Who Will the Miami Heat Pick?

Besides the Cleveland Cavaliers and Minnesota Timberwolves, no other team will have a more interesting draft than the Miami Heat. That's because the Cavaliers are hoping to get their version of Chris Paul in Kyrie Irving, and the Timberwolves are going to get a better shooting version of Amar'e Stoudemire in Derrick Williams.



 First off, let's not talk about whether the Heat are going trade either LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, or Chris Bosh. Any mention of that is absolutely absurd, unfounded, ridiculous, and inflammatory. To suggest such a thing is to suggest that Pat Riley is an imbecile, which he is not. The Heat's draft will be interesting because even on a team with two of the best five players in the league, and three of the best 40 players overall, you would think that this team has very minor gaps to fill out. They do and they don't. They've got to find a player that will fit right into their system and contribute right away. True, the Heat will get better next year, but so will the Bulls and Thunder, and the Mavericks, Lakers, and Celtics will still be in the way. Plus, if the Knicks find a way to play defense, they can be really scary.

We all heard about how the Heat were only two games away from the championship, so there's not much that they should tweak in the lineup. It's true, look at the core of their team. You can put just about anybody around them and they'll scare the entire league. But the Heat's run last year showed one of two things, 1) that they really need a big man in the middle to score for them, and 2) they need another guard to complement Wade and Mario Chalmers. Mike Bibby was good for about 5 minutes, Mike Miller was hurt an old, Juwan Howard was just old, and Eddie House was good for about 6 minutes.

Personally, I think the Heat are going to go for a guard, even though they're awful at center  The Heat's big men included Dexter Pittman, Jamaal Magloire, Erick Dampier, and Zydrunas Ilgauskas. The Heat are high on Pittman, but who knows how the kid is going to bounce back from a knee injury. Joel Anthony proved to be a great shot blocker, but his offensive game needs work and he's not a natural scorer. Udonis Haslem is a good player, but he is not a natural center the way Alonzo Mourning and Shaquille O'Neal were for the 2006 Heat.

With guards, the Heat should look to add a player that can come in right away to knock down shots, play tough defense, and help to facilitate the Big 3's attack. Here are five guys I think the Heat will either trade down for or get with the first pick of the second round:

G Shelvin Mack (Butler) - a college veteran, highly respected, watched him play at Butler and he's got heart
G Darius Morris (Michigan) - good size and great ability to distribute the ball
G Reggie Jackson (Boston College) - good scorer, jump shooter, and defender with good size
C Jeremy Tyler (Tokyo Apache (Japan)) - a project but can add depth to a team with old centers
C Nikola Vucevic (USC) - a scorer and rebounder, 7 footer with decent size, but possibly a one-year wonder, he's projected to be a mid-first round pick

P.S. I'm terrible at predicting things like this, but it'll be interesting to see if the Heat utilize their draft pick for legitimately improving the team next season.