Could the Miami Heat benefit by dealing the No. 15 pick in next week's NBA draft?
Q: I think big changes are coming this offseason and the draft pick will be part of one of the deals, such as making a pick that is traded to another team. The Heat roster will likely look very different by the start off next season. Bam Adebayo, Jaime Jaquiez Jr., Nikola, Jovic will be here. Who else is the question. – Mark.
A: Actually, your thought raises another question that we can deliberate over this next week: Would the Heat trading out of the first round (by picking for another team) signal a move to a makeover or a double-down on the veteran core? My thought is you trade out if you are addressing the moment, making it all about now. Unless . . ., and this is a caveat, you are trading the pick to also help shed some of your salary. By contrast, retaining a player picked is almost always a play for the future. Based on the current swirl, movement with No. 15 certainly would appear to be in play. But it also seems there is quality available at that slot, as well. And that matters, considering the benefit of being able to add a player on the rookie scale. Based on the depth of potential contributing talent in a draft without a leading man, the best of all worlds could be an ability to trade back in the first round while also acquiring another, future first-round pick. Something like No. 15 for something late in the 20s plus a conditional first-rounder down the road. Doable? In a week we’ll find out.
Q: Is there a world where Caleb Martin opts in? Could what happened to Gabe Vincent, PJ Tucker, Kendrick Nunn and others stop someone from thinking another system is greener just because of the money? – Vladimir, Philadelphia.
A: Probably not. Whether Gabe Vincent, PJ Tucker or Kendrick Nunn got the playing payoff they envisioned at another stop, their bank accounts were fully credited with every last dollar on the raises they received in free agency elsewhere. This is the NBA. Money talks. And it talks louder than any concerns of being unable to replicate elsewhere. Mostly it talks louder because the ego of players is that they can be just as good or better elsewhere, even as Heat history indicates otherwise.
Q: Erik Spoelsta has made lemonade out of lemons, but the lemons are old. – Jim, Columbia, S.C.
A: Are they? Bam Adebayo is 26, Tyler Herro is 24, Jaime Jaquez Jr. is 23, Nikola Jovic is 21. So the real question is whether they are good enough or can become good enough.
