If there's one thing that did become abundantly clear throughout this past season for the Miami Heat, it's that they struggled mightily with size and length. Pat Riley highlighted that in his end-of-the-season press conference, and made it clear it would be a priority to address that issue this offseason.
Theoretically speaking, the easiest way the Heat can accomplish that is through the NBA Draft.
At this point, whether Riley intended to reveal it or not, the Heat's draft night plans may have been tipped in the most innocent of ways.
Pat Riley hints that the Heat need size and length
In an attempt to give Bam Adebayo a different type of complementary supporting player, Riley admitted that the Heat needs to look for someone who could add size and length to the fold. If this past season was any indication, Riley couldn't be more right.
The Toronto Raptors and Orlando Magic are two teams with great size and length that the Heat just couldn't figure out this season. Against those two teams, the Heat went a combined 0-9 in the regular season.
If that doesn't tell you all you need to know about the Heat's struggles against teams that were just flat out bigger and longer than they were, I'm not sure what will.
Riley clearly noticed that, and that has to be considered a big reason why there's going to be such an urgency for the Heat on that front heading into the offseason. And, again, the clearest way the Heat can guarantee some added size and length this year is by addressing it through the NBA Draft.
Draft prospects that would make sense for the Heat
When you look at the potential prospects that could be in play for the Heat toward the latter portion of the lottery, it becomes much easier to craft a few possible targets that the scouting department could already be taking a glance at.
A few names that would make sense for the Heat are Nate Ament, Karim Lopez, Yaxel Lendeborg, Aday Mara, Jayden Quaintance, Hannes Steinbach, and Chris Cenac Jr. I'm sure the list of prospects that the Heat may already be looking into is a lot deeper than those seven, but that group does give you exactly what Riley was hinting at.
At least for me, the big question is whether the Heat would want to burn a lottery pick on a backup center. With Kel'el Ware in the fold, and especially with how much Bam plays at the position as well, I'd lean no.
If I had to guess, I'd lean toward the Heat trying to find a high-quality 3-and-D wing with this pick. Potentially someone who could work as an immediate replacement for Andrew Wiggins and/or Norman Powell.
Perhaps some of that changes if the Heat make a big trade at the NBA Draft or have the framework of one in place shortly after (one that includes Ware), but it's hard to predict that right now.
Riley may not have been trying to be so direct, but it does appear as if the Heat's draft night plans may have been tipped. But considering they struggled against teams with more size, none of this should be relatively surprising.
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