The Miami Heat may not have won the 2015 NBA Draft lottery, but they retained their first-round pick this year by staying at No. 10.
The pick was in jeopardy of being surrendered to the Philadelphia 76ers if it had fallen out of the top 10 spots. It was originally dealt to the Cleveland Cavaliers in the LeBron James sign-and-trade deal in 2010. Philadelphia will receive the pick either next year, where it remains top-10 protected, or it will be unprotected in 2017.
Miami faced long odds to win one of the top three spots in the draft, the only selections in play among 1,001 different four-number lottery combinations when ping-pong balls were set loose Tuesday night before Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals. Miami held 11 combinations, giving them a 1.1 percent of the top spot and a 91 percent chance of keeping their No. 10 position.
For the first time since 2004, the team with the best chance of winning the lottery will select first overall when the Minnesota Timberwolves open the NBA Draft on June 25 in Brooklyn, New York.
Miami had not been in the lottery since 2008, when they had the best odds at 25 percent of winning the top pick overall after finishing a league-worst 15-67 in Pat Riley's last season as head coach. The Heat walked away with the No. 2 selection that year after the Chicago Bulls surprisingly won the lottery with a 1.7 percent chance.
The Heat can either deal the pick or choose from a deep pool of talented collegiate players including forward Kelly Oubre (Kansas), forward Stanley Johnson (Arizona), center Frank Kaminsky (Wisconsin) and forward Kevin Looney (UCLA).
You can follow Surya Fernandez on Twitter @SuryaHeatNBA or email him at SuryaFoxSports@gmail.com.
