Who will represent Heat at Draft Lottery? And what history says about Heat’s chances of moving up
The Miami Heat will be represented by a former player and current team executive at this year’s NBA Draft Lottery.
Alonzo Mourning, who is the Heat’s vice president of player programs, will again represent the organization at the NBA Draft Lottery on May 10 in Chicago (3 p.m., ABC), according to a team spokesman. Before joining the team’s front office, Mourning spent 11 seasons playing for the Heat.
It’s the fourth consecutive time the Heat has picked Mourning, 56, as the team’s lottery representative. The Basketball Hall of Famer also sat in front of the Heat’s logo in 2019 when it ended up with the No. 13 pick that was used to select Tyler Herro, in 2017 when it ended up with the No. 14 pick that turned into Bam Adebayo, and in 2015 when it came away with the No. 10 pick that was used on Justise Winslow.
Heat assistant general manager Adam Simon will also be at the event, but he will be working behind the scenes at the actual lottery before the picks are unveiled to the public.
The Heat will more than likely pick 13th in this year’s NBA Draft, but there’s still a small chance it can move into the top four. As the No. 13 lottery seed, the Heat can come away from the lottery with the No. 1, No. 2, No. 3, No. 4, No. 13 or No. 14 pick in the first round of the 2026 NBA Draft in June.
The Heat’s No. 13 lottery seed comes with a 4.8% chance of landing a top-four selection and a 1% chance of snagging the No. 1 overall pick. Kansas guard Darryn Peterson and BYU forward AJ Dybantsa are considered the front-runners for the top pick in this year’s draft.
If the Heat doesn’t move up into the top four, it will stick at No. 13 or fall to No. 14 if the Charlotte Hornets (the No. 14 lottery seed) climb into the top four.
Since the NBA flattened odds for lottery teams in 2019, 35 teams have been slotted 10th through 14th heading into the lottery. Of those 35 teams, only three have jumped into the top four:
1. The 2019 Los Angeles Lakers, which rose from 11th to fourth. That pick (DeAndre Hunter) was used in a package to acquire Anthony Davis from the New Orleans Pelicans, which then traded Hunter to the Hawks.
2. The 2024 Atlanta Hawks, which jumped from 10th to first despite only having a 3% chance to do so, and used that pick on Zaccharie Risacher.
3. The 2025 Dallas Mavericks skyrocketed from 10th to first despite having only a 1.8% chance to land the top pick. The Mavericks selected Cooper Flagg with the No. 1 pick last year.
But the Heat has never moved up in the Draft Lottery. During the Heat’s 11 previous lottery appearances, it has stayed at its projected position five times and dropped from its projected position six times.
The Heat also has a second-round pick in this year’s draft, which comes at No. 41 overall. This is the second-round pick the Heat received from the Hornets to resolve a dispute over Terry Rozier being under NBA and federal investigation over alleged gambling when Charlotte traded him to Miami in January 2024.
The Heat already opened last season with six of its own first-round draft pick on its roster in Adebayo (2017), Herro (2019), Nikola Jovic (2022), Jaime Jaquez Jr. (2023), Kel’el Ware (2024) and Kasparas Jakucionis (2025). That ties the 1992-93 Heat roster for the most on any opening night roster in franchise history.
Technically, the Heat isn’t eligible to trade its 2026 first-round pick because of NBA rules that prevent teams from being without first-round selections in two consecutive years. But the Heat also could pick a player on behalf of another team in the first round of this year’s draft as part of a prearranged trade.
The two-day NBA Draft will take place on June 23 (first round) and 24 (second round) at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
