The Miami Heat will be “on the clock” soon enough. With the 27th pick of the NBA draft in their hands, they have a plethora of choices before them.
One of them, which has been reportedly discussed, is moving back in this year’s draft to the second round. Imaginably and though not a great separation in value, trading a first-rounder could net them multiple second-round picks.
That would be great, as nobody excels more at finding talent late or that is undervalued than the Miami Heat.
With that though, here is a name that might be an interesting one to keep an eye on.
That would be Hyunjung Lee of Davidson. A 6-8 shooter at 210 pounds, could he be the next great Miami Heat gem?
Well, he certainly could be. Here is what The Athletic’s (subscription required) Sam Vecenie had to say on the prospect in his piece on the top 100 NBA draft prospects for this year.
"He was first-team All-Atlantic 10 in 2021-22 and was one of two players in college basketball as a sophomore to go 50-40-90 while averaging at least 10 points. Great size for a pure floor spacer at 6-foot-8. If you’re drafting a guy for shooting, you want them to be this big. Indeed, Lee has a case as the best pure catch-and-shoot guy in this draft."
That’s not all though. It gets better.
Miami Heat NBA Draft: Could Hyunjung Lee Be The Next Great Gem?
He would also note that Lee is an “insane movement shooter” that’s “almost always ready to fire”. He would note how his game isn’t limited to just being a marksman though, as he can hit the midrange shot, play off the ball with cuts, can pass the ball, and a bit more.
Vecenie would go on to say that he “just has a remarkably high-level offensive mind”. But, where there is positive, there must also be negative.
"At the end of the day, Lee has a significant deficiency in terms of athleticism and strength intersection. You see it crop up on both ends. On offense, teams are better off guarding him small and getting up under him and into his space. For reference, Lee is a substantially worse athlete than the Heat’s Duncan Robinson in terms of the way he utilizes it on the court."
For summarization, Vecenie believes that Lee will struggle with the physicality, speed, and strength of play on the NBA level. He finishes that section by asking if can “get strong enough to where he can hold his ground a bit better in NBA strength and conditioning programs?
That’s where things get really interesting. There is no team or franchise in the NBA, perhaps all of sports, that excels at getting the most out of their guys than the Miami Heat.
Miami Heat NBA Draft: Hyunjung Lee Has Same Tools They Have Maximized Recently
Whether that be physically, mentally, or actually on the court, the Miami Heat, typically, get the most out of guys.
While they still have work to do on guys like Max Strus, Tyler Herro, and the namesake comparison in Duncan Robinson, they have proceeded to help make all of those guys stronger, more physically adept, and better defenders.
Though you can’t say that it won’t be an issue at all, no team would be able to better help him along and more quickly than the Miami Heat. With that addressed though, here is why there might be a fit.
It has everything to do with the guys just mentioned, specifically Strus and Robinson. Lee seems to come into the pro process with a very similar profile.
He might not be as big as Duncan or as athletic as Strus, but he’s somewhere in the middle. The thing that really jumps out at you though is the fact that he’s a near-elite marksman.
The Miami Heat always know what to do with a shooter of this magnitude. If they do decide to move back into the second round or can get it done in some way, Lee should be in play for them.
Being ranked as the 64th best prospect by Vecenie, there’s a chance he could go undrafted. However, if you are the Miami Heat and he’s sitting around from the middle to later picks in the second, it wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world to pull the trigger.
He just might be the next great Miami Heat gem. Plus, if they do decide to try and get off Duncan Robinson’s deal in a trade, this guy has the tools to do exactly what Duncan has done for himself.