve Smith’s 91 in the 1993-94 season. To this day, he still ranks third in franchise history in both 3-pointers (708), points (9,248) and games started (461), and he’s fourth in minutes played (17,059) behind only Dwyane Wade, Udonis Haslem and Alonzo Mourning.
In November 1995—less than seven months after he set a franchise record with a 56-point outing against the Orlando Magic—the Heat traded Rice with Matt Geiger, Khalid Reeves and a 1996 first-round pick to the Charlotte Hornets for a package headlined by Alonzo Mourning. Between his on-court production and his role in bringing Mourning to Miami, there’s no denying Rice’s place in Heat franchise history.
Next: No. 1
Career stats with Miami: 876 GP, 23.4 PPG, 5.7 APG, 4.8 RPG, 1.6 SPG, 0.9 BPG, 48.3 FG%, 28.3 3FG%, 76.7 FT%
As if anyone else could possibly be atop these rankings.
Following a 25-57 season in 2002-03, the Heat landed the No. 5 overall pick in the famed 2003 draft. They used that selection on a Marquette guard by the name of Dwyane Wade, who would inexorably alter the course of their franchise for the better.
Wade earned a spot on the All-Rookie first team in 2003-04 after averaging 16.2 points, 4.5 assists and 4.0 rebounds while starting 56 of his 61 games during his first NBA season. The following year, he began a streak of 12 straight All-Star appearances while leading the team in points (24.1), assists (6.8), steals (1.6) and minutes (38.6).
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He guided them to a franchise-high 59 wins and a berth in the Eastern Conference Finals that season, where they’d lose to the defending NBA champion Detroit Pistons in a seven-game slugfest.
Wade and the Heat got their revenge the following season. Wade set new career highs in points (27.4), assists (7.5) and steals (2.1) per game, and the Heat knocked the Pistons out in the Eastern Conference Finals en route to their first-ever NBA championship following a six-game victory over the Dallas Mavericks.
Four years later, Wade was able to lure both LeBron James and Chris Bosh to South Beach to form the Heatles. Though Wade took somewhat of a backseat to James during that four-year run, the Heat made the NBA Finals all four seasons and won two more titles in 2012 and 2013.
Next: Miami Heat: Top 10 small forwards of all-time
Wade isn’t only the best draft pick in Heat franchise history; he’s the best player in Heat franchise history. There’s no arguing his spot atop the team’s overall hierarchy.
Unless otherwise noted, all stats via NBA.com or Basketball Reference. All salary information via Basketball Insiders.