MIAMI, July 6 – The Miami HEAT announced today that they have acquired the draft rights to KZ Okpala in a three-team trade. Miami acquires Okpala from the Phoenix Suns by sending their 2022, 2025 and 2026 second round draft picks to the Indiana Pacers, while the Suns send T.J. Warren to the Pacers and Indiana sends cash considerations to Phoenix. Okpala was originally drafted by the Suns in the second round (32nd overall) in the 2019 NBA Draft.
Okpala, who played two seasons at Stanford before declaring for the NBA Draft, appeared in 29 games (all starts) as a sophomore and averaged 16.8 points, 5.7 rebounds, 2.0 assists, 1.00 steals and 32.7 minutes while shooting 46.3 percent from the field and 36.8 percent from three-point range. He was an All-Pac-12 First Team selection and was a semifinalist for the 2018-19 Julius Erving Small Forward of the Year Award while leading the team in points (488), field goals made (170), free throws made (116), minutes (949) and starts.