The Heat is the first of three teams that do not own a first round selection. The Heat traded theirs to Detroit (which was the 10th pick) for John Sally. They pick 28th in the Usenet draft, in the NBA draft they will pick 35th or 36th. They are represented by: Rob Clough. With the 28th pick the Miami Heat select: Gheorge Muresan, C, 7-7, Romania. ======================================================================== Team Needs/History: The Miami Heat have been regarded by many as the new expansion team that made all the right moves, had an excellent GM, and a great scouting staff. Yet, due to the caprices of a few ping-pong balls, they are suddenly in danger of being left way behind by Orlando & Charlotte. The Heat's philosophy was to build entirely through the draft, and not to take shortcuts on older players to get a few more wins. The Heat have done fairly well in the draft, getting Rony Seikaly, Grant Long, & Kevin Edwards in their first draft (the latter two being second round steals), Glen Rice & Sherman Douglas in their second draft, Willie Burton & Bimbo Coles in their third, Steve Smith in their fourth, and Harold Miner & Matt Geiger in their most recent draft. Their biggest goof was drafting 6-11 clod Alec Kessler in the first round--he hasn't amounted to much of anything other than a med school prospect. What's worse, they released Terry Davis in order to keep Kessler, and Davis has become a very productive player in Dallas. They also goofed (IMO) in trading this year's pick to Detroit for John Salley. More on the players later. What the Heat need now, and what they have always needed, is another big man. Anyone who can rebound, who can play some interior defense, block shots, clog the middle and generally allow Seikaly a chance to play at power forward. Heat management is of course hoping that Salley will come back next year and be able to do that. Picking as low as they are, the Heat will go for the best athlete available. Alternately, a slashing swingman could be nice in case Willie Burton still can't play consistent minutes. Guards need not apply. Team Evaluation: Centers: At 6-10, Rony Seikaly is probably too small and not athletic enough to play center. He's also better facing the basket. Despite all that, he's been one of the league's best rebounders the past few years, despite having little help >from anyone else on the team. He also has greatly improved his shooting, has a decent hook shot and really goes after offensive rebounds. His foul shooting is also respectable after graduating from Bricklayer's U (Syracuse). Seikaly has worked hard to become a very good player and one of the ten best centers in the league. He would benefit from being able to move out to PF some more, however. John Salley was brought in to play defense, rebound and block shots--in other words, to help out Seikaly. However, he caused controversy, first by starting over the popular Grant Long, and contributing to Grant holding out. He also got injured midway through the season, and didn't play much after that. He will never be more than a competent player, and he wasn't even that last year, most of the time. Alec Kessler is a washout, a high-price bust. He's a nice shooter, but has hands of stone. He's also extremely slow. Matt Geiger surprised by sticking with the team as a second round pick. He's very mechanical, but is big and a decent rebounder. A decent back-up, but not much more. Forwards: Glen Rice had all-star potential last year. This year, he suffered through a season-long shooting slump. Part of the problem may have been his return to the forward position, where he's needed for his rebounding. With Willie Burton going down to an injury early in the season (again), there was no one to back up Rice for any significant length of time. Rice also missed having Steve Smith around to take off the burden of all the outside shooting. Rice was expected to do too much and he's not quite up to that level yet. Hopefully, with the development of Harold Miner and a healthy Willie Burton, he may be able to regain his stroke. Grant Long is the heart and soul of the Heat. A tireless worker, great shooter and good rebounder, he does all the dirty work on this team. Still, he's not big enough, strong enough or athletic enough to play at the power forward spot full time. No one's been able to move him out of the spot, though. He potentially could be 6th man of the year if moved there, to play any of the frontcourt positions, but I'm not comfortable with Grant as a starter. Willie Burton has had numerous physical and mental problems since coming into the league, but he's the only member of the Heat who can really slash to the basket--he's by far the quickest forward, and possibly the quickest player, on the team. Keith Askins is a good back-up who can slash to the basket and hit the three at times, but is very inconsistent. A good role-player. Salley and Kessler also play some forward (see under centers). Guards: Steve Smith is the primary reason the Heat missed the playoffs this year. Without him as the leader during the first half of the year, the team fell apart. His shooting, rebounding, size (a 6-9 point guard!), ballhandling and toughness were missed--he is the leader of this team. Having him from the beginning of the year will improve the Heat's fortunes next year. The team is to be commended in not rushing him back too soon, and risking further injury. Brian Shaw is a mystery to me. He's a guard, but he's not a good shooter, a good passer, or a good ball-handler. He is a good rebounder. What he should be is gone. Kevin Edwards was having a great year until Kevin Loughery decided that Harold Miner should get some playing time. Edwards was never seen again. It's a shame, but the Heat will most likely get rid of