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THE MIAMI HEAT’S rebuilding timeline has gotten much shorter after a surprising night at the 2015 NBA Draft this week.
Justise Winslow — a versatile, 6’6″ wing from Duke — fell to the Heat at No. 10, a considerable drop considering most of the NBA world thought he’d be a top-seven pick.
With Winslow, the Heat get a prospect considered more NBA-ready than many other players in the draft, and a player who can fill the increasingly important “3 and D” role – specialising in three-point shooting and defending that threat.
The pick also gives them an injection of youth for a team suddenly stocked with younger, developing players and players in their primes. Winslow could be a future centerpiece if the Heat also re-sign point guard Goran Dragic (29 years old) and retain breakout big man Hassan Whiteside over the next two years. The Heat also still have Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh, both of whom struggled through injuries last year, but were effective when healthy.
Of course, the Wade situation is the big one to monitor. Wade reportedly wants to sign a long-term deal this offseason while the Heat want him to opt into his contract for the 2015-16 season and then re-sign him in the summer of 2016. There’s reportedly a difference in what the two sides want in money, with Wade asking for an average $20 million a year and the Heat hoping he’ll take a paycut.
The Heat are in control here, however. What they want to pay Wade is probably around what his market value is. If Wade and his agent come around, they can stick with the team at a fair price. If he decides to leave, the Heat will have significant cap space for the huge summer of 2016, when the salary cap jumps to $88 million, thanks to the start of the NBA’s new TV deal.
Though the Heat missed the playoffs last season, it was a somewhat tumultuous year as they dealt with the loss of LeBron James, injuries to Bosh and Wade, and a midseason trade for Dragic. Assuming Dragic and Wade are re-signed and Bosh is healthy, the Heat figure to be at least a middle-of-the-pack playoff team in a weak Eastern Conference.
In a few years, with the development of Winslow and Whiteside, plus their cap space (the Heat are angling for Kevin Durant in 2016), the Heat could have a remarkably quick turnaround into a contender.
Elsewhere earlier in the draft, Minnesota Timberwolves selected Karl-Anthony Towns as the number one pick, but there were a couple of surprises in round one too as four of the top seven picks were for non-American talents.
The top two US prospects - D’Angelo Russell and Jahlil Okafor – were snapped up by the Lakers and 76ers respectively, though most predicted that the Lakers would go for the 6′ 11″ centre rather than the talented point guard Russell.
New York Knicks perhaps raised the most eyebrows by picking Latvian Kristaps Porzingis. With the big three of Towns, Russell and Okafor off the table, the Knicks had no perfect option with the fourth pick of the the Draft. You’re left choosing between players of raw talent and untapped potential and guys who can make an instant impact, but probably don’t have much developing ahead of them.
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The fans weren’t happy, but Knicks chose the former and Porzingis just might have the most potential of anyone on the board.
The 19-year-old forward from Latvia has been playing for Sevilla in Spain’s ACB, which is widely regarded as the second-best league in the world. His combination of size and skills is rare. There just aren’t a lot of 7-foot-1 forwards who can shoot, handle the ball, and protect the rim.
“We thought the risk-rewards were the greatest with this guy perhaps in the whole lottery,” said Knicks president Phil Jackson.
Porzingis is very much a project, still on the lanky side of athletic and no one really knows how he’s going to get by defensively. While there’s plenty of evidence that suggests he’s not like the Euro busts of past drafts, converting raw potential into on-court production is a tricky process.
See the full NBA 2015 Draft board here
- Karl-Anthony Towns (C, Timberwolves)
- D’Angelo Russell (PG, Lakers)
- Jahil Okafor (C, 76ers)
- Kristaps Porzingis (F, Knicks)
- Mario Hezonja (SG, Magic)
- Willie Cauley-Stein (C, Kings)
- Emmanueal Mudiay (PG, Nuggets)
- Stanley Johnson (SF, Pistons)
- Frank Kaminsky (F, Hornets)
- Justise Winslow (SG, Heat)
- Scott Davis / Tony Manfred
Originally published 12.24
