Heat exit lottery where they started, with the No. 13 pick in NBA draft

MIAMI — In perhaps a metaphor for where the franchise has stood in recent years, the Miami Heat found themselves running in place at Sunday NBA draft lottery, starting the random-but-weighted drawing as the No. 13 seed and exiting the process with the No. 13 pick in the June 23 first round of the draft.

Eligible for only the Nos. 1, 2, 3, 4, 13 or 14 pick, the Heat learned their fate at the start of the drawing in Chicago, when NBA Deputy Commissioner Mark Tatum opened an envelope with the team’s logo.

The last time the Heat were in the lottery they also exited with the No. 13 pick, selecting Tyler Herro at that spot out of Kentucky in 2019.

The Heat faced long odds for anything other than No. 13, which was their slot after closing the season at 43-39 and losing in the opening game of the play-in round to the Charlotte Hornets in overtime.

The Heat entered the lottery with a 1% chance of securing the top overall pick and a 4.8% chance of securing one of the first four selections, the only picks determined by the drawing, with the remaining selections in the lottery determined by inverse order of regular-season record.

The Heat’s percentages for securing each of their eligible spots in the lottery were 1% for the No. 1 pick, 1.11% for the No. 2 pick, 1.25% for the No. 3 pick, 1.42% for the No. 4 pick, 92.88% for the No. 13 pick and 2.33% for the No. 14 picks.

Selected at No. 13 over the past 10 years have been Derik Queen last year, Devon Carter in 2024, Gradey Dick in 2023, Jalen Duren in 2022, Chris Duarte in 2021, Kira Lewis in 2020, Herro in 2019, Jerome Robinson in 2018 and in 2017, when he was taken one spot ahead of the Heat’s Bam Adebayo.