How will new CBA affect how Heat handles NBA Draft? ‘Hitting on draft picks brings value’
.JPG "Heat president Pat Riley smiles during his interactions with sports reporters during his end of the season press conference at Kaseya Center in Miami on May 6, 2024.")
Hitting on draft picks has always been an important part of NBA roster construction. But considering the new Collective Bargaining Agreement imposes more roster-building restrictions than ever for high-payroll teams, finding value in the draft is important as ever.
The Heat will try to come away with value in this year’s NBA Draft, which spans two days from June 26-27. The Heat is slotted to pick at No. 15 in the first round and No. 43 in the second round of the draft, which is being held at Barclays Center in Brooklyn.
Already a luxury tax team, above the punitive first apron and not far from crossing the ultra-punitive second apron ahead of the formal June 30 start of NBA free agency, among the newly instituted onerous restrictions that the Heat faces with its current roster is not being able to take back more money in a trade than it sends out. If the Heat’s payroll exceeds the second apron, it would not be permitted to take back more money in a trade than it sends out, aggregate salaries in a trade or send out cash in a trade.
“I think you have to factor in value. Certainly hitting on draft picks brings value,” said Adam Simon, who is the Heat’s vice president of basketball operations and assistant general manager.
Draft picks bring value because they can be cost-effective contracts, with first-round picks under team control for the first five seasons of their NBA careers at relatively low-end salaries. The player drafted at the Heat’s current pick of 15th overall is slotted to make as much as $4.2 million this upcoming season.
For perspective on how valuable that contract can be if the Heat comes away with a rotation player at No. 15: Only the Heat’s last two first-round picks (Jaime Jaquez Jr. at $3.7 million and Nikola Jovic at $2.5 million) are on cheaper salaries among the players on Miami’s roster currently locked into guaranteed contracts for next season.
But while Simon acknowledged the importance of adding talent on team-friendly rookie-scale contracts, he also made the point that having too many young players on rookie deals can be counterproductive. Instead, fielding a balanced roster that includes stars in their primes and experienced veterans along with some young and developmental talent is the preference.
“You look at your roster, you look at the construction of your roster, you try to have a balanced roster of veterans, players who are in their prime and then young players,” Simon said. “You’re trying to develop young players, but we’re also trying to win every year. So I think it’s nice to add young players to your core every year. But sometimes it takes some time to integrate a 19 or 20-year-old player into a roster of experienced veterans.”
For the Heat, it currently has a few experienced veterans locked into guaranteed salaries for next season as the start of NBA free agency nears: Jimmy Butler ($48.8 million), Bam Adebayo ($34.8 million), Tyler Herro ($29 million), Terry Rozier ($24.9 million) and Duncan Robinson ($19.4 million).
“In theory it’s great to have players on a rookie-scale [contract],” Simon added. “But I think to get too weighed down with young players, it’s OK if the players are able to contribute. So yeah, of course, we’d like every player that we bring in to step into the fire and player. We’ve had a history of acquiring players who have been 22, 23, 24 [years old] that even then took a couple years to get them into the rotation.”
The new CBA will also change the way some teams operate in the second round of the draft.
Buying and selling second-round picks have become commonplace over the years. But starting this season, a team that purchases a second-round selection becomes hard-capped at the second apron of $189.5 million for the entirety of that upcoming season because any team that sends out cash in a deal faces that restriction under the new CBA.
“It would depend on the team,” Simon said when asked how this new rule could change the way teams handle the second round of the draft. “If a team thinks they’re going to be hard-capped anyhow, then they might as well do it. So I think it just depends on where your organization is aligned in their current state of their salary.”
For the Heat, it is not currently hard-capped but has a payroll in excess of $180 million. That leaves little wiggle room for Miami to trigger a hard cap at $189.5 million by purchasing a second-round pick.
The Heat already holds the 43rd overall pick in the second round of the draft and has become known for its ability to develop undrafted prospects into rotation-level NBA players. So for Miami, purchasing a second-round pick may not be worth facing a hard cap for the next 12 months.
“I think you have to think about those decisions before you get into the second round and buy a pick,” Simon said.
