Six-game win streak aside, it looks like the Miami Heat are headed towards a lottery pick, unless they somehow make it out of the play-in tournament.
Either way, it’s clear Miami needs a point guard to make life easier for its offense. Bam Adebayo and Kel’el Ware need a guard to give them easy looks. The draft could be a place to find that difference-making passer.
Egor Demin is a perfect Heat fit
BYU’s Egor Demin is a 6-foot-9 guard who is drawing early comparisons to Josh Giddey. His size allows him to make any pass on the court. He is an exceptional playmaker who consistently finds open teammates. Demin remains composed during pick-and-roll situations and is adept at recognizing when help defense is approaching. He possesses a high basketball IQ and avoids forcing shots or passes.
Demin can move on defense and has excellent anticipation and quick hands when reading passing lanes, creating steal opportunities (2.1 steals per game). He moves just well enough laterally to not get picked on defense. There is potential for him to be a good help-side defender. Adding muscle will be his next step to guard against opposing guards.
When Demin doesn’t have the ball in his hands, he is a great cutter and relocates to find an open spot on the floor. Miami’s half-court offense needs work. We can already see how Pelle Larsson’s backdoor cutting is helping on that end. Demin can add more of that.
Demin is still developing his 3-point shot but is making progress. He has good form on his jumper but needs more reps to make it more consistent. The more consistent his jumper is, the more other things in his game will open up. Demin isn’t a great shooter yet, but I have faith in his form and the Heat’s coaching staff to improve his shooting touch (27.1% of his catch-and-shoot 3s).
There is room to improve. I would like to see Demin attack the rim more and find shooters or look to throw the lob. Miami needs a guard who can get their bigs the ball and get them lob opportunities. His game has some similarities to Nikola Jovic, and it’s always good to have multiple creators on offense.
It’s like when the Heat had Max Strus and Duncan Robinson on the roster. Some fans wanted to trade one because both are great shooters. Like shooters, having multiple playmakers on the roster is good. Also, Tyler Herro had too much of the ball in his hands this season. Having another ball-handler with size next to Herro would be ideal.
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