| 30 Teams, 30 Days: Miami Draft Preview Authored by Jason M. Williams - June 20, 2009 - 11:48 am
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2009 Draft Picks: 42nd, 60th
Pre-Draft 2009-10 Projected Starters:
PG Mario Chalmers
SG Dwyane Wade
SF Michael Beasley
PF Udonis Haslem
C Jermaine O'Neal
Key Reserves:
PG Chris Quinn
SG Daequan Cook
SF James Jones
SF Jamario Moon
C Joel Anthony
What The Heat Do Well:
While Erik Spoelstra deserves a ton of credit for the way he instantly became a highly effective head coach, it was Dwyane Wade who came back with a vengeance in 2008-09 and arguably meant more to his team than any other player in the entire league. He averaged a career best 30.2 points per game and played in 79 regular season games, which was also a high after he played in 51 during each of the past two seasons.
Michael Beasley came on strong near the end of the season and was underrated/overlooked amongst rookies, but the impact of fellow first-year man Mario Chalmers could not be understated.
Shawn Marion and Marcus Banks were flipped in February for Jermaine O'Neal and Jamario Moon, which balanced their personnel in a more effective way.
Miami has two scorers that could average 25 per night this season and a few complementary pieces, but the lack of overall talent clearly hurt them in the seven-game series against Atlanta.
Greatest Areas Of Improvement:
Young, legitimately 'big' bigs
In terms of true power forwards and centers that are on the front side of their career, Miami is a barren land. The group of O'Neal, Haslem, Mark Blount and Jamaal Magloire have already played their best NBA minutes. Beasley will certainly be a legitimate frontcourt scorer, but he is a combo forward and Miami could use an athletic shotblocking big to pair beside him.
Quality depth at point guard
The Heat could use another quality ball handler, though a veteran to back up Chalmers and even challenge him for minutes would be more logical than whatever point guard is still available in the second round.
Who’s Gone Number 18 Recently?
Over the past five years, the 18th pick has been a place to take fliers on potential. The only two productive players are J.R. Smith and JaVale McGee, while Gerald Green, Oleksiy Pecherov, and Marco Belinelli might not be in the league in two or three years.
2008
Javale McGee, Washington Wizards
2007
Marco Belinelli, Golden State Warriors
2006
Oleksiy Pecherov, Washington Wizards
2005
Gerald Green, Boston Celtics
2004
J.R. Smith, New Orleans Hornets
Who Should The Heat Target?
The Wolves own Miami's 18th overall pick as part of the Antoine Walker/Ricky Davis and change trade. Their targets will be largely predicated on the position they select with the 6th overall pick, but could be in market for names such as Terrence Williams, B.J. Mullens, Austin Daye and Jeff Teague.
Below are a few names Miami could turn to with the 43rd overall pick. The Heat also own the 60th overall selection.
- Josh Heytvelt of Gonzaga
There is a good chance Heytvelt is off the board by the time the 43rd pick comes along, but he would immediately see minutes at both power forward and center.
- Derrick Brown of Xavier
Even though they are on entirely different levels, there is some Michael Beasley in Derrick Brown. He has a very good outside game and pairing two inside/outside forwards would create a lot of mismatches where opposing bigs would be forced out to the perimeter.
- Ahmad Nivins of St. Joseph's
Nivins is a good athlete who is coming off four years of experience, where he never shot less than 61.2% from the floor. He is active on both sides of the floor and will block some shots.
- Robert Dozier of Memphis
Dozier has suffered from inconsistency during his days at Memphis, but he is a good utility power forward who is an effective off-ball shotblocker and finisher.
Picks Over the Past Five Years
Following the excellent 2002 and 2003 drafts where Miami selected Caron Butler 10th and Dwyane Wade 5th, the Heat have had some strikeouts as their picks began to come later and later in the draft, or not at all in 2006. Wayne Simien and Pape Sow are already in Europe while Dorell Wright has been mostly a bit player. But 2008 was a return to form when the Heat lucked into Michael Beasley and pulled off a trade for 2nd round steal Chalmers.
2008
Michael Beasley, 2nd
Darnell Jackson, 52nd (traded to Cavs)
2007
Jason Smith, 20th (traded to Sixers)
Stanko Barac, 39th
2006
No picks
2005
Wayne Simien, 29th
2004
Dorell Wright, 19th
Pape Sow, 48th
According to Andrew Perna’s Miami Heat Draft Summit, an interactive forum featuring the responses of true RealGM hoops fans hoping to add their two cents to the Heat Draft discussion, the fans of Miami have made it known that they would like to draft bodies for their bench.
