Amid the NBA playoffs the NBA Lottery draft for the non-playoff bound teams took place and with it the NBA draft order has now been determined. For the lottery teams this year's draft marks hope and optimism as he talent pool here is deemed to be considerably better than it has been in the past few years; mind you it seems like the draft pundits say this same thing every single season.
Nonetheless, the teams who are holding lottery bound picks must be looking at ways to complement their rosters, be it by using the upcoming selection or via a trade on draft day. Not every team with lottery selections are able to address their needs via the draft as there is only so much talent available at each position and since these rookie deals are guaranteed, the new incoming salary amounts must be accounted for within the team's salary cap.
As the NBA Draft approaches eDraft.com will look at each of the lottery teams and identify their needs heading into the draft as well as who might be available to fill hose teams needs. Our draft coverage won't stop there though as post-draft we will have analysis of the picks as well as report cards for each of the teams as to how they fared.
The fall from grace for the once Champion and perennial Eastern Conference powerhouse Miami Heat has come full circle this season as the Heat find themselves holding the tenth overall pick in this draft. There is certainly cause for optimism in Miami even after this dismal season as they have a great general manager, a very good coach and a solid bunch of guys to compete in the East. The problem for the Heat is the salary cap situation for this season where they have three key players all figuring to take a large chunk of an already small pie. Dividing up salary dollars and determining contracts entering this season will be a challenge; however, if the Heat can weather the storm for a year they should be in a good spot for the 2017 season.
Key Pieces to Build Around:
With a healthy Chris Bosh and hopefully a newly signed Goran Dragic around the Heat have two decent building blocks for the future. Where things start to get difficult is with the contract situation for again star Dwyane Wade and his salary expectations. The general concern for the Heat is that if they commit big money on a retirement contract for Wade then they could blow their salary cap out of whack just enough so as to effectively remove any real possibility of resigning Hassan Whiteside. Of course, should the Heat choose to or lose out on signing Goran Dragic then this isn't an issue.
With Dragic, Bosh and Whiteside in the mix this team is good enough to make the playoffs. If they can add some wing scoring and another big body to play defense and rebound then they will really have something useable here. Luol Deng isn't the solution and Udonis Haslem is on his way out too. Replacements for both players must be considered priorities going into this offseason.
State of the Union - Miami Heat
A huge challenge for the Heat moving forward will be the contract situation of Dwyane Wade. Wade has probably been taking less money over the last few years than he could have garnered elsewhere, but again he did sign the deals so there is no sympathy here. Nonetheless, Wade is looking for a three year deal that will take him into retirement yet he still wants to be paid around $15 million per season. The Heat will face public pressure to keep Wade around, yet financially it makes more sense to low-ball Wade with an offer in hopes of him opting into his player option for next season, let him become an unrestricted free-agent after next season and that way if he leaves it will be on him and not so much in the franchise. Overpaying for Wade here could be hugely detrimental to the future of the team. The Heat want to lock up Dragic to a max deal and Whiteside is going to garner significant interest on the open market; if the Heat want to be bidders on his services they will need significant cap room to make it work.
Draft Needs:
The Heat can't have Chris Bosh playing center, that experiment ran its course in Toronto and failed again at times in Miami. Now the Heat do have Whiteside at the position now, but he will become a free-agent come the end of next season and teams will be lined up to throw big money his way. The Heat would be well served here to draft big as an insurance policy against losing Whiteside and in the interest of protecting Bosh.
Two solid prospects that both figure to be available for the Heat here are Trey Lyles as an oversized power forward and the true center man in Myles Turner from Texas. Turner here would be a outstanding pick as he measures in at nearly 7' tall, with a 7'4" wingspan and a ridiculous 9'4" standing reach. Turner is an offensively skilled big man who can shoot the ball, use a soft touch around the basket and most importantly he can protect the paint. Turner isn't the most mobile guy out there, but when the goal is to keep him near the hoop to alter shots and gobble boards this isn't a huge concern.