Miami Heat: 5 biggest NBA Draft mistakes under Pat Riley

4. 2005 NBA Draft — Wayne Simien over David Lee

Owning the 29th overall pick like Miami did in the 2005 NBA Draft is an impossible situation to be in. Having a selection that late in the first round means, odds are, you’re going to draft a player who will have little to no impact in the NBA.

Sadly, that’s exactly the type of player the Heat got in Wayne Simien. He played just 507 minutes in his Heat career, averaging 3.3 points per game in the process. Usually, this wouldn’t even be worth mentioning. You drafted a guy at No. 29 who was a bust? All right, understandable, no point in dwelling on what was somewhat inevitable.

Miami Heat

However, Miami’s 2005 decision does warrant revisiting. And that’s because of who went one pick immediately after Simien at No. 30: David Lee.

The Florida Gator is still in the NBA to this day, playing the role of backup big for the San Antonio Spurs. For his 12-year career, Lee has averaged 13.5 points, 8.8 rebounds and 2.2 assists per contest on 53.5 percent shooting.

Is he going to be a first-ballot Hall-of-Famer? No. Would he have changed the course of Heat history? Of course not.

Regardless, it’s fun to think about what could have been had Miami taken him back in 2005. Though it took Lee a few years to get going, he really began to hit his stride in the 2008-09 season. Coincidentally, that’s when Wade hit his absolute apex as a player too.

Instead of watching Wade carry four…lesser talents night-in and night-out for the duration of the ’09 and ’10 seasons, watching him create a partnership with the 18-point, 11-rebound a night player Lee became would’ve been far more entertaining.