Three of the most Miami Heat like prospects in the NBA Draft

The NBA Draft is nearly upon us and the prospect profiles are starting to take shape. Here are three prospects that fit the mold of what the Miami Heat look for.

The Miami Heat have the number 13 pick in the upcoming NBA draft. While they have been active in scouting players that may go all over the draft, from the top 10 to the bottom 10, there may be only one of them that finds his way to South Beach. While they will more than likely only be able to choose one, here are three players in particular that fit the mold of the Miami Heat.

Bruno Fernando-Maryland-Forward/Center

Bruno Fernando is a physically imposing man. Standing at 6 foot 10 and weighing in at around 240 pounds, Fernando should be able to come into whatever team he lands with and make an impact.

While he didn’t show that much ability, if any outside of the paint during his time at Maryland, he made a maximum impact from that area of the floor. In his two seasons at Maryland, Fernando started 53 out of a possible 64 games at Maryland. He shot a career 59.5 percent field goal percentage in college, while he shot over 60 percent from the field on last season.

He averaged 13.6 points last season, while also grabbing 10.6 rebounds and dropping 2 dimes per game as well. His defensive stats were pretty good too, which was highlighted by the fact that he averaged almost 2 blocks per game. What the stats don’t say though is how tough, strong, and ferocious he was in the paint along the way.

This toughness and willingness to do the less glamorous things are what makes Fernando the type of player that the Miami Heat would usually go for. While some have Fernando going in the top 10 of the NBA Draft, it’s not that awful hard to see him dropping to the 13th slot where the Miami Heat are slated to pick. This of course would probably all be for not though, as Hassan Whiteside will probably opt in for this season and Bam Adebayo is the starting big man of the future.