NBA Eastern Conference: Most important need for each Southeast Division team heading into the NBA Draft

#3 Miami Heat

2018-19 NBA regular season: 10th seed with a 39-43 record

The Miami Heat fell out of playoff contention in 2019 and saw one of the greats of the game retire from their roster at the end of the season. The prime areas where the Heat need improvement is in scoring (as they finished 2019 27th in the Association), ball handling (they were 23rd in turnovers), and 3-point shooting (they finished 21st in the NBA in 3-point shooting).

The fourth area of concern would be at the center position where Hassan Whiteside seems to have regressed having played his least number of minutes per game since 2015 at 23.3 mpg and his lowest scoring average at 12.3 ppg.

To address these issues, in the 2019 NBA Draft the Heat should use the 13th pick to select either Nickeil Alexander-Walker, a 6’5 shooting guard from Virginia Tech or Sekou Doumbouya, a 6’9 SF/PF from France. With Alexander-Walker, the Heat would be able to address passing, decision making with the ball, and long range shooting. He is also a good defender having averaged 1.9 steals per game as a sophomore. He would certainly fit Miami’s defensive mindset as a team and bring more offense to the club.

In the case of France’s Doumbouya, he is a strong two-way player who is athletic and runs the floor extremely well in transition. He would provide Miami’s offense with a good slashing forward who can create scoring opportunities off of the dribble and he possesses a good quick first step. Doumbouya is also a good set shooter as well who could help space the floor and raise Miami’s perimeter effectiveness.