2011 NBA Draft Lottery: Dwyane Wade and the Miami Heat's 10 Best Lottery Picks
When Glen Rice is the second best lottery pick to be drafted despite only spending five seasons with your team, it's possible that your organization hasn't been too wise when it comes to the NBA draft.
The Heat have been an NBA franchise for over two decades and have only seen postseason success from one of their players that they selected as a lottery pick. Franchise players like Shaquille O'Neal, Alonzo Mourning and Tim Hardaway all came via trade. The franchise today is based around two players that were recently traded for.
There have only been 10 lottery picks for the Heat in their franchise history, and their highest selection came a few seasons ago when they selected second after their worst season in history.
With so few lottery picks in the team's history, it was simple to pick and rank the team's 10 best selections in the top 14 picks that Miami has taken part in.
10. Khalid Reeves
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Years spent with team: 1994-'95
Stats with team: 9.2 ppg, 4.3 apg and 2.8 rpg
Pick number: 12
Khalid Reeves makes this list solely because the Miami Heat have only had 10 lottery picks in franchise history.
He was taken after averaging 24 points in his senior season at the University of Arizona and actually averaged his career high in every statistical category with the Heat in his rookie season. He would play a small role on a number of other teams and would be out of the league by 2000.
He is most known for being a part of the deal that brought in Alonzo Mourning.
9. Kurt Thomas
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Years spent with team: 1995-'97
Stats with team: 7.7 ppg, 5.9 rpg and 0.6 apg
Pick number: 10
Believe it or not, this is the only surviving picture of Kurt Thomas in a Miami Heat uniform.
Well, at least on google.
Kurt Thomas has been in the league for nearly two decades, and he started this lengthy career with two seasons as a member of the Heat. He was taken out of TCU with the 10th pick in the draft and showed promise as a rookie after averaging nine points on 50 percent shooting to go along with six rebounds.
However, Thomas would only play 19 games the next season and would see a drastic decline in his production.
8. Willie Burton
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Years spent with team: 1990-'94
Stats with team: 9.5 ppg, 3.3 rpg and 1.1 apg
Pick number: 10
The first Miami Heat lottery pick to go awry, Willie Burton showed plenty of promise in his first two seasons with the team before experiencing a heavy drop off in his production in his final two years with Miami.
Taken out of the University of Minnesota, Burton earned All-Rookie second team honors after averaging 12 points, three rebounds and one assist per game. He would average 11 points, four rebounds and two assists per game the following year and would then see his next two seasons shortened by injuries that would drastically affect his stats.
He was waived early into the 1994-'95 campaign and would be out of the league by 1999.
7. Harold Miner
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Years spent with team: 1992-'95
Stats with team: 9.4 ppg, 2.4 rpg and two apg
Pick number: 12
A strange career for the USC alumni Harold Miner as a promising career ended in only four years time.
After averaging over 20 points per game in the three seasons he spent at the college level, Miner was drafted by the Heat as a promising and extremely athletic player. He showed promise in his first year after averaging 10 points off the bench and then averaging 11 the next season, but then experienced a drop off after only playing half of the season in his third year. He was traded the next season and was out of the league the same year.
He will be most remembered for his exploits in the dunk contest, where he took home the trophy in 1993 with Miami and then in 1995 with Cleveland.
6. Caron Butler
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Years spent with team: 2002-'04
Stats with team: 12.3 ppg, five rpg and 2.3 apg
Pick number: 10
Arriving from humble beginnings with the Miami Heat, University of Connecticut product Caron Butler spent his first two seasons in Miami before being a part of the monumental trade that brought Shaquille O'Neal to South Beach.
As a member of the Heat, Butler showed a lot of promise. He was a member of the All-Rookie first team after averaging 15 points, five rebounds and three assists per game as one of the leaders of a young and inexperienced team.
His role with the team would diminish the next season once Dwyane Wade was drafted, but he was still a key component in being able to lead the team to the second round of the 2004 postseason.
5. Michael Beasley
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Years spent with team: 2008-'10
Stats with team: 14.4 ppg, 5.9 rpg and 1.2 apg
Pick number: Two
Michael Beasley was the highest selected player in Miami Heat history after being taken with the number two pick, but was unfortunately sent to the Minnesota Timberwolves in order for the team to make significant signings.
Beasley was productive in his first seasons, but could not fit into the role as a second option. He averaged as high as 15 points and six rebounds per game in his final season with the team and showed the potential of becoming one of the league's next best players. He is extremely athletic and even has a mid-range that is developing into a consistent shot for Beasley.
Beasley made it on to the All-Rookie first team and was one of the NCAA's top players, averaging 26 points and 12 rebounds while attending Kansas State.
4. Steve Smith
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Years spent with team: 1991-'95
Stats with team: 15.1 ppg, 5.1 apg, and 3.9 rpg
Pick number: Five
He only spent three full seasons with the Miami Heat before being traded to the Atlanta Hawks, but Steve Smith made his impression felt as one of the Heat's first stars in its early history.
Smith made it on to the All-NBA Rookie team after averaging 12 points, five assists and three rebounds per game and progressively improved from there. He would average as much as 17 points, five assists and five rebounds in his final full season with the team. Smith had persistent injury problems in his first two seasons and missed 21 games during his rookie year and 34 in his second season.
3. Rony Seikaly
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Years spent with team: 1988-'94
Stats with team: 15.4 ppg, 10.4 rpg and 1.3 apg
Pick number: Nine
The Miami Heat's first draft pick and also their first individual to receive an award, Rony Seikaly was not only one of the Heat's most underrated players, but one of the league's.
A product out of Lebanon, Seikaly was one of the league's first foreign born players to join the league and the first to arrive from Lebanon. Rony had an impressive rookie campaign and then won the NBA's Most Improved Player award the following season after averaging a double-double for the first time in his career. Aside from his rookie season, Seikaly would average a double-double in every season he spent with Miami.
Rony averaged as much as 17 points and 12 rebounds per game and was also a terrific offensive rebounder, averaging at least three in every season he played with Miami.
2. Glen Rice
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Years spent with team: 1989-'95
Stats with team: 19.3 ppg, five rpg and 2.2 apg
Pick number: Three
Possibly the Miami Heat's first superstar, University of Michigan product Glen Rice was able to lead the team to their very first postseason appearance.
Rice made it on to the All-Rookie second team after averaging 14 points, five rebounds and two assists per game. He would then average his high with the team in only his third season after averaging a little more than 22 points per game, a feat that he would match in his final season with the team before being traded to the Charlotte Hornets for Alonzo Mourning.
Glen was an excellent three-point shooter as well and shot over 38 percent from deep in every year with the Heat aside from his rookie year. His best year came in his final season in the team, when he was making two three-pointers per game and shooting 41 percent from beyond the arc.
1. Dwyane Wade
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Years spent with team: 2003-present
Stats with team: 25.4 ppg, 6.3 apg and 5.1 rpg
Pick number: Five
An easy choice for the Miami Heat's top lottery pick of all time, solely because no other draft pick has brought the postseason success that Dwyane Wade has brought.
In Wade's eight years with the team, he has already led the team to their first and only NBA title and is in the process of possibly leading them to a few more in the future. He led the Heat by averaging 35 points per game in their Finals series win over the Dallas Mavericks and took home Finals MVP in the process after leading his team from a 2-0 deficit.
Dwyane led the league in scoring in the 2008-'09 season when he averaged a career high 30 points per game and has made seven All-Star teams.
