2020 NBA Draft: Top 1st round options for Miami Heat to select
Aaron Nesmith
Aaron Nesmith is perhaps the best shooter in the 2020 NBA Draft class. This alone makes him an intriguing pick for the Miami Heat, one of the best 3-point shooting teams in the NBA (sorry, Collin Cowherd). Nesmith played an abbreviated two seasons for the Vanderbilt Commodores but provided more than enough evidence that he is as legit as they come as a shooter.
In his freshman year, Nesmith only shot a hair over 33% from the 3-point line but one look at his quick and compact jump shot and 82.5% free throw percentage, and it was clear that he is at least someone you have to keep an eye on as a weakside shooter. Fast forward to Year 2 and Nesmith proved to be a bonafide, knockdown shooter.
A right foot injury is what ended Nesmith’s sophomore season but in the 14 games he played, Nesmith scored 23.0 points per game and hit a remarkable 52.2% of his 3-pointers. Now obviously, Nesmith is not going to hit over half of his 3-point shots in the NBA but he shot that well in his sophomore year despite a 4.2% drop in assisted 3-point attempts
. That is all to say, Nesmith is an incredibly talented shooter with the ability to create his own shot. He will serve a valuable role in the NBA as a great floor spacer who can also capably attack closeouts. Nesmith only shot 55.8% at the rim last season but he took over a quarter of his field-goal attempts there. Nesmith shot 61.9% at the rim in his freshman season with a much smaller role, which bodes well for his NBA career and future role.
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Aaron Nesmith could be a nice rotation piece on a playoff team right now. He has legit size—6-foot-6 with a lengthy 6-foot-10 wingspan—and a sweet stroke that could help any team. He may not be a world-beater on defense from Day 1.
Nesmith still lacks attention to detail and commits the occasional silly foul. But as Miami Heat rookie Tyler Herro has shown, with great effort on defense and a malleable offensive skillset there is a clear path to playing time for any young player.