Sun Sentinel

It could be argued that the Miami Heat enjoyed the best of all worlds this past season: a playoff run strong enough to land them in the NBA Finals, a regular-season finish so mundane that they are slotted in at No. 18 in the first round of Thursday’s 8 p.m. NBA Draft. Unlike other leagues, playoff results do not factor in the NBA’s draft positioning. So a team that closed within three wins of a championship instead is placed according to its 44-38 regular-season record. Now the question becomes whether the Heat see the placement as an opportunity to add cost-efficient talent on the NBA’s rookie scale at a time when their salary cap is bursting at the seams, or as a lucrative trade chip to be put into play for win-now talent on a win-now roster (Hello, Damian Lillard?). Based on the NBA’s timing of 5 minutes between selections in the first round, as well as the requisite commercials and ESPN blather, figure on the Heat’s selection, if still in the hands of the Heat, falling around 9:45 p.m. Thursday.