The Miami Heat’s frustrating regular season has finally come to a close as they finish 43-39 and in 10th place in the Eastern Conference. They’ll end up playing the Charlotte Hornets tonight at 7:30 PM Eastern on Amazon Prime in the 9/10 win-or-go-home Play-In game.
Miami has had a ton of ups and downs this season, from Bam Adebayo’s 83-point game to some impressive wins over the Oklahoma City Thunder, Detroit Pistons, Denver Nuggets, Cleveland Cavaliers, New York Knicks, and Houston Rockets. Miami also led the league in pace at 104.2, which was surprising as they were always one of the slowest teams in the league. At season’s end, the Heat were second in points per game at 120.9, but only 15th in field goal percentage at 46.8, and a modest 36.1% three-point percentage.
From late February into early March, the Heat won seven straight games and were the sixth seed. Miami instantly gave it up as they lost seven of their next eight games to essentially lock them into the Play-In. Miami’s defense completely fell off a cliff, especially in the second half of the season, so targeting a two-way player would make a ton of sense if available.
The Heat are essentially locked into purgatory, as they aren’t bad enough to have a top pick but simultaneously not good enough to compete. Which is why, for the betterment of the team, they should lose tonight’s game against the Hornets. Get the best possible pick you can, believe in the lottery balls, and hope that you can draft another high-impact player.
The last time Miami had a lottery pick was 2019, and that turned into Tyler Herro. The time before that was 2017, when they drafted Adebayo 14th overall in 2017. In recent memory, the Heat drafted Precious Achiuwa 20th overall in 2020, Nikola Jovic 27th overall in 2022, Jaime Jaquez Jr. in 2023, Kel’el Ware at 15th overall in 2024, and Kasparas Jakučionis 20th in 2025. Not too shabby at all for the Heat outside of the Achiuwa selection a pick ahead of Tyrese Maxey who fell to the Philadelphia 76ers and is now one of the best guards in the NBA.
Miami Heat 2026 Draft Needs
Drafts in all sports come down to two things: either best player available or positional need. Depending on what the Heat need, I believe they should go by best player available, especially if the lottery balls are really in their favor.
Miami’s current star-level players are Bam Adebayo and Tyler Herro, who, I would assume, as of now, would remain on the team going into next season. Adebayo is one of the first Heat players in recent memory to average 20 points and 10 rebounds per game, and he plays superb defense. Adebayo also has a ton on his shoulders next season as his three-year $160.3 million contract kicks in, which pays him the same as Luka Dončić.
In terms of Herro, he’s a polarizing player that teams have never really felt super interested in, as he’s dealt with his fair share of injuries, and they might not fully believe in him. Herro is also a dreadful defender and gets picked apart on that end while making $30 million annually until he’s a free agent after next season.
Outside of those two building blocks, there’s not really anybody locked into the Heat next season, in my personal opinion. Norman Powell and Andrew Wiggins are free agents, and I would assume that this is the last time we see them in Miami. Powell enjoyed a great first half of the season in which he was named to his first career All-Star team and also participated in the three-point contest.
Wiggins had the best efficiency of his career this season with the Heat as he shot 47.5% from the field, 41.4% from the three-point line, and had a 58.6% true shooting percentage. This would be the perfect time for Wiggins to opt out of his $30 million player option and cash in a lucrative contract over either three or four years with a win-now team.
So, as you can see, Miami could very well draft a shooting guard or small forward in this upcoming draft class.
The Heat could also look to draft another point guard, even after drafting Jakučionis. Currently, the point guard room is Davion Mitchell, Jakučionis, and Jahmir Young. Mitchell profiles more as a nice backup point guard. Jakučionis was surprisingly a much better shooter than anticipated, but he is still developing, and Young is a third-string point guard for now. Point guard wouldn’t be the biggest positional need, but if a high-level one is out there that they love, they should pounce on the situation.
Pelle Larsson can easily see himself as the starting small forward for Miami with his two-way presence and maybe improved shooting down the line, but it wouldn’t be insane to want him to come off the bench. The Heat could use a backup center if they commit to the Adebayo and Kel’el Ware starting frontcourt, but not with a lottery pick, with how the current team is.
Guard And Forward Prospects The Miami Heat Should Be Targeting
In the mid to late tottery, Miami should be looking at players like Brayden Burries, Yaxel Lendeborg, and Labaron Philon Jr.
Burries is a 20-year-old shooting guard listed at 6’4, 205 pounds, who had a great year at Arizona, and scouts mention him as someone comfortable both on and off the ball. Burries had a highly efficient shooting season as he shot 49% from the field, 39.1% from 3 on 4.6 attempts per game, and 80.5% from the free throw line on 4.3 attempts per game. This is also a player who is valuable defensively, as he averaged 1.5 steals per game, including five combined steals in the last two games of his collegiate career in the NCAA tournament. Burries overall averaged 16.1 points, 4.9 rebounds, and 2.4 assists in 39 games.
Lendeborg is a 23-year-old power forward who’s listed at 6’9, 240 pounds, and just won a National Championship at Michigan while showing poise and playing through an ankle injury. Scouts rave about Lendeborg’s NBA readiness, which is to be expected with his age, but he can also defend multiple positions. Lendeborg also has a 7-4 wingspan and impressed with his 37.2% three-point percentage on 4.5 attempts per game on top of shooting 51.5% from the field. Lendeborg can play at multiple levels and averaged 15.1 points, 6.8 rebounds, and 3.2 assists in 40 games en route to becoming a champion.
Philon Jr. is a 20-year-old point guard who’s listed at 6’4, 185 pounds, and is coming off his second season at Alabama. Philon Jr. averaged 22 points, 3.5 rebounds, five assists, shot 50.1% from the field, 39.9% from three on 6.2 attempts, and 79.8% from the free throw line on six attempts per game. Scouts have pointed out that Philon Jr. is a shoot-first player who lacks elite explosiveness, with some projecting him as a sixth man off the bench.
Miami could also target Nate Ament if he falls down the board, Braylon Mullins if they believe in the shooting, Thomas Haugh if they covet his size and shooting, and Christian Anderson with his playmaking and shooting abilities at 6’3.
The End Of My Miami Heat Draft Rant
Miami desperately needs to hit on this next pick and somehow hope that it ends up becoming a high-impact player and, best-case scenario, a star-level player. The Heat have their third options in Adebayo and Herro, connecting pieces in Larsson, Ware, and Jaquez Jr. They need someone to take them over the top.
Hopefully, going into next season, Miami commits to starting Ware alongside Adebayo, and the trial and error of that frontcourt duo. They can be incredibly scary, with some more confidence from head coach Erik Spoelstra, letting Ware play through mistakes as he’s only 21 years old.
What I love about this draft is that there are players that the Heat need at both guard and forward spots; it really depends on how the board shuffles. Another great thing is the fact that one of these point guard options can play alongside Jakučionis, as he’s 6’5.
From a youth standpoint, Miami has Ware and Jakučionis to look forward to. Nikola Jovic was given a four-year $62 million contract in the offseason and has been incredibly underwhelming, as he’s not even in the rotation currently. Jaquez Jr. and Larsson are getting older as they’re now 25 years old, so the Heat really need this next pick to inject some more youth into them.
