MIAMI – As the Miami Heat move forward in their pre-draft process, the team's front office and scouting staff find themselves working in new environments at various levels, including those created by the NBA and NCAA.
An important but minimally mentioned element of the new NBA Collective Bargaining Agreement is the changes that could impact how business is conducted in the second round of the draft.
Starting this year, teams that buy second-round picks, which have long been a routine part of the process, will automatically earn a hard cap for next season. Essentially, the typical flyer you get by buying a pick in the second round has a potential impact on how the team has to conduct business for the next 12 months.
The Heat hold the No. 43 pick in the second round on June 27th, but getting past the second round this year and future management is more of a trade than a buy or sell for Heat president Pat Riley and his staff. There may be a case for replacement.
“That's definitely something we take into consideration,” Heat vice president of basketball operations and assistant general manager Adam Simon said. “And you have to look at the big picture and the business you're in. And that's when it comes into play.
“But if you’re going to be hard on yourself, you definitely have to take that into account.”
For a team further from the hard cap numbers than the Heat, this is a twist that creates less anxiety. The Heat currently have no hard cap plans for 2024-25, with a salary limit of $189.5 million in 2024-25. But the Heat face a payroll of more than $180 million, leaving little room for change even with a tight cap. Teams already operating over the 2024-25 hard cap are currently prohibited from purchasing such second-round picks.
“But each team has a different setup in the building,” Simon said. “Some are already there. Some are not.”
Additionally, there are external factors that play into the NBA's June 16 withdrawal deadline.
With NCAA name, image and likeness keeping college prospects around for so long, and with such NIL payouts now running into the millions of dollars, second-round domestic talent is no longer young. Not available.
For Simon, it's a welcome trade-off, albeit one.
“I think it's better for us to have players develop more when they come to the league,” he said. “And I want more players who aren't ready to come to the NBA to get ready. I'd rather develop the skill set of the players who have the skill set. .”
As it stands, there is no guarantee that the Heat will keep the player they selected with the 15th pick in the first round or that they will not trade their second round pick, and the Heat will have several picks in both rounds in the upcoming draft. Because they lack rights, they may choose to replenish in that respect.
“Obviously my job is to prepare for the draft and make recommendations to the Pats and the organization,” Simon said. “So drafting players is a good way to help build a team. But sometimes those picks have to be used for other duties.
“We've used them over the years to trade, acquire players, release players for a variety of reasons. It's a hand we've been dealt and we've made the most of it. I'm looking forward to using whatever year's pick I get. And you never know what's going to happen on draft night.”
Therefore, scouting remains intensive for now.
“We're going to Los Angeles,” Simon said of agency training this week. “We're going to meet as many players in person as possible.”
Hot second round conspiracies in recent years:
2024: Heathold No. 43 pick.
2023: No second round pick.
2022: No second round pick.
2021: No second round pick.
2020: No second round pick.
2019: Acquired the rights to No. 32 KZ Okpara in a trade with the Phoenix Suns and Indiana Pacers. He selected Bol Bol with the 44th pick and traded him to the Denver Nuggets.
2018: No second round pick.
2017: No second round pick.
2016: No second round pick.
2015: I picked Josh Richardson 40th.
2014: Selected Semaj Christon with the 55th pick and traded him to the Charlotte Hornets.
2013: Acquired the rights to jersey number 50 James Ennis in a trade with the Atlanta Hawks.
year 2012: Acquired the rights to jersey number 45 Justin Hamilton in a trade with the Philadelphia 76ers.
2011: They selected Bojan Bogdanovic with the 32nd pick and traded him to the Minnesota Timberwolves for Norris Cole.
