Tyrese Maxey proved once again that the Miami Heat did indeed make a franchise-altering decision by selecting Precious Achiuwa over him back in the 2020 NBA Draft. And not in a good way.
Sure, it's been six years, but this is still a decision that has to haunt - and hurt - Heat fans. On Thursday night, in an extremely important matchup between the Heat and Philadelphia 76ers, it was Maxey who made the big difference on both ends of the floor.
Even on a "rough" shooting night, Maxey finished with 28 points, 11 assists, four rebounds, and five steals. To add injury to insult, the Heat didn't have a guard on the floor who could keep pace with Maxey.
The Heat would go on to lose a game that they were pretty outplayed in, but watching Maxey play a big part in the result has to have been a huge gut punch for the franchise. With the Heat in search of answers in their supporting cast around Bam Adebayo, there's no question that Maxey would've been an excellent fit for what the team is trying to build.
Alas, the Heat went with Achiuwa, who is not even on the team anymore, and the rest is history.
In terms of recent history, the Heat's passing on Maxey remains one of the biggest "what ifs" over the last decade.
The Heat need to find their own Tyrese Maxey
But what's in the past is in the past, and now the Heat must try to find their own version of Maxey. That could prove to be a lot easier said than done. In fairness, the Heat have done well with drafting over the last few years, but their misses (as in the situation of Maxey) have certainly hurt.
And specifically in the case of Maxey, the Heat would be in a lot different place than they are now if they had hit on that pick rather than whiff with Achiuwa.
But it could've served as a learning experience that the Heat needed, especially considering how good the Heat have been in the draft since then.
Miami will have another opportunity to prove itself this summer, with a draft pick likely coming in the top 20. Especially with the way things have gone recently, the key to the Heat's future could very well be determined by whether they can find a franchise-changing player like Maxey outside the lottery or not.
They whiffed on Maxey in 2020. Here's hoping they don't end up doing the same, or something similar, in 2026.