What are Heat’s options with No. 27 pick in NBA Draft? The case for trading the selection
This is the second of a three-part series exploring how the Miami Heat could approach Thursday’s NBA Draft. The Heat currently holds the No. 27 pick in the first round, but does not have a second-round pick.
The Miami Heat has made the most of its first-round selections in recent years.
In 2017, the Heat drafted center Bam Adebayo with the 14th overall pick. Adebayo has turned into one of the NBA’s best two-way big men and a franchise cornerstone.
In 2019, the Heat drafted guard Tyler Herro with the 13th overall pick. Herro is already one of the team’s top scorers and became the first player in franchise history to win the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year Award this past season.
[Part 1: What will Heat do with No. 27 pick? The case for making the selection]
In 2020, the Heat drafted center Precious Achiuwa with the 20th overall pick. Achiuwa only spent one season in Miami, but he was at the center of the trade package that helped the Heat acquire point guard Kyle Lowry from the Toronto Raptors last offseason.
The Heat again hopes to find value in the first round of Thursday’s NBA Draft with the No. 27 overall pick, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it has to make the selection. Miami is eligible to deal this year’s first-round pick.
The Heat could turn the pick into, among other things, an experienced rotation player, salary cap relief, multiple second-round picks in this year’s draft and/or future picks.
“I think you could certainly move it,” ESPN analyst and former Nets executive Bobby Marks said during an interview with the Miami Herald. “Maybe you move out of the first round and you get two second-round picks. I think there are ways to get out of the first round, but also stay in the draft.”
Trading the No. 27 pick for multiple second-round selections is an intriguing option, considering the Heat’s success in developing second-round talent and undrafted prospects.
There could be some teams willing to deal their second-round selections to the Heat for the No. 27 pick, with the Indiana Pacers (Nos. 31 and 58), Orlando Magic (Nos. 32 and 35), Portland Trail Blazers (Nos. 36 and 57), Sacramento Kings (Nos. 37 and 49), Cleveland Cavaliers (Nos. 39 and 56), Minnesota Timberwolves (Nos. 40, 48 and 50), New Orleans Pelicans (Nos. 41 and 52) and Golden State Warriors (Nos. 51 and 55) owning multiple second-round picks.
The list of players who the Heat has landed in the second round includes KZ Okpala at No. 32 in 2019, Josh Richardson at No. 40 in 2015, James Ennis at No. 50 in 2013, Justin Hamilton at No. 45 in 2012, Dexter Pittman at No. 32 in 2010, Mario Chalmers at No. 34 in 2008, and Rasual Butler at No. 53 in 2002.
The Heat does not currently hold a second-round pick in this year’s draft because it was forced to forfeit the selection as a result of the NBA’s investigation into last offseason’s sign-and-trade acquisition of Lowry. Along with trading for a second-round selection, Miami could also buy its way into the second-round if it chooses to with the help of $5.8 million available to purchase such a pick.
“I would assume that that’s something that they look at,” ESPN NBA Draft analyst Jonathan Givony said to the Miami Herald when asked about the possibility of the Heat using its first-round pick to deal for multiple second-rounders. “Especially if there’s multiple players that they really like when they pick at No. 27 and they can say, ‘Hey. Maybe Orlando has 32 and 35, so do we take those two guys and then we have two really interesting young players developing on a rookie-scale contract.’”
With the Heat expected to be right up against the luxury tax and possibly even the hard cap after building its roster for next season, trading out of the first round could also help trim some salary. The 27th pick is slotted to make as much as $2.2 million this upcoming season, while a second-round pick would likely sign for a minimum contract with a starting salary of about $1 million.
But Marks does not believe such minimal salary cap relief will dictate the way the Heat handles draft night.
“I don’t know if that’s a deal-breaker where you’re looking ahead saying, ‘You know what, we got to save $1 million. That could cost us a player we kind of like here,’” Marks said.
Maybe the best argument to trade the Heat’s first-round pick is to use it as part of a package to acquire a star. All-Star-caliber players such as Donovan Mitchell and Bradley Beal have been linked to the Heat for years, but it will likely take one of them actually demanding a trade to get their respective teams to even consider dealing them.
The Heat’s best trade package for a star, at the moment, includes its 2022, 2023 and 2028 first-round selections. While the NBA doesn’t allow teams to be without consecutive future first-round picks, there is one loophole that would allow Miami to throw both its 2022 and 2023 picks into a trade in the coming days: The Heat could make a prearranged move to draft a player on Thursday and immediately deal him to another team along with the 2023 selection and even the 2028 selection to include three unprotected first-rounders as part of a trade package.
That type of move could leave the Heat without a pick in this year’s draft, which is nothing new. Miami did not make a pick in three of the past six drafts, relying on its elite player development program to turn undrafted players such as Max Strus, Gabe Vincent and Duncan Robinson into quality rotation players in recent seasons.
“I think your argument is if we’ve done it with guys who have gone undrafted, young players we’ve signed to minimum contracts, it would save us basically half of their salary here,” Marks said when asked why the Heat should consider trading the No. 27 pick. “On the other end, you only have these guys for two years and then they become a restricted free agent like [Omer] Yurtseven, Gabe and that group there.
“You could make the argument to move [the No. 27 pick] because you have such a strong personnel department that you’ll be able to find somebody out there. But on the other end, I think you can also move it out of the first round and pick up other things to go with it and still stay in the draft.”
Turn the No. 27 pick into multiple second-rounders to stay in the draft. Then, as usual, mine for another undrafted gem.
“Knowing the Heat, they have a list that’s much longer than 58 names for 58 draft picks, and I bet you there’s already some guys that they’re already targeting with Exhibit 10 offers,” Givony said. “‘Come into our training camp and come be the next Gabe Vincent, Tyler Johnson, Max Strus, Duncan Robinson.’ I think they can get some really good players that way, too.”
