The Miami Heat, like every franchise, has made its fair share of mistakes. However, the mistake in drafting Precious Achiuwa with the No. 20 selection in the 2020 NBA Draft continues to haunt the Heat to this day. It's one of those mistakes that I'm not sure the team will ever live down, and one that is still getting worse with every passing day.
That's because of the "what if" scenarios that exist with a few of the players the Heat passed on. More specifically, there are three players who would've made a huge difference for the Heat had they been the original selection.
In selecting Achiuwa, the Heat missed on Tyrese Maxey, who was selected No. 21 overall, Immanuel Quickley, who was taken at No. 25, and Desmond Bane, who was taken at No. 30.
What makes this mistake look even worse
If there's one thing that makes this miscalculation much worse, it's the fact that, for the most part, the Heat have been pretty good with drafting players over the last 10 years.
In 2015, they hit with Justise Winslow and Josh Richardson. In 2017, they drafted Bam Adebayo. Two years later, in 2019, they snagged Tyler Herro. Then, they whiffed with Achiuwa in 2020. Since then, they'd done well with Nikola Jovic, Jaime Jaquez Jr., Pelle Larsson, and Kel'el Ware. The verdict is still out on Kasparas Jakucionis, but the hope is that he will develop into another strong player for the Heat.
There's no question that if the Heat had selected Maxey, Quickley, or even Bane that this team's outlook would look completely different at the moment. All three of those players are borderline All-Stars and would've been excellent fits for Heat culture.
But what's done is done, and even though it's interesting to think about, the Heat have still managed to assemble quite the talented young core moving forward. And if there's one thing that has become clear over the last decade, it's the fact that Miami has emerged as one of the better draft and develop organizations in the NBA.
Still, I'm sure the Heat would love to have a do-over from that 2020 NBA Draft class.