MIAMI _ The twists of the NBA draft have been as unpredictable with the Miami Heat as the possibilities presented to Pat Riley and his staff.
No, they did not expect Caron Butler to be there at No. 10 in 2002 or Justise Winslow at No. 10 in 2015.
And, no, it hardly was a case of drafting for fit with the Heat's most recent draft pick, when Kentucky center Bam Adebayo was selected at No. 14 in 2017 just one year into Hassan Whiteside's four-year, $98 million contract and less than a month before the Heat would seize the size of Kelly Olynyk in free agency.
So all those workouts at AmericanAirlines Arena these past few weeks? Might not matter if a player of higher pedigree slips to No. 13.
And those positional needs on the wing in the wake of the losses of Dwyane Wade, Tyler Johnson, Wayne Ellington and Rodney McGruder? It well could be that the best player available and therefore Heat pick at No. 13 nonetheless will be a power player.
What might matter most is finding a prospect who can complement the next "whale" that Riley airlifts in during free agency, be it in 2020 or 2021, or perhaps even through a sign-and-trade transaction this summer.
To a degree, the options would appear limited for the Heat, with precious few assets to utilize to move higher in a process where the first tier in terms of quality appears to end at No. 3 and the second at No. 7.
In fact, if moving down _ or even out _ could eliminate some of the onerous salary-cap ballast accumulated in recent years, then the Heat's selection on Thursday night might not come before 9 p.m., after all _ if at all. Trading down or out well could be among the possibilities.
But even that would not necessarily mean a limited night for the Heat. While lacking a second-round pick, the Heat retain $3.8 million to spend on a second-round pick, with that available cash spending allotment otherwise to expire on June 30.
It is on June 30, of course, when NBA free-agency negotiations can begin, which long has been the priority for the Heat. At the moment, there is no cap space or even a full mid-level exception to spend. But that could well be what these intervening days will be about, resetting a payroll that has gotten decidedly sideways.
The immediate reset could be a trade of guard Goran Dragic, who, by opting into his $19.2 million for next season, on the final year on his contract, has become trade eligible. Whiteside, similarly, will become trade eligible once he opts into the $27 million on the final year of his contract by his June 29 deadline.
Factoring into the Heat's Thursday approach is the absence of a first-round pick in the 2021 draft, with that unprotected selection, currently held by the Los Angeles Clippers, having been dealt to the Phoenix Suns in the February 2015 Dragic trade. By rule, it makes the Heat ineligible to trade their 2020 or '22 first-round picks, with the NBA banning teams from being without successive future first-round selections.
As for the players perceived to be at the top of the draft order, receiving NBA invitations to wait out the selections in the green room are:
Virginia Tech guard Nickeil Alexander-Walker; Duke forward RJ Barrett; Georgian center Goga Bitadze; Oregon forward Bol Bol; Gonzaga forward Brandon Clarke; Georgia center Nic Claxton; Texas Tech guard Jarrett Culver; French forward Sekou Doumbouya; Vanderbilt guard Darius Garland; Texas center Jaxson Hayes; Gonzaga forward Rui Hachimura; Kentucky guard Tyler Herro; Virginia forward De'Andre Hunter; Kentucky forward Keldon Johnson; Florida State forward Mfiondu Kabengele; Indiana guard Romeo Langford; North Carolina guard Nassir Little; Murray State guard Ja Morant; Southern Cal guard Kevin Porter Jr.; Duke forward Cam Reddish; Kentucky forward PJ Washington; North Carolina guard Coby White; and Duke forward Zion Williamson.
