Potential Miami Heat draft target promised to go before 15th pick

There’s a lot to like about Providence guard Devin Carter. Gritty, hard-nosed defender who can handle the ball and make open jumpers. There’s also the obvious Miami Heat connection given that his father is former assistant coach Anthony Carter.

But, according to a new report, he might not even be on the board when the Heat are up with the 15th pick in the NBA draft later this month.

League sources told the Ringer’s Kevin O’Connor that Carter “has received a promise somewhere in the lottery.”

If reports are true, the Miami Heat could miss out on drafting a seemingly perfect fit but could still end up getting a steal in the NBA draft later this month.

O’Connor speculates that the team could be the Bulls, who have the 11th pick in the draft. But Carter could also make sense for the teams that round out the lottery in the Sacramento Kings and Portland Trail Blazers, or could be selected as high as No. 10 to the Utah Jazz.

If the Heat want to draft Carter, it appears they might have to move up to get him if this report is true. The Heat traditionally don’t move up or down in the draft, preferring to take the best player that falls to them or move out of the draft altogether.

O’Connor does have a player sliding to the Heat at no. 15 – Kentucky’s Rob Dillingham. “Dillingham could go a lot higher than this,” he writes, “but someone’s gotta fall, right?”

The Ringer has Dillingham ranked 10th on their draft board while ESPN has him seventh.

Dillingham, 19, averaged 15.2 points and 3.9 assists during his lone season at Kentucky and shot 44.4% from 3-point range. He’s drawn comparisons to such NBA scoring guards as Coby White, Kemba Walker and Lou Williams.

Here’s what Bleacher Report’s NBA draft analyst Jonathan Wasserman wrote about Dillingham: 

“The best case pictures him in a starting point guard role, thriving as a scoring ball-handler who can offer enough playmaking to be used as a team's lead initiator. Much like Kemba Walker, he has the ball on a string, he's quick with his moves and he lights up defenses from three levels with a score-first mentality.”

Most mock drafts project Dillingham landing in the lottery, usually in the top 10. But the Heat have seen players drop to them before, most notably when Justice Winslow slid from his top-five projection to no. 10 in 2015.