NBA Draft Results: Miami Heat Frees Up Cap for Dwyane Wade, LeBron James

There's no question that going into Thursday night's NBA Draft the Miami Heat's focus was to clear up even more cap space for the start of free agency on July 1.

It began on Wednesday night when the Heat traded guard Daequan Cook and the 18th pick to the Oklahoma City Thunder for the 32nd pick.

So while teams such as the Washington Wizards selected John Wall first overall, others like the Chicago Bulls traded away Kirk Hinrich to the Wizards to free up cap space as well.

Quite the gamble considering no one knows where key free agents like LeBron James, Chris Bosh, Joe Johnson and Dwyane Wade will go.

Best to have faith in Heat President Pat Riley.

No. 1 Dexter Pittman with the 32nd pick

With an older and injury-plagued Jermaine O'Neal at center, the Miami Heat selected Dexter Pittman with the 32nd pick of the NBA Draft.

Pittman, a 6'10" center from the Texas Longhorns, played all four seasons and started 59 games.

He averaged 6.6 points and 4.0 rebounds while shooting 62.3 percent from the field.

Miami acquired this pick from the Oklahoma City Thunder after trading away the 18th pick and guard Daequan Cook to free up cap space.

What the Miami Heat Should've Done

Exactly this.

With limited "big man" size on the team, Dexter Pittman provides it, assuming the Miami Heat keeps him.

As mentioned before, Jermaine O'Neal continues to get older and injured. Udonis Haslem and Joel Anthony are free agents and Jamaal Magloire is a serviceable backup.

The plan (I'm assuming) heading into July is to try and obtain Chris Bosh as a free agent to help out Dwyane Wade.

By selecting only second-rounders, the Heat can sign them for minimum salary.

What the Worse-Case Scenario Was

Keeping the 18th pick.

Point guard Eric Bledsoe, who was selected by the Oklahoma City Thunder with the 18th pick that Miami sent over, was traded to the Los Angeles Clippers.

With long-range shooting, the Heat has plenty of that on the team...and decent guards in Carlos Arroyo and Mario Chalmers.

If the Miami Heat didn't trade away its only first-round pick, that would've been the worse-case scenario.

Dexter Pittman Grade is...

A

Miami freed up even more cap space in time for the free-agency period by trading away Daequan Cook and his $2.1 million salary, leaving Heat's salary cap at $56 million.

That's enough to re-sign Dwyane Wade and two other stars.

No. 2 Jarvis Varnado with the 41st pick

The Miami Heat selected Jarvis Varnado with the 41st pick of the NBA Draft.

Varnado, a 6'10" forward from Mississippi State, holds the NCAA record with 564 blocks.

He was named the SEC Defensive Player of the Year in his sophomore, junior and senior seasons while earning All-SEC First Team honors his final two years.

Varnado averaged 10 points, 7.8 rebounds and 4 blocks a game while shooting 58.9 percent from the field.

What the Heat Should've Done

Exactly what it did.

With center Joel Anthony filing for free agency and power forward Udonis Haslem likely to be in high demand, why not take an imposing threat in the paint?

Jarvis Varnado is the NCAA all-time blocks leader, and the Heat's primary shot-blocker other than Jermaine O'Neal and Anthony was Dwyane Wade.

What the Worse-Case Scenario Was

Choosing another perimeter shooter.

The Heat has loads of outside shooting with Dwyane Wade, James Jones, Quentin Richardson, Mario Chalmers, etc.

In fact, Miami dealt Daequan Cook, the 2008 All-Star Game's Three-Point Shootout winner, to free up cap space.

What the Heat has lacked over the past few years is the inside presence.

When (and almost always) Jermaine O'Neal was out with an injury, Udonis Haslem sometimes had to take the position of center despite being only 6'8".

Jarvis Varnado Grade is...

A

Miami did what it had to do once again: Select a big man to help out the lineup's depth, while also keeping minimum salary in play.

And at the same time the Heat picked up the SEC's top defensive player.

No. 3 Da'Sean Butler with the 42nd pick

The Miami Heat selected Da'Sean Butler with the 42nd pick of the NBA Draft.

Butler, a 6'7" power forward from West Virginia, is the winningest player in program history (107) and scored the third-most points (2,095).

He is also a threat from the perimeter with 205 three-pointers made (third in WVa history).

Last season he averaged 14.4 points, 5.5 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 1.06 steals.

What the Heat Should've Done

With back-to-back picks, the Miami Heat continued with size and took a chance on a player who got injured during the NCAA Tournament.

Experts call Da'Sean Butler a great all-around player who can play in the paint and shoot from behind the line.

Think of him as a bigger and younger James Jones.

What the Worse-Case Scenario Was

Not continuing to go after players with size.

As of now Michael Beasley can have a good night's sleep because Heat President Pat Riley said that the small forward will not be traded.

Instead, he'll have some weapons of similar size to take some of the pressure off of him.

That's assuming the three selections make the roster or see playing time.

Da'Sean Butler Grade is...

B

This late in the draft, why not take a gamble on a guy who saw an injury during the NCAA Tournament?

That was back in April, after all.

What is unsettling is the sudden belief in the point guard position with serviceable Carlos Arroyo and inconsistent Mario Chalmers.

And it seems the organization is relying too heavily on something out of its hands: free agents.

No. 4 Heat Trades Latavious Williams to Oklahoma City

With the 48th pick in the NBA Draft, the Miami Heat selected forward Latavious Williams, only to trade him to the Oklahoma City Thunder.

For the second time in two days, the two teams made a deal.

The Thunder will give the Heat a protected second-round pick in 2011.

What this means is the ability to keep cap space instead of an unnecessary number of picks to sign over the off-season.