A look back at Heat’s recent success in first round of draft. Will that success continue this year?

Just six years ago, Miami Heat president Pat Riley admitted he doesn’t value holding on to draft picks as much as other executives around the league.

“To be really honest with you, I’m not a draft pick guy,” Riley said during a news conference in the 2018 offseason. “You know that.”

What Riley finds value in is using draft picks in trades to upgrade the Heat’s roster like when he used picks as part of a package to acquire Shaquille O’Neal from the Los Angeles Lakers in 2004. Just this past season, the Heat traded a lottery-protected first-round pick to the Charlotte Hornets as part of a deal to acquire Terry Rozier.

But the Heat has also managed to come away from the draft with value in recent years by holding on to their picks, finding rotation-level players who are still on the roster with four of the past five first-round selections that it has made.

The Heat added Bam Adebayo with the 14th overall pick in 2017, Tyler Herro with the 13th overall pick in 2019, Nikola Jovic with the 27th overall pick in 2022 and Jaime Jaquez Jr. with the 18th overall pick last year. All four players were in the Heat’s playoff rotation this past season.

The Heat will look to continue its string of smart first-round selections in the 2024 NBA Draft next week, as it’s slotted to make the 15th overall pick Wednesday.

“The draft, you have to just make a decision on that night,” said Adam Simon, who is the Heat’s vice president of basketball operations and assistant general manager. “So yeah, I think we’ve been happy with our guys. Anything we can do to contribute to build our team, it certainly makes you happy and you want to continue to keep finding players and build off the success that our scouting department has recommended.”

The Heat’s only first-round pick since 2017 who is no longer on the roster is Precious Achiuwa, who was drafted by Miami at No. 20 overall in 2020. Achiuwa spent one season with the Heat before he was traded to the Raptors as part of a deal to acquire Kyle Lowry during the 2021 offseason and Achiuwa was then moved to the New York Knicks this past season.

The Heat also didn’t have first-round picks in 2018 and 2021 after trading those selections to land Goran Dragic in a trade in 2015.

“This is our job and our job is to recommend,” Simon said, referring to the responsibility of the Heat’s scouting staff. “These are not easy decisions. After the fact, you can look back and think: ‘Hey, why didn’t we do this?’ I think this is a very challenging assignment to try to figure out how a player that played in one system is going to fit into your system.”

For example, in hindsight, most would say the Heat should have drafted Tyrese Maxey instead of Achiuwa in 2020. Maxey, who was selected as an NBA All-Star this past season, was drafted by the Philadelphia 76ers at No. 21 just one pick after the Heat’s selection of Achiuwa at No. 20.

No scouting department is perfect. But Simon, senior advisor of basketball operations Chet Kammerer and the rest of the Heat’s scouting department that includes Keith Askins, Bob McAdoo, Glen Rice, Jack Fitzgerald, Randy Embry, Bob Staak and Jeff Saunders, among others, have hit on most of their recent first-round picks.

The Heat, if it keeps the 15th pick, will try to find another rotation player in the first round of next week’s draft. While the Heat is not allowed to trade this year’s first-round pick prior to the draft because of NBA rules, Miami could select a player at No. 15 on behalf of another team as part of a trade that’s agreed to before or during the draft but is announced and finalized after the draft.

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 Josh Richardson in 2015 and KZ Okpala in 2019.

“I think our scouting department takes a lot of pride in what we do and we feel good about the preparation and work we put in,” Simon said.