Miami HEAT NBA Draft(Mandatory Credit: EuroleagueBasketball.net)

We are two weeks away from the 2025 NBA Draft, where the Miami Heat own the No. 20 pick, their only selection of the two-day event. We won’t know until we know, but a lot of options could be presented to the Heat come draft night.

On Tuesday, while you and I both aren’t in the draft room conducting in-person workouts or interviews, we examined a few qualities that the Heat should prioritize when it comes to drafting their player as June 25 arrives. However, a pair of international prospects, who could potentially fill one of their biggest needs, could be a good fit for them heading into next season and beyond.

Ben Saraf and Nolan Traore both fit Heat’s need for a lead guard:

I didn’t list them in any particular order, but one of Miami’s priorities this offseason should be addressing its lack of a lead guard. I love Isaiah Stevens as much as anyone, but he only saw six total minutes last season, and the Heat don’t have any conceivable answer after that.

Tyler Herro and Davion Mitchell were both the Heat’s two de facto point guards last season. But while both are improved playmakers, neither is a lead guard.

Saraf and Traore, two of the best point guards in this class, could help it fill that need.

Saraf, who turned 19 in April, averaged 12.3 points, 2.7 rebounds and 4.3 assists on 45.3 percent shooting and 53.5 percent true shooting in 54 combined games this season.

Saraf’s team, Ratiopharm Ulm (Germany), is still in the midst of their season, as they are in the semifinal round of the German League playoffs.

If Saraf’s team wins Thursday’s game, they will advance to the championship round against FC Bayern Munich in a best-of-five series that may not conclude until June 26, the second day of the 2025 NBA Draft. This could also affect forward Noa Essengue, who’s also a projected

Traore, who turned 19 in May, averaged 12.2 points and 4.7 assists on 41.0 percent shooting and 51.2 percent true shooting with Saint-Quentin of the LNB Elite (France). Traore’s season is already wrapped up.

The French guard is arguably the best passer of the 2025 NBA Draft class. At 6-foot-3 (barefoot), Troare can make advanced reads out of the pick-and-roll. He did a good job manipulating back-line defenses throughout the season, capable of making skip passes to the corner and fooling tag defenders in the roll. He didn’t shoot the ball well, but he has a quick first step and plays with pace both in the halfcourt and in transition. He’s arguably the closest thing to a sure-fire pure point guard in this class, though his skinny 175-pound frame does draw some concerns.

At 6-foot-5 with a 6-foot-7.5-inch (unofficial) wingspan, Saraf has more poisitonal size than his counterpart. He’s not as skilled with his playmaking, but he still has great court vision–especially when he’s treading downhill–plus he possesses a slicker handle with more three-level scoring upside. Saraf has shot below 30.0 percent, but he was far more efficient off the catch than as a pull-up jump shooter, where he has serious room to grow.

The Israeli was also more physical defensively than Traore at the point-of-attack and was more disruptive, even though he still has plenty of strides to make both on- and off-the-ball.

Nevertheless, either would be a keen option for a lead guard at No. 20. Neither may make it to 20, but you’d be hard-pressed to find two better options for the Heat at that spot if you’re aiming to find the point guard of the future, even though both will need to clean up their shooting and point-of-attack defense.

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