Miami Heat: 5 options for pick No. 14 in 2017 NBA Draft
By Frank Urbina
Honorable mentions
Before we transition to our five most ideal prospects, there are a few other guys who deserve mention.
For starters, we have Duke’s Harry Giles who, prior to injuries derailing his growth, was the top prospect in the 2016 high school class. It’s easy to see why.
Alas, two torn ACLs and multiple knee surgeries have severely stunted the positive trajectory he was on. If the Heat want to hit a home run on draft night and go for the highest boom-or-bust prospect, Giles would be it.
But I would be more confident in that possibility if the team didn’t just get through dealing with Chris Bosh‘s failing health. I doubt they’d want to get themselves into a similar situation so soon after.
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There’s also T.J. Leaf out of UCLA. The skilled power forward was one of most disappointing young men at the combine. He measured in at barely 6-foot-10 with shoes on, and with an unimpressive 6-foot-11 wingspan.
Leaf’s measurables make it difficult to project him as anything but a porous defender at the professional level. And that’s unfortunate because his mix of skill and scoring ability would have helped the power-forward-needy Heat immensely.
Finally, we have Wake Forest’s John Collins. He had a monster sophomore season for the Demon Deacons, becoming the second player in ACC history (since 1992-93) to average at least 19.5 points, 9.0 rebounds and 1.5 blocks per game while shooting over 60 percent from the field. The other was Tim Duncan.
But even though he showed improved skill at the combine, the fact that he measured in with a sub-7-foot wingspan didn’t do much to answer questions about his poor defensive potential. Perhaps the Heat will be convinced otherwise after bringing him in for private workouts; for now, he falls out of our top five.