Texas Tech guard Jahmi’us Ramsey and Kentucky guard Immanuel Quickley are among the prospects whom the Heat have reached out to about potential in-person workouts, according to Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald.
The club only holds the No. 20 pick in this month’s draft, but is doing plenty of homework on the players who could be options in that range — Ramsey is the 35th prospect on ESPN’s big board, while Quickley – who has interviewed with Miami twice, per Jackson – ranks 42nd.
As Jackson details, the Heat have also “taken a look” at Washington forwards Jaden McDaniels and Isaiah Stewart, who are 23rd and 27th on ESPN’s board. Additionally, Miami has called to speak to Kentucky guard Ashton Hagans, who is ranked just 68th by ESPN. Hagans would likely only be an option for the Heat if they acquire a second-round pick or if he goes undrafted, Jackson notes.
The Heat were also expected to view group workouts for Minnesota big man Daniel Oturu (No. 37 on ESPN) and Arizona guard Nico Mannion (No. 25), writes Jackson. And as our JD Shaw reported on Monday, College of Charleston guard Grant Riller has interviewed with Miami as well.
Here’s more on the Heat:
- Although Jae Crowder is a Georgia native, he has made Miami his adopted hometown, having prepared for the 2012 draft in South Florida and having bought a house in Miami in 2017. As Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun Sentinel writes, Crowder’s fondness for both Miami and the Heat should put the team in a good position to re-sign him this fall, even if he doesn’t give the club an “adopted-hometown discount.”
- While the Heat are accustomed to getting the most out of players who might not have thrived in other environments, Derrick Jones may be a candidate to become a more complete player and have more success with a new team if he departs in free agency, Winderman says in a Sun Sentinel mailbag.
- Ultimate Software, the company that has an advertisement patch on Heat uniforms, has merged with The Kronos Group to form the Ultimate Kronos Group, resulting in a new jersey patch for the Heat. Darren Rovell of The Action Network (Twitter link) has the details.
I don’t think we should assume Miami is going to take any of those guys with the 20. 2nd round picks are always traded on draft day and usually on the cheap. Picking up a 2nd rounder or two is easily possible for the Heat (or anyone else).
Ramsey reminded me of Dion Waiters. I liked him. I had him going to Milwaukee at 24. Quickley I had going to the Lakers, and he would be a really good 3rd playmaker and catch and shoot knock down shooter playing off Lebron and Anthony Davis. I feel like Ty-Shon Alexander has some Josh Richardson in him, if he isnt off the board right in front of them, and Isiah Joe is really interesting in that same area….but I dont know if the Heat necessarily needs to draft a guard, unless they’re trading Kendrick Nunn, in which case a few of those guys become more viable. If someone falls, that might be interesting as well, but I would prefer they go after someone at the 3/4 position if they keep their pick
I anticipate the certain bigs and wings coming off the board in the 10-20 range, so assuming those players are off the board, Tyler Bey makes a lot of sense for the Heat, especially if they lose Derrick Jones jr or Jae Crowder, or even potentially trade Andre Iguodala
I have Isaiah Steward still on the board there, and I actually think he fits the Heat in a lot of ways, if you watch how he plays. I would keep him in mind if a bunch of players are off the board, or they get another pick, but I think the Knicks end up taking him in the early 2nd round