Miami Heat to hold 20th overall pick in the 2020 NBA Draft
As the regular season comes to an end, the Miami Heat’s first-round selection for the 2020 NBA Draft is locked in at the 20th overall selection.
The 2019-2020 regular season has (finally) come to a close, thus solidifying the Miami Heat’s first-round pick in the upcoming NBA Draft. With their loss to the Indiana Pacers on Friday, the next South Beach draft selection will be announced at 20th overall.
Fans will remember that in last year’s draft, the Heat were worse off in terms of regular-season performance, which landed them in the lottery. Pat Riley and the front office selected shooting guard Tyler Herro with the 13th overall pick, and he’s been an instant contributor this year.
Miami has held the 20th overall pick just twice in franchise history. They selected Kevin Edwards in the 1988 NBA Draft and drafted Jason Smith in the 2007 NBA Draft, but he was later traded to the Philadelphia 76ers. So, not a lot of history between the Heat and pick 20.
Since 2010, the 20th overall pick has yielded zero All-Stars but has produced a number of role players on playoff teams like Evan Fournier, Caris LeVert, and Matisse Thybulle. Still, given the draft success associated with this Miami Heat front office, that’s likely irrelevant to fans.
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Another narrative to watch now that the Heat’s pick has been cemented at 20th overall is whether or not Riley and the front office will look to package it with other players in a trade for a third All-Star caliber player like Bradley Beal, Chris Paul, or Victor Oladipo.
If not, the Heat have a number of positions they could look to fill going into next year. The biggest of those being a point guard. They’ve been tied to guys like Tre Jones and Nico Mannion in recent mock drafts, with veteran Goran Dragic entering the free agency market.
Before the actual 2020 NBA Draft, the league will hold its annual Draft Lottery virtually on August 20th, to determine the order of the first through fourteenth picks. The actual draft won’t be held until the 16th of October after the 2019-2020 champion is crowned in Orlando.
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Before Pat Riley and the front office can start investing their days into the 2020 NBA Draft, they’ve got a postseason run to make. That begins on Tuesday when the Miami Heat square off against the Indiana Pacers in game one of the first round. Tip-off is at 4:00 pm est.