In many ways, worlds are colliding for the Miami Heat when it comes to the NBA draft.
First, it was almost exactly a year ago, on Nov. 18, 2020, that the Heat last exercised a first-round pick, when they selected Precious Achiuwa out of Memphis at No. 20.
In the interim, the Heat’s No. 18 pick in the 2021 draft was exercised by the Oklahoma City Thunder, for Florida guard Tre Mann, as part of the convoluted trail of that selection first sent out in 2015 to the Phoenix Suns for Goran Dragic.
Then, in an eight-day span that began Wednesday, the Heat have gone against/will go against the teams that made the past three No. 1 selections: this past Wednesday against the New Orleans Pelicans (Zion Williamson, No. 1 in 2019), this coming Wednesday against the Minnesota Timberwolves (Anthony Edwards, No. 1 in 2020) and the night before, on Tuesday against the Detroit Pistons (Cade Cunningham, No. 1 in 2021).
You can find all three of those teams near the bottom of the standings.
Then pause for a moment and consider the rotation the Heat fielded on Wednesday night in defeating the Zion-less Pelicans.
Of the 12 players to see action for coach Erik Spoelstra against New Orleans, eight were undrafted: Dewayne Dedmon, Marcus Garrett, Udonis Haslem, Caleb Martin, Duncan Robinson, Max Strus, Gabe Vincent and Omer Yurtseven.
Allow that to marinate.
None went No. 1. None taken in the first round. None in the second. Just superior scouting and dogged development.
Because for all the plotting for lottery seeding elsewhere, the Pelicans have been left with an injury-prone, conditioning-challenged, no-show in Williamson, with all signs pointing to his making his NBA impact elsewhere.
With Edwards in Minnesota, there have been moments of spectacular scoring, including 48-, 28- and 27-point performances this season. All of which came in losses.
As for Cunningham, the potential is there for something special. The rest of the Pistons’ roster? Not so much.
Yes, the NBA draft has been and can be a valuable tool for the Heat, even as Pat Riley tosses the picks aside like a hotdog vendor.
Bam Adebayo was quality at No. 14 in 2017, arguably worthy of selection ahead of at least seven players taken earlier. That’s Markelle Fultz at No. 1; Lauri Markkanen at No. 7; Frank Ntilikina at No. 8; Dennis Smith at No. 9; Zach Collins at No. 10; Malik Monk at No. 11 (except when he plays against the Heat); and Luke Kennard at No. 12.
And Tyler Herro was value at No. 13 in 2017, to this point arguably outplaying at least seven selected ahead: DeAndre Hunter at No. 4; Jarrett Culver at No. 6; Coby White at No. 7; Jaxson Hayes at No. 8; Rui Hachimura at No. 9; Cam Reddish at No. 10; and Cameron Johnson at No. 13.
Even last year, Achiuwa, at No. 20, had enough value to make the Toronto Raptors bite on taking on Dragic’s $19.4 million salary in the Kyle Lowry sign and trade (although, from this perspective, as offered in the Sun Sentinel’s 2020 mock draft, eventual Memphis Grizzlies draft acquisition Desmond Bane, who went No. 30, would have been the better choice).
The bottom line is while the draft is sexy and offers hope (and marketing), the Heat have essentially shown that scouting and development trump all.
So Williamson largely (in many ways) remains an unknown for the Pelicans. Edwards could yet be the fit the ‘Wolves have been searching for alongside Karl-Anthony Towns. And perhaps Cunningham gets the Pistons off their treadmill of mediocrity.
But even if the Heat do get hit with a loss of draft capital from the timing of their signing of Lowry and that NBA investigation, they have shown an ability to leave the hype of the draft of others, while thriving through scouting and development.