this hard-working defensive specialist. Bimbo Coles is the classic NBA back-up point guard. He's totally unselfish, a good shooter and more of a pure point than Smith. He helped the team a lot when Smith was away, but proved that he wasn't capable of running the team full time. Whatever the Heat do, they shouldn't pick another guard. Harold Miner had his moments of glory as a rook (most notably winning the Slam-Dunk Contest), and could score 20+ points at a time, but he proved to be a terrible defender and a worse passer. Still, Miami Harold has a lot of potential, and can only improve. Look for him to start next year--if he works on his defense this summer. Glen Rice and Keith Askins can also play guard. Overall: The Heat are a hard-working team that shoots fairly well (especially free throws) and is fairly athletic. Defense and toughness are still problems, as is experience. They only lost one more game this year than last, and a lot of that can be attributed to Steve Smith's injury. In addition, Seikaly, Willie Burton and John Salley also were injured at various times, and Grant Long held out at the beginning of the year, hurting his rhythm. The Heat need an intimidator on defense. They're not likely to see much at their spot in the draft. With that kind of position, they can take a chance. My selection: Gheorge Mureson, 7-7 C, Romania Muresan is a 7-7, 300 lb monster from Romania, who played for France's Pau Orthes club. He's only 22 years old, and led his team to a very surprising 5th place finish in the 1991 Junior World Championships, averaging 23.4 ppg and 11.4 rpg. This year, he averaged 17.4 ppg and 9 rpg against good competition like Arvidas Sabonis. He's only been playing ball for 7 years or so, so his game is still unrefined. But he's improved every year and has shown a great willingness to learn. His defensive presence is unquestionable, with the height and bulk. He's a good shooter, and hits 73% of his foul shots as well. This is the kind of player who makes a nice gamble. Peter Vecsey claims he's a certain first round pick, so he may not be available to the Heat at that time, but he might be an interesting pickup for a team that has a history of getting good production >from second round picks (Sherman Douglas, Bimbo Coles and Matt Geiger come to mind). Other possible picks: In this mock draft, players like Spencer Dunkley, Geert Hammink and Eric Riley might slip down to this spot, but probably not in the real draft. Kevin Thompson, Bo Outlaw and Rodney Dobard may also be available. Outlaw might not be a bad pick as a defensive specialist/shotblocker/tough guy. If by some miracle someone takes Muresan ahead of me, I would take Outlaw, Dobard, Riley, Thompson and Evers Burns, in that order. Probable selection: Hard to tell. Any of the power forwards who are still around, or any of the more athletic centers. I seriously doubt if they'll take any guards, unless Hollywood Robinson somehow slips down here. They may also try and trade the pick, along with Kevin Edwards and/or Brian Shaw. Other moves the team should make: Get rid of Brian Shaw. Please. Move Glen Rice back to off-guard, where he scored 20+ ppg two years ago. That would also give the Heat an extremely tall backcourt. Start Salley at center, move Seikaly over to PF. Move Long over to SF. Bring in Harold Miner and Willie Burton at the swingman spot, for some offensive punch. Keep Kevin Edwards. Continue to use Bimbo Coles a lot. Have Billy Cunningham ascend to the head coach spot. ===================================================================== Draft Summary: 1. Orlando GM: Tom@Orlando Pick: Chris Webber, PF, 6-10. University of Michigan 2. Philadelphia GM: Dave Meeks Pick: Shawn Bradley, C, 7-7. BYU 3. Golden State GM's: Mike Moore Terry Wong Pick: Jamal Mashburn, SF, 6-8. Kentucky 4. Dallas GM: Curtis Hill Pick: Anfernee Hardaway, SG, 6-7, Memphis State 5. Minnesota GM's: Kevin Hansen Toni Morgan Pick: Calbert Cheaney, SF, 6-7. Indiana 6. Washington GM's: The Crossjammer Jim Nagle Pick: J.R. Rider, SG, 6-5, UNLV 7. Sacramento GM: TODD FURESZ Pick: Rodney Rogers, PF, 6-7, Wake Forest 8. Milwaukee GM's: Brian Saunders Morgan Edwards Pick: Malcolm Mackey, PF, 6-11, Georgia Tech 9. Denver GM's: John Exby Rick Grubin Pick: Ervin Johnson, PF, 6-11, New Orleans 10. Detroit (from Miami in John Sally trade) GM: Rob Skrobola Pick: Alan Houston, SG, 6-6, Tennessee 11. Detroit GM: Rob Skrobola Pick: Acie Earl, C, 6-10, Iowa 12. L.A. Lakers GM: Cliff Slaughterbeck Pick: Bobby Hurley, PG, 6-0, Duke 13. L.A. Clippers GM: Cliff Slaughterbeck Pick: Vin Baker, SF, 6-10, Hartford 14. Indiana GM: Doug Mraz Pick: Scott Burrell, SG, 6-7, UCONN 15. Atlanta GM: Kevin Metz Pick: Terry Dehere, SG, 6-4, Seton Hall 16. New Jersey GM: A. Borges Sugiyama Pick: Douglas Edwards, PF, 6-9, Florida State 17. Charlotte GM: Bren Bailey Pick: Chris Mills, SF, 6-6, Arizona 18. Utah GM: Michael Wendt Pick: George Lynch, SF, 6-7, North Carolina 19. Boston GM: Orin Day Pick: Greg Graham, SG, 6-4, Indiana 20. Charlotte (from San Antonio for J.R. Reid) GM: Bren Bailey Pick: Lindsey Hunter, PG, 6-2, Jackson State 21. Portland GM: Mike Northam Pick: Luther Wright, C, 7-2, Seton Hall 22. Cleveland GM's: W. Scott Klingensmith Brian Young Pick: Joe Harvell, SF, 6-7, Mississippi 23. Seattle GM: Christopher Beck Pick: Rodney Dobard, PF, 6-9, Florida State 24. Houston GM: Brian West Pick: Thomas Hill, SG, 6-5, Duke 25. Chicago GM: Christopher Gattuso Pick: Rex Walters, SG, 6-3, Kansas 26. Orlando (from NY in Mark Jackson, Stanley Roberts trade) GM Tom@Orlando Pick: Sam Cassel, SG, 6-3, Florida State 27. Phoenix GM: Jason M Shachat Pick: James Robinson, SG, 6-2, Alabama 28. Miami GM: Rob Clough Pick: Gheorge Muresan, C, 7-7, Romania Next up: 29. San Antonio GM: Shane L. Bell