Miami Heat: Here’s what they should really do with 13th overall pick

The Miami Heat were not lucky enough to jump into the top 4 picks of this year’s NBA Draft. Without a seemingly can’t miss prospect to choose from at 13, here’s what they should do.

The NBA Draft is almost as much of a lottery as the NBA Draft Lottery is. Although with the reconstructed version of the draft lottery making its debut in this years version, the Miami Heat were not lucky enough to jump from pick 13 into the top 4. While there may be a talented player or two to be had in the 10-15 range that the Heat are set to pick, their situation screams at them to go an alternate route.

What is this route some are asking? Have no fear, we have the answers here.

Without a surefire, franchising changing, buzzword generational talent type player likely to be left on the board when the Miami Heat are up to select at 13, they should look to trade back in the draft and acquire more picks. While trading back and acquiring more picks and thus more potential players, they could use these newly acquired assets to help supply a team that is devoid of a few key aspects.

Needing another ball-handler for depth purposes, outside shooting, and overall offensive punch and firepower along the perimeter, the Miami Heat would be well served to go in a few different directions. If they were to trade back from that pick, it would be safe to say that although the pick wouldn’t be as high as 13, it would still be in the first round.

A player that has been “scoured by the Miami Heat” according to Miami Heat insider Greg Sylvander, Ty Jerome would be a perfect player to take if they were to move back to later in the first round. He not only offers a big lead guard body at 6’5 with a good handle but he can also shoot the lights out from downtown.

Although he isn’t as athletic as you might like him to be, he comes from the Virginia system under coach Tony Bennett, which means he will always play hard, disciplined, and with a supreme amount of intelligence. If all else fails, he could be an ultimate glue guy, who can be stashed in the corner to knock down open three’s.

After acquiring assets, hopefully in the form of second-round picks from moving back, the Miami Heat could then go after another player or two in the second round who could definitely help this roster. When thinking about a few players that would be perfect here, two come to mind more than any others.

Cameron Johnson out of UNC is one of those players. At around 6’8 or 6’9, Johnson possesses great size for a wing player at the next level of basketball, and his ability to knock down the three makes him just that more of threat. Although he is a bit older than other prospects at 23 years old, and a little less athletic than some wings, he has shown a willingness to do the things to make up for his lack of natural explosiveness.

In the cases of Johnson and the aforementioned Jerome for that matter, the Miami Heat are renowned around the NBA world for being able to get players into the best shape of their lives, which should help to eke out all of the athleticism these two players will ever have to offer.

Another player that may be around for the second round of the draft, and a player that only has one real knock on him, is Carsen Edwards of Purdue. This one knock would be his size at the next level, because although he is listed as 6’1, he is more of a pure scorer than he is a pure point guard. The Miami Heat shouldn’t let that deter them from drafting the dynamo though, because he can outright put the ball in the cup.

He displayed this unique skill set in this past season’s NCAA Tournament where he put his Purdue Boilermakers on his back. He averaged almost 35 points per game, 34.75 to be exact, across four games before ultimately being eliminated by the eventual champion Virginia Cavaliers(Ty Jerome’s team ironically enough) in an Elite Eight matchup. What Edwards lacks in size, he makes up for it in heart and with his ability to easily get buckets.

This is why the Miami Heat should trade back from the 13th pick. They could still get just as productive a player later in the first round, while also being able to add one or multiple other players that could make an impact for this team. With the way things have ended for the Heat over the past few seasons, they could use all the help they could get when it comes to scoring the ball, and these players could definitely help.