One can hardly fault the Miami Heat for not paying too much attention to the makings and rumblings of the NBA draft for they are and have been busy chasing down championships. Given the Heat’s regular season successes they haven’t been beneficiaries of very high draft picks. Which isn’t a big deal since they have no intention of building or re-loading through the draft. In fact the draft merely represents a guaranteed contract that has to go on the books when management would rather commit those dollars in getting a veteran to help down the stretch.
The NBA draft has not been overly fruitful for the Heat as of late. Looking back we see that ever since the Heat grabbed Dwyane Wade with the 5th overall pick back in 2003; the subsequent years have yielded nothing for the Heat. The most successful picks since Wade have been Michael Beasley back in 2008 and Marcus Thornton in 2009. Both players have had moments of success; however, none of it has come with the Heat.
Miami is in an interesting position heading into the off-season as they have a whopping two players and $3.6 million in guaranteed salaries on the books for next season. Now if the trio of Wade, Chris Bosh and LeBron James all opt in on their player options then the committed dollar amount spikes significantly to about $65 million. Even with the ‘big three’ on board and Chris Anderson and Norris Cole they are obviously going to need to fill in a lot of roster spots.
Biggest Draft Day Need:
The biggest need for the Miami Heat is simply cheap warm bodies. They need to fill out their roster as inexpensively as possible and if they can find a draft day gem in the process then all the better. In looking for cheap players the Heat need to address their lack of size, lack of muscle and potential lack of shooters to knock down those open looks as teams double off to help with James and Wade.
A solid fit for the Heat would appear to be the D-Leagues P.J. Hairston. Hairston played out the season in the D-League due to his dismissal from North Carolina back in 2013. He made the most of his time in the developmental league as he posted 21.8 ppg and showed off a smooth shooting stroke that will translate well at the next level.
Rarely does an NBA team get a chance to evaluate a player against near NBA talent and Hairston’s time in the minors has given a glimpse of his game against superior competition. Hairston is a big bodied 6’6” player who has an extra 3” of reach and has a solid muscular frame on him.
He is very capable of knocking down jumpers both off set plays and the dribble. He showed good mechanics in the D-League and a range that well includes the more distant NBA 3-point line. He does have trouble scoring as a slasher to the rim, but that just isn’t his strong suit as he doesn’t have great quickness or leaping ability.
The Heat could use a spot-up shooter and one who can play pick-and-roll offense. Hairston would have time to develop slowly in the Heat organization while benefitting from being around the likes of Wade and James.