ATLANTA — From the Department of Why Bother?, the NBA took the time on Monday to break the tie for the Miami Heat’s 2022 first-round draft pick, with No. 27 now belonging to Pat Riley and his front office.
The question is whether the announced selection on June 23 need even be sized for his Heat draft hat.
It’s not that the Heat shy from competitive youth, it’s just that rarely has the developmental pipeline been so stacked.
With the shift of NBA-ready Caleb Martin to a standard contract, the Heat have Mychel Mulder and Javonte Smart primed for time in summer league, with both under two-way contracts for next season.
There also was the midseason conversion of Haywood Highsmith to a partially guaranteed standard deal, with the 25-year-old forward also on developmental detail.
Then there is center Omer Yurtseven, last year’s summer standout whose 2021-22 developmental program was interrupted by the return of Bam Adebayo from thumb surgery and the team’s turn to a win-now focus in the playoff race.
Beyond that, there are the ties to Marcus Garrett, the guard who continued to rehab at the Heat’s facilities after wrist surgery led to a roster parting in January, and big man Micah Potter, who earned All-Rookie distinction this season with the Heat’s G League affiliate.
It is no surprise, therefore, that the Heat again are poised to participate in two summer leagues in July.
Already, the Heat could field an offseason developmental roster of Mulder, Smart, Highsmith, Yurtseven, Garrett and Potter. And that’s not even getting into the youth of former two-way players and ongoing developmental projects Gabe Vincent, 25, and Max Strus, 26. (Both were with the team in 2021 summer league, with little need for returns this summer.)
So where does that leave the Heat when it comes to the draft during the rarest of times when their first pick will be far earlier than where the Miami Dolphins will select in this coming week’s NFL draft?
Most likely, weighing cost-benefit analysis, as well as considering trade value.
While the rookie scale for the No. 27 pick in June’s draft is $1.84 million, or roughly the veteran minimum, even such numbers can get in the way of the luxury tax, as was the case when the Heat opted to sell off 2019 second-round pick KZ Okpala in February to the Oklahoma City Thunder for luxury-tax roster relief.
Beyond that, No. 27 also could stand as trade sweetener, perhaps if the Heat see the need to offload the $16.9 million due Duncan Robinson next season.
That’s not to say there can’t be value added.
Among recent No. 27 selections have been Pascal Siakam, Rudy Gobert, Bogdan Bogdanovic, Kyle Kuzma, Robert Williams, Larry Nance Jr. Heck, Dennis Rodman made the Hall of Fame from No. 27 in 1986 (when that pick came in the second round). And former Heat legend Vladimir Stepania also was a member of the No. 27 club, in 1998.
But with their trade-deadline deal with the Thunder pushing back the need to forward a first-round pick until 2025, at the earliest, the Heat are free to trade their 2022 first-round pick at any time — today, tomorrow, at the draft, after the draft.
In fact, by flipping their 2022 first-round pick for another team’s future first-round pick, it could unlock similar freedom to deal first-round picks in subsequent years (a possibility now encumbered starting in 2024 due to the protected pick due to Oklahoma City, with teams not allowed to be without first-round picks in consecutive future drafts).
So, yes, the Heat did score their first victory of the season over the Golden State Warriors when they won the draft tiebreaker, after both teams finished the regular season at 53-29.
But this Heat roster, with the win-now talents of Jimmy Butler and Kyle Lowry, hardly has the time to wait for No. 27 to turn into a contributor, especially with the development pipeline already so well stocked.
For those who insist on considered the possibilities, those listed in the Heat’s range at No. 27 include Milwaukee forward Patrick Baldwin Jr., G League prospect MarJon Beauchamp, Ohio State wing Malaki Branham, Alabama guard JD Davison, Serbian forward Nikola Jovic, Duke guard Trevor Keels, Auburn center Walter Kessler (nephew of late Heat big man Alec Kessler), Ohio State forward E.J. Liddell, Overtime Elite guard Jean Montero and Kentucky guard TyTy Washington.
So off to the May 16 combine in Chicago it will be.
But as buyers? Or sellers? Intervening playoff results well could play a factor.
