Examining the Miami Heat’s best-case scenario on draft night

As the dust continue to settle amid the Giannis Antetokounmpo blockbuster, the Miami Heat still have a draft to prepare.

To cap off the 2026 NBA Draft, the Miami Heat enter Wednesday night’s second round with just one selection: No. 41 overall. The quality of players outside of the first round is quite bleak, but there are a few very intriguing names that could fall outside of the top-40.

However, what would be the best-case scenario for the Heat on draft night? To me, the answer is quite obvious.

The best case scenario revolves around Duke’s Isaiah Evans:

Isaiah Evans entered the draft as one of the best shooters in the class. With Antetokounmpo’s acquisition, the Heat need shooting now more than ever.

Evans, who reportedly worked out with the Heat earlier this summer, averaged 15.0 points and 3.2 rebounds on 43.3 percent shooting last season with the Blue Devils. He also shot 36.1 percent from 3-point range and 86.0 percent from the free-throw line.

Evans ended up No. 27 on my final big board and was No. 30 on my (initial) Heat big board — ahead of the likes of Bennett Stirtz, Joshua Jefferson and Alex Karaban, who all heard their name called Tuesday.

Thus, I would be pretty surprised if Evans didn’t hear his name called within the first few picks of Wednesday’s draft. I would also be surprised if the Heat traded up to draft Evans.

But they should. That would be the best-case scenario, especially if they were able to create more flexibility by moving Nikola Jovic’s $16.0 million.

The issue is that Miami doesn’t have enough resources to move up 8-10 spots with Jovic — arguably the Heat’s worst asset — and No. 41 overall. Unless they parted ways with either Dru Smith or Myron Gardner, their treasure chest of assets is quite barren.

Moving off Jovic and No. 41 overall could effectively save the Heat roughly $14 million dollars, assuming the player they select signs for the second-round exception. If that player signs for the two-way, they would save $16 million (two-way players don’t count against the Heat’s cap).

Evans also fits perfectly as a shooter. He’s also an improved ballhandler and defender, although he’ll need to get much stronger before he’s able to crack the Heat’s rotation.

Still, his skillset, in the short term and long-term, could be beneficial to what Miami is constructing around Giannis Antetokounmpo and Bam Adebayo. It could also alleviate some pain if they’re not able to re-sign Norman Powell, an unrestricted free agent this summer.

How do you feel about Isaiah Evans? Let us know in the comments!

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