How helpful can Heat’s second-round pick in 2026 draft be? ‘We have more players that we can target’
The Miami Heat’s first lottery pick since 2019 will get most of the attention ahead of the 2026 NBA Draft, but that’s not the Heat’s only selection in next month’s draft.
Along with holding the 13th overall pick in the first round, the Heat also has a second-round pick at No. 41 overall. The Heat received this second-round selection from the Charlotte Hornets to resolve a dispute over guard Terry Rozier being under NBA and federal investigation over alleged gambling when Charlotte traded him to Miami in January 2024.
It marks the first time that the Heat has had a second-round pick since 2024, when it came away with guard Pelle Larsson with the 44th overall selection. Among the other recent players who the Heat selected or traded for in the second round are KZ Okpala in 2019 and Josh Richardson in 2015.
“I think it changes a little bit from not having one last year,” Heat vice president of basketball operations and assistant general manager Adam Simon said of having a second-round pick in this year’s draft. “Because now that we have a second-round pick, we have more players that we can target than last year when we didn’t have one.”
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 fact that the Heat has a second-round pick makes it more likely that agents of players projected to be second-round selections will accept an invitation to go through a predraft workout in Miami. This allows Simon and the rest of the Heat’s front office to build a connection with these players, which also gives Miami an advantage if any of those prospects go undrafted.
“Even though you can communicate to agents that we could get a pick, they have decisions on where they want to send their players,” Simon said. “And so we do the best we can, try to get everyone that we can. But at the same time, players can’t go visit every team. So having a pick there helps us build that relationship with the players, with their agents. And then that helps us, it gives us a bigger window with more players.
“Any agent who thinks that there might be a play at 41, they’ll give us time with their players. And that helps build that relationship in case, for some reason, players go undrafted. Hopefully we can convince them that when they’re making a decision, if they go undrafted, that they choose us.”
The Heat will begin bringing players to Kaseya Center for predraft workouts in the coming days, and that process will continue in June.
“If they go undrafted, they have a choice of lots of different teams,” Simon continued. “So we’re just building opportunities. And hopefully we’re letting the agents know we have interest in this player and then they choose us if they go undrafted.”
ESPN’s latest mock draft has the Heat taking Cincinnati center Baba Miller with the 41st pick, and Yahoo Sports’ latest mock draft has the Heat picking Virginia center Ugonna Onyenso at No. 41.
While first-round picks are slotted into salaries through the NBA’s rookie scale, there isn’t as much structure with second-round selections. NBA teams can use a two-way contract or standard contract to sign a second-round pick.
The Heat also has the ability to purchase an additional second-round pick or sell its second-round selection, which has become commonplace over the years. A team that buys a second-round pick becomes hard-capped at the second apron for the entirety of that upcoming season, but that shouldn’t be an issue for Miami since it entered the offseason far below the second apron threshold.
The Heat, which has yet to include cash or receive cash as part of a trade during the 2025-26 NBA calendar, has the full $7.964 million to send out and the full $7.964 million to receive in a potential transaction involving a second-round selection.
KASPARAS’ BUSY SUMMER
Heat guard Kasparas Jakucionis has a busy summer ahead, as he has been called up to the Lithuanian national team for the July window of European World Cup qualifying. Lithuania will take on Great Britain on July 2 and Italy on July 5.
While that schedule will have Jakucionis away from the Heat for the California Classic segment of its summer league circuit in Sacramento, the expectation is that he will rejoin the Heat for Las Vegas Summer League that begins on July 9.
Jakucionis, who turns 20 on May 29, was not named to either of the two NBA All-Rookie teams that were announced Wednesday night. He received one second-team vote among the 100-member media panel.
ELLINGTON TO LEAD SUMMER TEAM
Heat assistant coach Wayne Ellington will serve as the team’s summer league head coach this year.
Ellington has been on the Heat’s coaching staff for the last three seasons. He spent two full seasons with the Heat as a player before he was traded in the middle of his third season with the organization in February 2019, eventually returning to the Heat in a coaching role in 2023.
This will mark Ellington’s first time as the Heat’s summer league head coach. Other coaches on staff that have served in that role in past summers include associate head coach Chris Quinn; assistant coaches Malik Allen, Caron Butler and Eric Glass; and Sioux Falls Skyforce head coach Dan Bisaccio.
This story was originally published May 21, 2026 at 9:59 AM.
