AUCH Roundtable: Drafting best All-Miami Heat team from 2000 & beyond
Round 3
Rahmeaun
Pick Nine (3rd round, 1st pick): 2001-2002 Eddie Jones
Since I had back to back picks, I knew I could finally relax. For the most part, I could see how the draft was going with some of my secondary guys in certain positions being taken.
I couldn’t believe that Eddie Jones fell this far, so I was more than happy to make this selection. The adage in basketball stands true here.
Shooters shoot. And this team desperately needed an outside touch. Jones filled that void with two made threes per game to put him at seventh since the year 2000 in that category.
This pick was special because not only did he make a high rate of threes, he did this without being a specialist like other members of Miami Heat Nation ranked higher on this list. To go along with his shooting touch, he ranks second in defensive win shares only behind Anthony Mason (who’s already on my roster).
Max
Pick 10 (3rd round, 2nd pick): 2017-2018 Goran Dragic
As I was looking at my draft board, it was only role players left for the most part, but I noticed that Dragic was still available. Again, you pick the best available!
That’s what I did by selecting the 2017-18 All-Star version of Goran Dragic. Now I know Dragic and Dwyane Wade didn’t really fit well together on the court at times, but let’s not act like it was terrible.
Could they have been better? Yeah, they could have but it wasn’t the absolute worst either. Having prime Wade on my team, I’m in need of a secondary scorer and should more than have that with Dragic.
Tristan
Pick 11 (3rd round, 3rd pick): 2014-2015 Luol Deng
With the 11th pick, I was heavily targeting some version of Eddie Jones, who was one of the most underrated and consistent scorers in Miami Heat history. Unfortunately, Jones went ninth overall, meaning I needed to shift my attention to someone that could switch onto LeBron James if needed. I settled on Luol Deng, who was also underrated in his time with the Heat.
In the 2014-15 season, Deng averaged 14 points per game, shot 36% from deep, and was a versatile defender in both of his seasons with the Heat. Deng also was a proven commodity in big games, going off when given the opportunity. While this is not the flashiest pick and while there are arguments for other players here, I think Deng gives me the most versatile defender left on the board.
Kenneth
Pick 12 (3rd round, 4th pick): 2019-2020 Duncan Robinson
This one is easy. Simply put, the man is the best shooter in the league today, bar none. That’s why you take Duncan Robinson from this season.
While the team around Robinson that I drafted is capable of knocking down the long ball, they aren’t the most adept. However, whereas most of them are pretty elite from the mid-range on down to the rim, you need someone who can be the ultimate one-man spacing if need be.
Duncan Robinson is that guy. His three-point percentage, to a tune of nearly 45 percent on over eight attempts per game, is more than indicative of such.
Round 4
Kenneth
Pick 13 (4th round, 1st pick): 2018-2019 Josh Richardson
The next three picks were money in the bank, as the fact that I was able to land my first three picks in the positions that I did would indicate that they would all be available. If you think it’s just talk, note the fact that on two occasions, I was able to nab four players that Tristan would have selected immediately after me.
Josh Richardson was a no brainer with this selection and for as deep as it was in the draft. To get a combo guard, who could guard the opposing best wing if need be, handle the ball, create for himself and others, while also having the ability to knock down a shot if you needed him to, it was an easy pick.
With Shaq in the middle, it would be a lot of 4 out with him in the paint, meaning four perimeter comfortable guys along the wing to give him space. J Rich would fit right in here, needing no specific role to contribute mightily, while being able to do anything that may need to be done on the floor at any given moment.
Tristan
Pick 14 (4th round, 2nd pick): 2019-2020 Kendrick Nunn
With this pick, I was targeting a shooting guard and really wanted either Duncan Robinson or Josh Richardson to join my team. Of course, that meant both players went at 12 and 13 respectively (Kenneth must have been in my head).
That forced me to reach a little bit with this pick, but thankfully Kendrick Nunn has the ability to explode for big scoring performances on the fly.
In just this year of his rookie season, Nunn averaged 15.6 points while shooting 36% from deep. Nunn started in all 62 games he appeared in and while he was not the most well-regarded defender, he can easily be covered up on the wing by Deng.
What I needed from my shooting guard is strictly a scoring ability. With multiple 30+ point games and Rookie of the Month awards under his belt, Nunn best fit what I needed with this pick.
Max
Pick 15 (4th round, 3rd pick): 2005-2006 James Posey
As I was looking at my team, I wanted the rest of the starting lineup to be 3 & D guys. I got just that with James Posey and one of the original versions.
It actually quite funny with Posey, he is a tweener, but not classically. He isn’t a tweener in that he doesn’t have a role to play, being big and strong enough to slot into the power forward nicely, while agile and skilled enough to do the same as the three.
He is a tweener in that he could be either a 3 & D guy, a small-ball four, or both in today’s league. The more you think about it though, those were his exact roles even back then, just by different names and whatever they were calling those positions in his era.
In any event, many people sleep on Posey’s defense during the 2006 NBA Finals and more importantly, on Dirk Nowitzki. Posey made it hard for Nowitzki to feel comfortable on the floor, while also nailing big threes on the other end. Every team could use a James Posey and especially my team here.
Rahmeaun
Pick 16 (4th round, 4th pick): 2000-2001 Tim Hardaway
The greatest point guard in Miami Heat history fell to my squad with my fourth pick. We’ve all seen the toll it takes on LeBron James when he has to do all the playmaking for his teams.
At some point, he begins to look beatable. Sure, Hardaway is a little over the hill at 34 years old, but he brings the veteran presence with the physical skills necessary to be a secondary ball-handler to James.
This season was one in which he averaged six assists and a steal per game. His shooting splits weren’t the greatest, but his job on this team would be to distribute the ball and get buckets when he could.
Don’t count him out on the perimeter though, either. He still shot one percentage point above 35-percent from deep, which was league average fro that season. The inability to sag off should create more driving lanes for James.