More Draft Jockeying

Things have slowly been changing with the draft, and just in time. The draft is only a few days away on June 28th and it seems that things could get more interesting for the Heat.

Aside from all the rumors over big trades, which could see the Heat getting involved as a third team to help facilitate a move, there are the constant ups and downs of some of the talent in this season's crop.

The latest? Apparently Acie Law's stock is dropping because a lot of the GMs and execs are liking what they see from the more raw and undeveloped talents in this draft. Guys like Javaris Crittenton, originally slated to be there for the Heat at #20 are now sliding up the charts - which is actually good news for Miami as Law would be a better fit in that he could have a more immediate impact. That and the fact that Riley has never been a patient coach coddling along young talent, of course.

Then there is another dark horse seemingly emerging out of nowhere: Petteri Koponen. We first talked about him in our discussion on PG prospects back on May 26th. Not too much was known about the young, Finnish PG other than he had size and some pretty good physical skills to match. He's young (19) and his favorite player is Steve Nash - something the Heat could definetly use. Koponen is getting quite a lot of hype, having made an impression at the latest Nike Hoops Summit:



He is young, and might not possibly stay in the US to play in the NBA for this upcoming season, but with the 39th pick the Heat are most likely going to take on a project anyway. A player like Koponen might pay dividends down the line. Chad Ford remarked:

Koponen, according to multiple team sources, stood out with his poise, shooting and ability to adapt his game to the speed of the workout. One executive went so far as to say he saw enough to rank Koponen as the fourth-best point guard in the draft.

Also, keep an eye on Taurean Green and Glen Davis. Both were fine college players that helped their respective teams win, and both seem to be see-sawing back and forth on the draft boards. Green has gone up, but some concerns over his size and ball-handling have him staggering a bit, but he may still fall somewhere between the Heat's 20th pick and 39th picks.

As for Davis, "Big Baby" has dropped a ton of weight, from 360 to around 290. He has pretty good agility - even with all that weight - and has an interesting mental makeup that could help him excel in the NBA: a sense of humor. Coupled with his idol Shaq, who knows what could come of it. The Heat already boast another college talent that came from a winning program that also shed a ton of weight to get into the NBA. Maybe being around Udonis Haslem could help.