The NBA Draft is coming up on October 16, which means The Game Haus will be doing draft profiles for each NBA team. Each day, a new team will be analyzed for their past season, their team needs and projected targets. Today, the Miami Heat will be evaluated.
Summary
The Miami Heat are (as of writing), still in the NBA playoffs, yet still have a top-20 draft pick. After being invited into the NBA bubble and qualifying for the playoffs as a fifth seed, they took care of business against the fourth-seeded Pacers, sweeping them in four games. Then, they ousted the Eastern Conference-favorite Milwaukee Bucks in five games.
Now, only four wins away from the NBA Finals, they have to focus continuing the momentum from their great 2019 draft. Last season, the Heat collected Tyler Herro, who has been a standout, KZ Okpala, who is waiting in the wings in the G-League and Bol Bol who they flipped for a pick.
Miami does not have a lot of holes, but they have a chance to learn what they are missing for the future in these Conference Finals. With just a few more pieces, they can be a frontrunner in the East going forward.
Picks
The Miami Heat have one pick in the 2020 NBA Draft
First Round: Pick No. 20
Team Needs
Extra possessions- The Heat ranked 22nd in possessions per game this season. Being that their offense is already efficient (ranking 15th in points per game), imagine how much more effective they can be if they get out of the bottom half in possessions. It may create one of the top-10 offenses in the NBA if done right.
Big man- Miami ranked dead last in points per game last season, at 43.1. They also ranked 22nd in blocks per game. One good pick at the power forward/center position can fix both of these things. Luckily, this is an incredibly deep center draft, so the Heat can have their pick.
Projected Targets
Round 1, Pick No. 20: Daniel Oturu, C (Minnesota)
Daniel Oturu is exactly what the Heat need in this draft.
He scored 20.1 points last season to go along with 11.3 rebounds for an averaged double-double. His scoring in the paint is already NBA-level and Miami was already the second-ranked rebounding team in 2019-2020.
Oturu also averaged a huge 2.5 blocks per game, which will raise the Heat up the blocks per game rankings in a hurry. The only downside to this pick is putting up with the turnovers he has been known to cause in the first few years of his career, but that can be coached up quickly.
If not Oturu, there will be many other centers and power forwards to choose from. But Oturu should be available at 20 if they want the total package.
Featured image courtesy of Miami Heat
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