Where will the Heat pick in the 2024 NBA Draft? Also, Bam Adebayo named DPOY finalist

As a playoff team, the Miami Heat won’t be in the NBA Draft lottery. In fact, the Heat’s first-round slot in this year’s draft is now set.

The Heat holds the No. 15 pick in the first round of the NBA’s two-round draft that spans two days this year from June 26-27. It marks the Heat’s highest first-round pick since it selected Tyler Herro with the 13th pick in the 2019 draft.

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The Heat, which is the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference and faces the top-seeded Boston Celtics in the first round of the playoffs, closed the regular season with the same 46-36 record as the Sacramento Kings and Golden State Warriors. But the Heat won’t need to be involved in a coin flip to break the tie between the teams to determine draft slots because the Kings and Warriors lost in the play-in tournament and did not make the playoffs.

That pushed the Kings and Portland Trail Blazers (own the Warriors’ first-round pick) into the draft lottery, forcing a tie to be broken between those two teams for where they will enter the lottery. Since the Heat is the only 46-36 team that made the playoffs, it’s set at pick No. 15 in this year’s draft.

Players projected for the Heat’s draft range at No. 15 include Purdue 7-foor-4 center Zach Edey (the National College Player of the Year in 2023 and 2024), Duke 7-foot power forward/center Kyle Filipowski, Providence swing guard Devin Carter (who attended Doral Academy in Miami and is the son of former Heat guard and assistant coach Anthony Carter), Colorado 6-foot-8 swing forward Tristan da Silva and Duke 6-foot-3 guard Jared McCain.

Over the past few years, the No. 15 pick in the draft has produced mixed results. The past 10 players who have been taken at No. 15 in the NBA Draft are Kobe Bufkin in 2023, Mark Williams in 2022, Corey Kispert in 2021, Cole Anthony in 2020, Sekou Doumbouya in 2019, Troy Brown Jr. in 2018, Justin Jackson in 2017, Juancho Hernangomez in 2016, Kelly Oubre Jr. in 2015 and Adreian Payne in 2014.

The list of stars selected at No. 15 in the past includes Giannis Antetokounmpo, who was drafted by the Bucks with the 15th pick in 2013, Kawhi Leonard, who was drafted by the Indiana Pacers with the 15th pick in 2011 and was then traded to the San Antonio Spurs, and Steve Nash, who was selected by the Phoenix Suns with the 15th pick in 1996.

The Heat is not permitted to trade its first-round pick before the draft because it owes a lottery-protected 2025 first-round pick to the Oklahoma City Thunder, and the NBA doesn’t allow teams to be without consecutive future first-round picks.

But the Heat could select a player on behalf of another team in the draft as part of a trade that’s agreed to before or during the draft, but is announced and finalized after the draft.

The Heat has had success picking in the first round lately, selecting Jaime Jaquez Jr. with the No. 18 pick in 2023, Nikola Jovic with the No. 27 pick in 2022, Herro with the No. 13 pick in 2019 and Bam Adebayo with the No. 14 pick in 2017.

The Heat also holds the 43rd overall pick in the second round of this year’s draft. Among the recent players who the Heat selected or traded for in the second round are KZ Okpala in 2019 and Josh Richardson in 2015.

ADEBAYO NAMED FINALIST

With the NBA announcing the finalists for the Clutch Player of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year, Most Improved Player, Most Valuable Player, Rookie of the Year, Sixth Man of the Year and Coach of the Year awards on Sunday night, Bam Adebayo was the only Heat player who made the cut.

Adebayo is one of the three finalists for the Defensive Player of the Year award, along with Minnesota Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert and San Antonio Spurs center Victor Wembanyama. The winner of the award will be announced at a later date.

Jaquez, who has been among the NBA’s top rookies this season, is not among the finalists for the Rookie of the Year award. Instead, the finalists for that honor are Wembanyama, Oklahoma City Thunder center Chet Holmgren and Charlotte Hornets forward Brandon Miller.

Winning the Defensive Player of the Year award would trigger an even bigger payday than is already expected for Adebayo because he would then meet the supermax criteria.

Adebayo, who currently is under contract through the 2025-26 season, will become eligible to sign a four-year, $245 million extension this upcoming offseason if he meets the supermax criteria. But if Adebayo doesn’t qualify for the supermax, he will instead be eligible for a three-year contract worth $152 million.

Adebayo can also become eligible for a supermax extension by being named to an All-NBA team (first, second or third) this season or the NBA’s MVP this season. He was not among the finalists for the MVP award, so winning the Defensive Player of the Year award or getting on an All-NBA team are his only paths.