{"id":731884,"date":"2026-05-11T22:48:23","date_gmt":"2026-05-11T22:48:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/731884\/"},"modified":"2026-05-11T22:48:23","modified_gmt":"2026-05-11T22:48:23","slug":"lottery-left-heat-at-a-loss-but-here-are-five-standouts-who-could-intrigue-at-no-13","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/731884\/","title":{"rendered":"Lottery left Heat at a loss, but here are five standouts who could intrigue at No. 13"},"content":{"rendered":"

There came a point \u2014 actually four different points \u2014 during Sunday\u2019s NBA draft lottery when it became evident to Adam Simon, the Miami Heat<\/a>\u2019s assistant general manager, that the evaluation process would require more than assessing something close to a sure thing.<\/p>\n

As he sat in the private drawing room in Chicago<\/a> ahead of the televised portion of the lottery, Simon had his list of four-number combinations that could have vaulted the Heat into one of the first four selections in the random-but-weighted process.<\/p>\n

Advertisement<\/p>\n

As the ping-pong balls elevated for the No. 1 pick, the Heat were eliminated when the first of the four balls required for the pick rose to the top of the hopper.<\/p>\n

For the No. 2 pick, the Heat were eliminated after the second ball rose.<\/p>\n

For the No. 3 pick there was dual disappointment. Initially, the Heat were eliminated when the first ball rose, but because the combination for the Utah Jazz<\/a> came in after the Jazz already had received the No. 2 pick, a re-draw was held. That time the Heat were eliminated with the second ball.<\/p>\n

And for the No. 4 pick, the Heat again were out when the first ball rose to the top of the hopper.<\/p>\n

Advertisement<\/p>\n

With that, the No. 13 pick, the position where the Heat were seeded to begin the process, still without a gain in any of the team\u2019s 12 lottery appearances over the franchise\u2019s 38 seasons.<\/p>\n

And so on to the real work at hand, with Simon, his scouting staff, and the Heat\u2019s front office remaining in Chicago for this week\u2019s draft combine.<\/p>\n

A year ago, among those at the combine was Illinois guard Kasparas Jakucionis<\/a>, who wound up going to the Heat at No. 20, moving on to produce a heartening rookie season that included 52 appearances and 12 starts.<\/p>\n

With the NBA requiring attendance of leading draft candidates for physicals, measurements, testing and interviews at the combine, it will be a busy and potentially meaningful week for the Heat \u2014 provided they keep the selection in the June 23 first round of the draft.<\/p>\n

Advertisement<\/p>\n

Under the NBA rule banning teams from being without first-round picks in successive years, the Heat must execute a pick in the first round in June, since they could be without their first round pick in 2027. The Heat must either send a top-14-protected first-round pick to the Charlotte Hornets<\/a> in the 2027 draft to complete the January 2024 trade for Terry Rozier<\/a>, or an unprotected 2028 first-round pick to Charlotte.<\/p>\n

The Heat, however, can make a first-round pick for another team in June, as a means of working around that rule, and then forward that selection to a trade partner.<\/p>\n

Among potential trade partners for the Heat are the Milwaukee Bucks<\/a>, amid their uncertainty with forward Giannis Antetokounmpo<\/a>. The Bucks exited the lottery with the No. 10 selection, leaving in question how much they might value also adding the No. 13 selection.<\/p>\n

The Heat have not dealt their first-round selection on draft night since 2014, when they traded up for No. 24 selection Shabazz Napier<\/a>, the guard out of UConn.<\/p>\n

Advertisement<\/p>\n

Should the Heat remain at No. 13, here are five potential selections that could prove intriguing from a Heat perspective:<\/p>\n

\u2014 Labaron Philon<\/a>, guard, Alabama: There are few players in this draft class, outside the top five, who are better at creating, and making, their own shot than Philon. Drafting him would give the Heat a potential Tyler Herro<\/a> replacement, potentially allowing the Heat to move on from Herro in a trade for Antetokounmpo or another star this offseason.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Jayden Quaintance<\/a>, center, Kentucky: A boom-or-bust pick who barely suited up for Kentucky last season due to injuries, but was dominant around the rim two years ago at Arizona State. His ceiling could be Jalen Duren<\/a>, his floor could be Precious Achiuwa<\/a>. This is another pick that would allow the Heat to move on from a current player (Kel\u2019el Ware) in a trade this offseason.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Christian Anderson, guard, Texas Tech: The offense would run smoothly with the ball in Anderson\u2019s hands. He\u2019d be an excellent pick-and-roll guard to pair with Bam Adebayo<\/a> and is more than capable of hitting open shots. His defense is a bit of a question mark, but it\u2019s something that could be developed through the Heat\u2019s developmental program.<\/p>\n

Advertisement<\/p>\n

\u2014 Cameron Carr, guard, Baylor: A bit of a late bloomer, Carr flashed his scoring ability, and shot-making in his third and final season at Baylor. His athleticism and measurables project him to be an intriguing 3-and-D prospect, which is an element the Heat continually have valued.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Nate Ament<\/a>, forward, Tennessee: Seemingly every draft features a player who falls from projected heights into the Heat\u2019s range, as Jakucionis did last year. That could be the case with Ament this time around. A polarizing prospect, the uber-intriguing 6-10 wing is offensively capable with the ball in his hands and has soft touch around the rim. He\u2019ll need to get stronger, and more assertive, but from a Heat perspective is worth tracking.<\/p>\n

____<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"There came a point \u2014 actually four different points \u2014 during Sunday\u2019s NBA draft lottery when it became…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":731885,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[10965,1179,7,473,919,123,912,6658,229,2879,189,121,18339,6,249,10745,17390,1677,1176,492,427],"class_list":["post-731884","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nba","tag-adam-simon","tag-bam-adebayo","tag-basketball","tag-charlotte-hornets","tag-chicago","tag-giannis-antetokounmpo","tag-jalen-duren","tag-jayden-quaintance","tag-kasparas-jakucionis","tag-labaron-philon","tag-miami-heat","tag-milwaukee-bucks","tag-nate-ament","tag-nba","tag-nba-draft-lottery","tag-precious-achiuwa","tag-shabazz-napier","tag-terry-rozier","tag-the-heat","tag-tyler-herro","tag-utah-jazz"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116558384643173522","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/731884","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=731884"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/731884\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/731885"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=731884"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=731884"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=731884"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}