ESPN'S Mock Draft Nailed the Patrick Beverly Pick

Last week I posted that ESPN had stated that the Miami Heat were very impressed with Patrick Beverly's workout and were looking to take him with their first 2nd round pick. Here we are the day after the draft and Patrick Beverly is property of the Heat. It did not quite happen how it was predicted, but they Heat were able to turn their pick, LSU guard Marcus Thorton, into two future 2nd rounders by trading him to the New Orleans Hornets. They then were able to trade one of those future 2nd rounders to the Los Angeles Lakers for Patrick Beverly who was picked one spot ahead of their pick. All in all, the Heat ended up with the guy that they wanted all along plus an extra 2nd round pick in next years draft. I would say that is a great move on Pat Riley's part, and one that is not really being mentioned much today.
What did the Heat get in Patrick Beverly? Possibly a Mario Chalmers clone. The guy is a super athlete who might be more of a combo guard than a traditional point guard. He started his career at Arkansas, but ended up leaving to play in the Ukraine last year. Through it all, he has shown the ability to score in bunches, whether it is attacking the hoop or shooting from the outside. He was a monster at Eurocamp, consistently filling up all aspects of the stat sheet. His athleticism and hustle have Riley believing that he can become as close to a defensive stopper as you can have at the point guard spot. Last season was a nightmare when Chalmers was out of the game so Beverly and perhaps another veteran will be brought in to shore up that spot.
Beverly is far from a finished product, but he has shown enough potential that the Heat's staff believing that they might have gotten a steal in the 2nd round.

• With the final pick of the draft, the Heat picked Robert Dozier out of the University of Memphis. Dozier showed off some skills while there, but never fully put the entire package together. He will most likely be sent to Europe for seasoning, with hopes that he can return in a year or two and provide the Heat with a versatile and big wing player.
  

Patrick Beverly To The Heat With Pick #43 In ESPN'S Mock Draft

The Heat were impressed with his workout and could use another athletic combo guard in the backcourt, especially someone who defends as well as Beverley does.

CHAD FORD, ESPN

NBA DRAFT: Workout Update

Miami Hurricane guard Jack McClinton led a group of possible draft picks that the Miami Heat brought in to work out. The Heat have the 43rd and 60th pick in the draft and are bringing in players who might fall in that range. Other players in the workout were Connecticut point guard AJ Price, UCLA forward Alfred Aboya and LSU forward Chris Johnson. McLinton is the biggest name of the group and there are doubts that he would even last until the Heat's first pick. If he is there when the Heat does pick, would he be a good fit or is he a copy of Daquan Cook? One thing we do know, is that the Magic made it to the finals by surrounding Dwight Howard with nothing but shooters. The Heat could do worse than drafting players to put around Dwayne Wade that can score the ball. Too often the team seemed stagnant when the ball was out of Wade's hands, McClinton could help fix that issue.