Miami Heat 2025 NBA Mock Draft Roundup 1.0

Richardson would be a fun fit with the Heat. Richardson saw his stock rise throughout the 2024-25 college basketball season. He started in a reserve role at Michigan State and blossomed into the best player on Tom Izzo's squad. Richardson is a great mid-range shooter and was fantastic at finishing around the rim during his lone season in East Lansing.

The Big East Freshman of the Year ticks several boxes for teams, including his size, feel, physical playing style and ability to score in various ways. His ultimate draft position will likely hinge on how teams view him as a shooter after converting 31.7% from beyond the arc on 5.4 attempts per game last season. But he had a good showing at the combine in the 3-point star drill, connecting on 15-of-25 attempts on Tuesday. McNeeley could rise up draft boards with productive team workouts.

Richardson is a good bet from a talent perspective. Over his final 15 games, he averaged 16.1 points, 4.6 rebounds and 1.7 assists versus only 0.7 turnovers. The reason those games are important is that's the moment when Richardson entered the starting lineup after a terrific first half of the season. Richardson has great touch as a shooter and scorer but is still developing his lead guard skills. He's not all that great of a passer, but more than that, he's not all that great with his right hand at this stage. Most of Michigan State's actions got the ball into his left hand and put him in advantageous actions. Teams will want to put him through several different situations during his meetings and workouts to learn more about how he can grow and develop over the next few years.

Pro Comparisons: Payton Pritchard, Cole Anthony

Confidence in Walter Clayton Jr. peaked after his 34 points against Auburn. The fearlessness and clutch shotmaking have scouts starting to buy in and ultimately look past the size questions for a scoring guard.

Despite struggling in the first half in the national title game against Houston, who made him priority No. 1 on the scouting report, Clayton ultimately did an effective job switching into playmaker mode. And then he came on late—which has become a theme—delivering a pair of tough finishes and a movement three to help bring Florida back.

Scouts acknowledge his stock is rising entering the predraft process.

Scouting report: McNeeley's size, shotmaking prowess, feel for the game and toughness are critical attributes that NBA teams value at the wing position, but he will need to remind them of his winning qualities throughout the predraft process. He had a few big moments as a freshman at UConn but struggled to score efficiently, converting 44% of his 2-pointers and 32% of his 3-pointers while looking out of position defensively at times.

He will likely be asked to play a different role in the NBA, leaning more heavily into his ability as a dynamic perimeter shooter, which was more evident in other settings before college. Strong workouts will be important for McNeeley to remind teams of what made him so highly regarded entering the season, especially with his shooting, the foundation of his NBA appeal. -- Givony

NBA intel and fit: Advancing out of the play-in tournament meant Miami lost its lottery-protected first-round pick (No. 15) to Oklahoma City -- a remnant of the 2019 offseason trade to acquire Jimmy Butler III. Sending Butler to Golden State six years later secured this pick, an opportunity for the front office to again showcase its talent evaluation skills after finding considerable success in the draft over the years.

The Heat conveying their 2025 first-rounder and extinguishing their draft capital obligations to Oklahoma City (the pick was slated to be unprotected in 2026) frees them to take any direction they want this offseason, perhaps with an eye on the talent-rich top of next year's draft. -- Givony

Riley fits the mold of a microwave scorer, only he's a lot bigger than most players in that archetype at 6'8. He didn't shoot the ball particularly well from deep (32.6 percent) and struggled to score efficiently (53.3 percent true shooting) as a freshman at Illinois, but his talent is easy to see. Riley still needs to add a lot of strength to his frame, which will help him get all the way to basket instead of setting from mid-range. Getting stronger will help his defense, too, which is currently a major question mark. The Heat feel like an ideal landing spot to help him develop physically and let his natural ability flourish.

Riley, like Flagg, decided to reclassify and enter college a year early, but his timeline for making an impact in the NBA will be quite different. As a perimeter player who plays some streaky offense and a frame that could use some real work, Riley will need some open road to just play and improve his body. But he's tough-minded and seeks challenges, which is a fit for the (much-advertised) personality of the Heat organization. The path for Riley isn't hard to see, and Miami, given its history of development, would be a great place for his game to mature.

The teammate of aforementioned Ulm guard Ben Saraf, Essengue is also enjoying a breakout season overseas as a first-round big man prospect. He's made nearly 30% from 3-point range in an improvement on last season and carved out a significant role in a talented league at just 18 years old.

Pat Riley said he has no plans to retire and that "80 is the new 60," so it's hard to imagine the Heat going with a raw project in the draft. Which is why Penda makes a ton of sense; he plays with a veteran's mind and a winning mentality, offering connective playmaking, switchable defense and high-level feel. He'll need to improve his jumper to stick long-term, but his unselfish game and defensive utility give him a strong foundation that could help Miami win games right away.