The Verdicts
1. What could the team have done differently to advance further in the playoffs?
GameTime_3: Tough answer! This team did everything they could, yet we could not get over the hump. Maybe set a rotation going into the playoffs would of helped, but overall we got beat by the better team.
vincent: Less turnovers and better three-point shooting.
pusher: If Dwyane Wade didn’t have back spasms in Game 4.
heat4life: We could have used reliable second and third scoring options. After Wade, nobody was consistent through out the series.
HIF: If we played Jamaal Magloire as an enforcer early and often.
FlashTheKilla: Tough one, considering that we were playing well over our expectations all season long. It's hard to do something different or better when it's already better than it should be in the first place.
2. Where were the team’s biggest strengths?
GameTime_3: Wade! We had the best closer in basketball, which helped us win a lot of games we shouldn’t have.
vincent: Wade.
pusher: I look like a homer, but this is all about Wade.
heat4life: At the top of the list you have to put Wade. Then right after that, the established coaching staff (as a group) that were able to put together a young team and a bunch of newcomers and help them make the playoffs after a 15-win season.
HIF: Obviously Wade, then coaching , and defensive intensity
FlashTheKilla: Aside from the obvious answer in Wade, the Heat's biggest strength this season was our turnover differential.
3. Who had a surprisingly effective season?
GameTime_3: Daequan Cook. He came off the bench and gave us a spark and improved his defense.
vincent: I hate to said it, but Mario Chalmers.
pusher: Cook and Chalmers in the first half of the season.
heat4life: While I still see lots of flaws to improve on, Chalmers did start 82 games and did a decent job as a rookie point guard, which happens to be one of the toughness positions to play in this league.
HIF: Chalmers has to be the biggest surprise.
FlashTheKilla: I'll go with Chalmers. Despite his inconsistencies and the holes in his game, he did start every game this season at the hardest position to learn.
4. Who had a surprisingly ineffective season?
GameTime_3: James Jones, mostly due to injuries and rust. Coming into the season, we were expecting him to play defense and hit the outside shot.
vincent: The bench, but that was no surprise.
pusher: Cook and Chalmers in the second half of the season.
heat4life: J.J.’s injury was disappointing at the beginning of the season, but it gave Cook the opportunity to shine.
HIF: Dorell Wright, Mark Blount, J.J. and Jermaine O’Neal.
FlashTheKilla: I have to give it to O'Neal. He came in and gave us a low-post presence on offense and defense, but his rebounding numbers were dismal, almost Eddy Curry-esque.
5. How confident are you in the front office heading into the offseason?
GameTime_3: 100% confident! Pat Riley and Co. have shown the ability to rebuild teams fast. We have a lot of expiring contracts and some young pieces we could move. I expect a lot of rumors and possible moves to be made.
vincent: I’m 70% in favor.
pusher: In Riley We Trust, but I don’t think any big moves will happen this offseason.
heat4life: Very. Riley has done it before a couple of times. This offseason he has the flexibility every team wishes for: expiring contracts galore.
HIF: Very. I expect Riley to act and move J.O. this year.
FlashTheKilla: In Riley We Trust. He gets the job done, and I expect nothing less from him this offseason. He's had a few bumps in the road, but he's still a top-three GM in this league.
6. What are the team’s biggest needs in the draft?
GameTime_3: We need a playmaker off the bench and a center for the future. We have allot of youth on this team, but we have no center for the future.
vincent: A defensive wing player, a back-up point guard and a center.
pusher: Prospects at center and small forward.
heat4life: I am not so sure more youth is going to take us to the next level, but we have two picks and I guess we have to make them. I would be happy with finding some backups and hope that they could become rotation players some day soon.
HIF: This draft is nothing for us. I expect us to trade, but that could start with a move into the first round. We need a defensive center that can rebound like hell more than anything else.
FlashTheKilla: We need help at almost every position except for shooting guard, which is locked down courtesy of Wade and Cook.
7. Who would you like the Heat to take with the 43rd pick?
GameTime_3: Jack McClinton from Miami. He can score from anywhere and would add some depth to the back court.
vincent: A.J. Price, Danny Green or Jeff Pendergraph.
pusher: Green?
heat4life: If I have to pick, I would take Toney Douglas at 43 and Pendergraph with the 60th pick.
HIF: BPA. We’ll get bench fodder at best.
FlashTheKilla: I also like McClinton. I think he's Eddie House 2.0, which would be great value for such a low pick.
Click here to read other draft previews in our 30 Teams, 30 Days series
Who do you want the Heat to draft at number 42 and 60? Feel free to contact Jason M. Williams with your thoughts. He can be reached at Jason.Williams@RealGM.com for comments and questions. |
