Fresh off an NCAA championship with his Virginia Cavaliers and as expected, lead guard Ty Jerome has decided to enter the NBA Draft. Is he the perfect pick for the Miami Heat?
Although the NBA playoffs are in full swing for those teams that qualified, those that didn’t are priming for NBA Draft season, and this includes the Miami Heat. With many of the NCAA’s most exciting young players preparing for an opportunity to play in the NBA, teams are surely already doing their homework. With Duke’s Zion Williams and Murray State’s Ja Morant the consensus top two picks off the board, the rest of the draft is seemingly still up in the air.
With the Miami Heat sitting currently at the bottom of the lottery, projected to pick at number 13 pre-draft lottery, who should they be targeting? While many would point to one of the many projected lottery prospects on the board, there is one prospect in particular that sits outside the lottery projection who could be a great fit in Miami.
Virginia’s Ty Jerome would be that prospect. A guard capable of running the point for his team, he is a very capable shooter from the outside, and has the size to slot in at the shooting guard position as well. Although he isn’t the most fleet of foot or athletic, his size and length are key factors that should help him to make up for it on the next level.
Averaging about 10 points, three rebounds, and around four assists for his career at UVA, Jerome was closer to 14 points, four rebounds and six assists in this past season. In this season’s NCAA tournament, Jerome was probably Virginia’s most valuable player as he was the floor leader and main ball handler for the team. He averaged about 17 points, five rebounds, and six assists in the tournament on 45 percent shooting, while also draining 17 of 42 3-pointers on 43 percent shooting from distance.
He will be a valuable asset to whatever team he lands with if nothing else for his versatility and shooting abilities alone. If he can somehow transition into becoming a full-time point guard on the NBA level, he could end up being a steal.
Enter the Miami Heat. Projected to have the 13th pick, keying on Jerome would provide in invaluable opportunity for the Heat. Not only would it allow them to draft a player who not only fills needs, like shooting and adding as many capable ball handlers as possible after this past season, but it also could allow them to maximize their assets or get rid of a bad contract in the process.
Although there are questions about his foot speed and athletic ability on the next level, the Miami Heat are known to be able to help players reach their physical peak. The Heat also excel in development by maintaining a system & culture that lends well to defensive development. With the development of a big ball handler such as Justise Winslow, the Heat seem to have the goods when it comes to maximizing the talents of someone of Jerome’s ilk.
On top of getting an intelligent, disciplined, and capable defender based on where he played his collegiate basketball, the Heat would be getting someone who at minimum could step in and be successful as a spot-up shooter. These are potential way’s that the Miami Heat could help Jerome, but how could Jerome help the Heat?
If you look around at draft boards and prospect rankings, Jerome is likely to go somewhere in the back end of the first round of the draft. If the Miami Heat at whatever position they end up picking, were able to find a partner that wanted to move up in this NBA draft, it could result in something very positive. A move like this would be facilitated by the other team either having the draft capital to add another pick along with their first rounder in exchange or the cap space to take on an unwanted contract, such as Dion Waiters.
With the Heat lacking scoring, shooting, and sometimes able bodies, they should be in the business of doing whatever it takes to either get bodies in there, or exchange some of the current bodies for bodies more capable of helping them win games. By trading back and potentially sitting for a Ty Jerome, they would add him (who will end up being a steal based on his skill set and abilities), add another player in the form of compensation for giving up a higher pick, or accrue space that would allow them to potentially go after someone like Jimmy Butler this summer.
The Miami Heat should be all in on doing whatever it takes to turn this thing around, as team president Pat Riley has insinuated over the past few days. There are many ways that this could be achieved, but if you were looking for an immediate method, trading back and waiting for Ty Jerome would be a great start.