Heat’s Adam Simon and staff preparing for 13th pick in ‘strong draft class’ amid trade possibility
The Miami Heat’s talent evaluators worked the NBA Draft Combine last week in Chicago and will spend the coming weeks continuing to prepare for next month’s NBA Draft.
With the No. 13 overall pick in the first round of the draft, the Heat holds a lottery pick (top 14) for the first time since it took guard Tyler Herro at No. 13 in 2019. Miami also added Bam Adebayo with a lottery selection, picking him at No. 14 in the 2017 draft.
The two-day NBA Draft will take place on June 23 (first round) and 24 (second round) at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. The Heat also has a second-round pick in this year’s draft, which comes at No. 41 overall.
“I think you’re just zooming in on your range,” Heat vice president of basketball operations and assistant general manager Adam Simon said when asked whether picking in the lottery changes anything about the team’s draft preparation process. “I think the further back you go, the bigger the range of players. The closer you go to the top, the range gets smaller. Otherwise, it’s the same process.”
But what may change in the weeks ahead is whether the Heat even keeps the player it selects at No. 13 in the first round of this year’s draft.
With the Heat expected to again pursue a trade for Milwaukee Bucks two-time NBA MVP and nine-time All-NBA forward Giannis Antetokounmpo this offseason, there’s a possibility that Miami may not keep the player it picks at No. 13.
Technically, the Heat isn’t eligible to trade its 2026 first-round pick because NBA rules prevent teams from being without a first-round selection in two consecutive years . But the Heat could pick a player on behalf of another team in the first round of this year’s draft as part of a prearranged trade.
Among the players projected to be drafted in the Heat’s range at No. 13 in the first round are Alabama guard Labaron Philon Jr., Texas wing Dailyn Swain, Louisville guard Mikel Brown Jr., Arizona guard Brayden Burries, Mexican forward Karim Lopez, Michigan forward Yaxel Lendeborg, Michigan center Aday Mara, Washington forward Hannes Steinbach, Houston forward Chris Cenac Jr., Stanford guard Ebuka Okorie, Tennessee forward Nate Ament, Michigan forward Morez Johnson Jr., Texas Tech guard Christian Anderson and Baylor wing Cameron Carr.
“I think the overall quality of players coming out is higher than it’s ever been,” Simon said. “Players are more prepared coming into high school now and into college. You’re always finding players a little bit more prepared than they were the year before. But I think overall, it’s going to be a strong draft class.”
During the last decade, the No. 13 pick in the draft has proven there is potential to find productive players at that spot. The last 10 players who have been taken at No. 13 in the NBA Draft are Derik Queen in 2025, Devin Carter in 2024, Gradey Dick in 2023, Jalen Duren in 2022, Chris Duarte in 2021, Kira Lewis Jr. in 2020, Herro in 2019, Jerome Robinson in 2018, Donovan Mitchell in 2017 and Georgios Papagiannis in 2017.
In addition, Devin Booker was taken with the No. 13 pick in 2015 and Basketball Hall of Famer Kobe Bryant was selected with the No. 13 pick in the 1996 draft.
If the Heat ends up keeping the player it selects at No. 13 next month, will it go for the best prospect available or try to fill a positional need?
“I think that’s just a philosophical decision,” Simon said. “I think rosters can change year to year, summer to summer. So I think when you’re looking to add players to the draft, I think ideally you try to take the player that you think is the best player on the board, regardless of position.
“But if you think equally of a couple of players, that might make you pivot toward roster. But like I said, I think free agency and trades can change a roster over a summer and during a season. So I think it’s our job to prepare as if we’re hoping to take the best player on the board”
After spending last week in Chicago for the draft combine, Simon and the Heat’s scouts are back on the road to attend agency pro days. The Heat will also begin bringing players to Kaseya Center for predraft workouts in the coming days, and that process will continue in June.
“We’ll have workouts in Miami. We’ll have meetings,” Simon said. “We’ll see every player that we think is draftable. We give each one of those players time in our meetings to go through everything we need to know about them. And if there are holes, we try to get more information and more discussions.”
The Heat already opened last season with six of its own first-round draft pick on its roster: Adebayo (lottery pick in 2017), Herro (lottery pick in 2019), Nikola Jovic (2022), Jaime Jaquez Jr. (2023), Kel’el Ware (2024) and Kasparas Jakucionis (2025). That ties the 1992-93 Heat team for the most on any opening night roster in franchise history.
But whether the Heat adds to that young core with this year’s first-round pick or includes that selection as part of a trade to acquire Antetokounmpo or another All-Star talent this offseason remains to be seen.
“I think our scouting department has done a great job of identifying players,” Simon said of having so many of the Heat’s own first-round selections on the current roster. “And I think it’s been a good opportunity to continue to build with some young players. But I think it’s just part of team building. I don’t think it’s anything more than that.
“There are years when we have been more of a veteran team and that makes us have less draft picks. And this is a time in Heat history where we happen to have a bunch of first-rounders on our roster. So of course, we take pride in it. But we also know that we are going to continue to build the team. Whether that’s through the draft or through trades or free agency, we need to get to that next chapter of team building, and hopefully we’ll keep adding players.”
