Heat busy at end of draft, trading picks

MIAMI (AP) -- After months of scouting, the Miami Heat braintrust decided former Arkansas point guard Patrick Beverley was the 20th-best player in the NBA draft. As such, they got him for a bargain price.

The Heat acquired Beverley from the Los Angeles Lakers for a second-round pick in the 2011 draft and cash on Thursday night.

"I'm a Miami-type of player," Beverley said. "Whatever it takes to win a basketball game. The club's all about winning and I'm all about that."

Beverley played two seasons with the Razorbacks but was suspended last August, and later revealed that another student had written a paper for him. He spent this past season playing for a Ukrainian club.

"We absolutely love the guy," Heat president Pat Riley said. "We loved his workouts. Probably the most enthusiastic player."

The Heat don't seem to have any concerns about the long-armed 6-foot-1, 175-pounder, who draws comparisons to Boston's Rajon Rondo for his rebounding and shot-blocking ability.

"He was very forthright, very honest about what happened at Arkansas," Riley said. "That's behind him."

Beverley was chosen by the Lakers with the No. 42 pick, one spot before Miami's first pick of the night.

With the No. 60 overall pick, the last of the night, Miami took Memphis small forward Robert Dozier, who will compete for a job this summer but could wind up in Europe for the coming season.

"We went after very quick, very athletic, very long players at those two spots and we felt we achieved those objectives," Riley said.

Riley likened the Beverley move to Miami's big play on draft night a year ago, when the Heat had Mario Chalmers ranked as one of the very best in the draft, then made a second-round trade to get him from Minnesota.

Chalmers ended up as Miami's starting point guard in all 89 games this past season, including playoffs.

"When he had his workout here, he just opened up everybody's eyes and just dominated his position at that workout," Riley said. "I saw the same thing when I went to Oakland; he absolutely dominated that workout. He's for real ... he'll compete like heck against anybody."

Beverley said he'd been to Miami once before -- getting on a Carnival cruise. Carnival is owned by Micky Arison, the Heat's owner, a fact that Beverley wasn't aware of until early Friday.

"It's an honor," Beverley said.

The Heat waited nearly four hours before making high-scoring LSU guard Marcus Thornton their first pick of the draft, then kept him for about four minutes. Miami used the No. 43 pick on Thornton, the consensus SEC player of the year, then traded him to New Orleans for second-round picks in 2010 and 2012.

Paced by NBA scoring champion Dwyane Wade, the Heat were third in the Southeast Division last season, 16 games behind eventual NBA finalist Orlando and four games back of Atlanta -- which ended Miami's year in a seven-game first-round playoff series.

In the hours before the draft, both the Magic and Hawks made moves that should make both even more formidable.

Orlando swung a huge deal, getting eight-time All-Star Vince Carter and forward Ryan Anderson from New Jersey for point guard Rafer Alston, shooting guard Courtney Lee and power forward Tony Battie. Atlanta, meanwhile, landed guard Jamal Crawford from Golden State for guards Acie Law and Speedy Claxton.

"A lot of teams picked up a lot of great players," Chalmers said. "I think Jamal Crawford going to Atlanta has to help them. That's a team we know a lot about since we faced them in a seven-game series. The Eastern Conference is going to be tough next year."

Of course, both those trades were overshadowed mightily by the completion of the long-awaited deal sending Shaquille O'Neal from Phoenix to Cleveland, where the Big Fella instantly forms a superstar power duo with reigning NBA MVP LeBron James.

When the season starts in October, the already-formidable East figures to be much, much tougher.

"Same game. Same players. Different teams," Heat forward Michael Beasley said. "We've got to worry about the Heat. We can't really worry what other teams are doing to better themselves right now. We've got to better ourselves."

(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)