Heat: 2 picks, but small cap room
MIAMI (AP) – A year ago, the Miami Heat pulled off perhaps the steal of the NBA draft when they acquired second-round pick Mario Chalmers and turned him into their starting point guard.
They’ll look for another steal Thursday.
With only two second-round picks, Nos. 43 and 60, the Heat don’t figure to be a major player in this year’s draft. With backup point guard Chris Quinn exercising his $1.1 million contract option earlier this week, Miami already has 12 players signed for next season. Those salaries exceed the NBA’s luxury-tax threshold by about $800,000.
In other words, with very little money to work with and at least one more player to sign, the Heat will likely have to wait until well after draft night before figuring out who’ll fill out the roster.
“I would say, across the board, there may not be much activity in the draft for us,” Heat president Pat Riley said.
Unless, of course, Riley is in the mood to deal – which isn’t likely to happen.
Miami could have two first-round picks next year, when the long-awaited 2010 free-agent free-for-all is to commence. The Heat will try to re-sign Dwyane Wade this summer – it can’t offer a deal until July 12 – and the plan has long been to have another maximum-contract player alongside the 2006 NBA finals MVP for years to come.
Nothing major will happen with the Heat, Riley said, until Wade’s future is figured out.
Magic draft: Even though the Orlando Magic don’t have a pick in Thursday night’s NBA draft, they could stay busy.
The Eastern Conference champions probably will spend the two-round event trying to trade guards Rafer Alston, J.J. Redick and Anthony Johnson and forward Tony Battie. All four have expiring contracts that, if unloaded, could free up more money under the salary cap to re-sign small forward Hedo Turkoglu, the team’s No. 1 priority this offseason.
Orlando is one of only two teams (and Houston) without a pick Thursday.
The lack of picks means little to a team that believes it’s built to win now. The more pressing concern is finding ways to free up room under the cap.