2023 NBA Draft: Miami Heat Official Selections and Draft Grades

Who did the Miami Heat select in the 2023 NBA Draft?

Entering the 2023 NBA Draft, the Miami Heat were in a unique spot. Although they made it all the way to the NBA Finals, the Heat's selection was set to be just outside of the lottery due to a poor regular season record. For Miami, it's all about adding win-now talent, which is absolutely possible in the middle of the first round. The Heat hope to make another deep playoff push last season and adding a rookie contributor like the Denver Nuggets found last year with Christian Braun would be ideal. 

How did their 2023 NBA Draft unfold?

Selections

• No. 18: Jaime Jaquez Jr.

Overall Draft Grade

C-

Draft Summary

It's almost foolish to ever give Miami a poor draft grade given the track record, but we'll see how this one turns out. Just a few picks outside of the lottery, the Heat selected Jaquez, who was productive in college but may not have every translatable skill. There's no question he was what it takes to be an impactul NBA player, but will he be worth the No. 18 selection?

Only Miami knows what happened behind the scenes, but there may have been an opportunity to trade back and still get the UCLA prospect. It was expected he'd go in the later part of the first round, but for the Heat it made sense to their front office. 

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