How is Heat handling draft prep while in Finals? ‘We’re trying to stay out of the team’s way’

The Miami Heat started preparing for this year’s NBA Draft months ago, but the final few weeks of preparation have been scheduled around the NBA Finals.

The Heat began inviting prospects for predraft workouts at Kaseya Center last week, organizing those sessions around the schedule of the Finals to avoid any on-court conflicts. That has allowed Heat assistant general manager Adam Simon and the rest of the team’s draft staff to host those workouts in Miami, but also freed Simon to attend each of the Heat’s games against the Finals whether on the road or at home.

“Once we advanced to the conference finals, we had to prepare for the possibility of being here,” Simon said to the Miami Herald ahead of Monday night’s Game 5 of the NBA Finals against the Denver Nuggets at Ball Arena. “So we’re trying to stay out of the team’s way, get our work done. So with cooperation from the agents, we’re able to re-schedule a handful of guys.”

The Heat holds the No. 18 pick in the June 22 draft. Miami does not currently own a second-round selection — that pick, which is 50th overall, will be conveyed to the Oklahoma City Thunder as part of previous trades.

The Heat’s draft preparation picked up last month during the Eastern Conference finals with the NBA Draft Combine in Chicago and agency-run pro days in Los Angeles. The Heat contingent at the combine watched Game 1 of the East finals against the Boston Celtics from a steakhouse in Chicago, and Simon said he also watched two other East finals games in Los Angeles alongside director of player personnel Eric Amsler, director of college and pro scouting Keith Askins and senior advisor of basketball operations Chet Kammerer, among others while hopping around agency-run pro days.

“Leading up to it, there’s the combine, there’s agent pro days and that’s our responsibility to be there,” Simon said. “All eyes are on the team. But once the season is over, that will shift to, ‘Are we ready for the draft?’ And we need to be ready.”

Among the prospects expected to be selected this year around the Heat’s spot at No. 18, according to ESPN’s latest mock draft, are Michigan wing Jett Howard and guard Kobe Bufkin, Ohio State forward Brice Sensabaugh, Baylor guard Keyonte George and international prospects Rayan Rupert and James Nnaji.

ESPN NBA Draft analyst Jonathan Givony projects the Heat to take Rupert, describing him as “a young, defensively versatile wing with toughness and a strong feel for the game.” Givony added that “he brings many of the qualities Miami seeks out from a culture standpoint with his outstanding off-court intangibles. His perimeter shooting will have to improve to earn immediate playing time next year, but he also brings significant upside as a young 19-year-old to be considered the best talent available on the board at this juncture.”

Rupert is listed at 6-foot-7 with a reported 7-3 wingspan and is from France. He spent last season with the New Zealand Breakers of the National Basketball League (NBL).

“I think we’re in a good position,” Simon said. “Obviously, you’re prepared for anything. Move-up scenarios, trade back, trade out. So we prepare for as many players as we think will be in play, whether it’s our 18th pick or whether it’s second round or the non-drafted. We want to prepare for all of them.”

The Heat is eligible to use this year’s first-round pick as a carrot in a potential trade. But even if Miami does end up moving the selection, the information gathered at the combine and during the predraft workouts is still useful when evaluating prospects who could be added if the team buys its way into the second round or are available if they go undrafted.

The Heat has never previously owned the 18th pick. Among the best players drafted 18th overall include James Posey (1999), Quentin Richardson (2000), David West (2003), J.R. Smith (2004), JaVale McGee (2008) and Eric Bledsoe (2010).

Usually teams that make the Finals pick later in the first round, with NBA draft slots determined by regular-season record. But the Heat is the exception, closing the regular season with a middling 44-38 record before going on an improbable playoff run to become the second No. 8 seed in league history advance to the NBA Finals.

“I think we’re excited about where we are,” Simon said. “It’s not every year that you get to be in the Finals and also have the 18th pick unless your team made a trade. So being in our natural position of 18, I wouldn’t recommend trying to do it that way but it just worked out for us this year. I don’t know if you’d ever want to plan it that way, but we’ll take it at this moment.”