The prospects that the Miami Heat could target in the 2024 NBA Draft are beginning to take shape with former G League Ignite star Ron Holland and Providence College guard Devin Carter as two of the top options.
“Holland’s range appears to be a little wider than initially thought,” ESPN’s Jonathan Givony wrote. “He has fans among teams drafting in the top 10 but is casting a fairly wide net in workouts, including teams such as the Miami Heat at No. 15 and the Los Angeles Lakers at No. 17, in part because of his strong positional fit in those attractive markets.”
Holland averaged 18.5 points, 6.7 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game for the Ignite while shooting 47.4 percent from the field in the 2023-24 season.
Miami has scheduled several other players for workouts ahead of the draft in late June, including Carter, Indiana University’s Kel’el Ware, University of Southern California’s Isaiah Collier and others, according to the Miami Herald’s Anthony Chiang.
“Among the prospects who the Heat scheduled for predraft workouts in Miami are Providence guard Devin Carter, Indiana center Kel’el Ware, Southern Cal guard Isaiah Collier, [University of] Arizona forward Keshad Johnson and UConn (University of Connecticut) guard Tristen Newton, according to league sources,” Chiang wrote. “Carter, Ware and Collier are among the potential first-round options for the Heat at pick No. 15, and Johnson and Newton are among the potential second-round options for the Heat at pick No. 43.”
Carter, the 2023-24 Big East Player of the Year, is certainly one of the more intriguing players that the Heat are eyeing. He’s coming off a strong collegiate season where he averaged 19.7 points, 8.7 rebounds and 3.6 assists per game while shooting 47.3 percent from the field and 37.7 percent from beyond the arc.
After finishing with the No. 8 seed in the Eastern Conference this season, the Heat have a chance to improve their roster around stars Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo by nailing the No. 15 and No. 43 picks in the 2024 NBA Draft.
Miami appears to have hit a home run with 2023 first-round pick Jaime Jaquez Jr., who was named to an All-Rookie team and averaged 11.9 points, 3.8 rebounds and 2.6 assists per game this season.
In addition to that, 2022 first-round pick Nikola Jovic also saw his role expand in the 2023-24 campaign, a good sign for Miami’s future.
The Heat opted to take Jaquez, a veteran college player (he spent four years at the University of California, Los Angeles) in the first round, and they could do that again if they pick Carter, who spent one season at the University of South Carolina before spending the last two at Providence.
Miami lost a couple key role players (Gabe Vincent and Max Strus) ahead of the 2023-24 season, and it could lose Josh Richardson, Kevin Love and Caleb Martin this offseason, as they all have player options for the 2024-25 season and could opt out to become free agents.
That makes it even more important that Miami land an impact player with the No. 15 pick in the first round as it looks to get back in the NBA Finals mix next season.
