Here’s how Miami Heat’s NBA Draft options have been growing. And what Tyler Herro’s up to
A six-pack of Miami Heat notes on a Thursday:
▪ Possibilities for the Heat’s first-round pick in the NBA Draft continued to expand in the past week with several players announcing they will make themselves eligible to be early entrants.
The deadline for that is April 26, and players who submit their names by that point have the right to remove their names by June 21.
If the regular season does not resume, the Heat would pick 23rd in the first round. The draft is scheduled for June 25 but might be pushed to later in the summer.
And several players projected for that general range have announced plans to submit their names by the April 26 deadline, including Alabama point guard Kira Lewis, Vanderbilt forward Aaron Nesmith, Florida State forward Patrick Williams, Duke point guard Tre Jones, Villanova forward Saddiq Bey, Michigan State power forward Xavier Tillman, Maryland forward Jalen Smith and Arizona center Zeke Nnaji.
And more figure to announce by the April 26 deadline, with Duke forward Vernon Carey Jr. among those who hasn’t yet disclosed his plans. Carey told WQAM’s Joe Rose and Zach Krantz that he will make a decision this weekend.
Of the aforementioned group, a case could be made for any of those eight at No. 23 — though Duke’s Jones — the Atlantic Coast Conference Player of the Year and ACC’s Defensive Player of the Year — is projected as an early second-round pick by Sports Illustrated NBA draftnik Jeremy Woo.
At No. 23, Woo has Miami taking Lewis, the Alabama point guard who averaged 18.5 points and 5.2 assists last season.
“Miami enters the draft without a long-term point guard on the roster, and in this scenario Lewis is the best one available, and certainly a viable investment in this range,” Woo said.
“He’s still a ways away from understanding how to run an NBA team and sorely needs to add strength to his frame, but he has blazing end-to-end speed you can’t teach and was successful this season using it to put pressure on defenses. Lewis is more of a drive-and-kick guy than a natural lead guard, but the fact he’s younger than a lot of freshmen leaves some optimism that he can develop into a solid rotation guard in time. There’s upside for a team willing to be patient.”
Among the others, Nesmith is a great shooter who could be off the board before 23; Nnaji is a high-energy rebounder with a developing offensive game who has been linked to Miami in mock drafts; Smith is a high-impact scorer, rebounder and shot-blocker but not much of a passer and currently projected for late in the first round or early second; Williams is rich in potential but probably not ready to contribute immediately; Bey is a versatile wing who shot 45 percent on threes but could be gone a bit before 23; and Tillman is a skilled defender and shot-blocker who might figure in the late first round or early second round.
Players who have declared for the draft who are projected to go in the teens — before No. 23 — include FSU guard Devin Vassell, Kentucky guard Tyrese Maxey and Washington forward Isaiah Stewart.
▪ What’s Tyler Herro doing during the NBA’s hiatus?
He explained a typical day to WPLG-ABC’s Will Manso:
“I’ve been going to bed a lot earlier now since the quarantine — around 10, 11, waking up around 7:30, 8. I’ve been getting a run in on the sidewalk downtown [in the morning]. I usually run from my apartment to the arena. Then do a workout with the team [on Zoom], lifting weights. Other than that, a lot of video games, a lot of film, trying to stay in my routine in case the season does start up.”
He added: “I’ve been to a park a couple times to get some shots up. They’ve been telling us to stay out of public gyms and obviously the arena is closed. I’ve got my basketball inside my house and I lay in my bed and shoot it in the air.”
▪ Before the NBA went on hiatus, Goran Dragic admitted he hopes he’s considered for the Sixth Man of the Year award, which is voted on by media.
“I said before the season, that’s my goal,” he told me. “I don’t know who’s choosing that. Hopefully they see what I did for this team and how I accepted my role. The most important thing is winning.”
Dragic ranks fifth in scoring among players who come off the bench, behind Dennis Schroder, Lou Williams, Montrez Harrell and Derrick Rose. Williams might be the front-runner for the award. Commissioner Adam Silver hasn’t said if awards will be given out if the season is canceled.
▪ Biggest difference between the Heat and the five other teams Jae Crowder has played for?
“Accountability here top to bottom,” he told me. “We all police each other as a unit and how the organization polices us, holds each player accountable. It’s unique. It gets the best out of players.”
▪ Among Chris Silva’s biggest priorities this offseason: Improving his offensive game. He has been working on his face-up game from the midrange, hoping it becomes something teams respect.
Silva made 28 of 59 three-pointers at South Carolina (47.5 percent), so he’s not devoid of an offensive game.
In the NBA this season, he has shot 35 for 57 at the rim (74.5 percent), but 5 for 14 from 3 to 9 feet (35.7 percent) and has taken only eight shots from 10 feet or beyond — 2 for 4 from 10 to 15 feet, 1 for 2 from 15 feet to the three point line and 0 for 2 on threes.
▪ Jimmy Butler flew privately to the San Diego area to wait out the NBA hiatus. Per basketballreference and @simonsmith, only eight players have done what Butler is on pace to do this season — average 20.2 points, 6.5 rebounds, 6.1 assists, 1.7 steals and shoot 45 percent from the field in the season.
The others are Hall of Famers or future Hall of Famers: Magic Johnson, Walt Frazier, Larry Bird, Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, Grant Hill, LeBron James, Russell Westbrook.
Bonus item: More good work from Heat wing Duncan Robinson: He’s doing his second giveaway with Dunkin in Miami and will be distributing 10 dozen Dunkin donuts and coffee to nurses, doctors, healthcare workers, etc. at 10:30 a.m. Friday at Jackson Memorial Hospital.
Here’s my piece this week on how a drop in NBA revenues could affect the Heat’s personnel moves this summer.
Here’s my piece this week on how a drop in NBA revenues could affect the Heat’s personnel moves in the summer of 2021.
This story was originally published April 9, 2020 at 5:00 PM.
