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Heat Draft Picks Look to Catch On
The Miami Heat had very little potential impact in this year’s NBA draft – mostly because they had a successful season in getting back to the playoffs. Last year, the Heat finished with only 15 wins and the #2 pick overall – which turned out to be Michael Beasley. In Beasley’s first year, he showed an advanced repertoire of offensive moves and a knack for scoring, but his defense and inexperience kept him on the bench for stretches. He will look to take the next step this offseason through training camp and coming back as a 2nd year NBA veteran.
The Heat, however, still have lots of needs to address and they focused on several spots with this draft. For starters, they had the 43rd pick (to complete the trade with Indiana from last year) and the 60th pick (from Cleveland). There isn’t a whole lot to do with those picks except reach for projects – and that is precisely what team president Pat Riley did with those spots. After all, they traded for Mario Chalmers who was the 34th pick in last year’s draft from the Timberwolves.
The Heat drafted Marcus Thornton with the 43rd pick, from LSU then quickly dealt the rights to Thornton to the New Orleans Hornets for future considerations, i.e. 2nd round draft picks for 2010 and 2012. The Heat then traded for combo guard, Patrick Beverley from the Lakers. The 6′1″ guard from Arkansas had some documented problems while playing at Arkansas for two seasons and spent last season in Ukraine. He has a knack for scoring and Riley compared him to Mario Chalmers and Rajon Rondo and also stressed the fact that he expects Beverley to make the team. Seeing as the Heat also extended Chris Quinn’s contract, the backup pointguard spot is definitely going to be a battle.
The final draft pick for the Heat, indeed for the entire NBA draft, was Robert Dozier from Memphis. Dozier is very long and athletic, something Riley stated the team was looking for, and is a project of sorts. He has a tangible skill in shot blocking, and at 6′9″ could play down low and possibly defend the wing.
Even though Miami had no first round picks, they were able to get solid value out of deals made on draft day in acquiring Beverley, a possible scoring threat at the guard position to come off the bench and provide energy, while Dozier could provide more length and athleticism. The Heat also aquired two draft picks for future 2nd rounds. As the Magic and Cavs beefed up on draft day deals (Vince Carter to Orlando, Shaq to Cleveland), the Heat would be hard pressed to match such moves as their agenda has to deal with focusing on 2010’s free agent market and keeping Wade in Miami. The Heat are a playoff caliber team, the only question is is there enough growth potential for Wade’s supporting cast to do a better job supporting him in the regular season and the playoffs to keep this team moving in the right direction – up. That was not going to be something addressed in this draft anyway.
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