Former NBA guard Lou Williams flew under the radar in the 2005 NBA Draft. He was fresh out of high school at the time, and he didn’t hear his name called until the Philadelphia 76ers selected him in the middle of the second round. Specifically, he was the No. 45 overall pick and saw many players get picked ahead of him.

Williams had reason to believe he would be drafted in the opening round, however. Per Williams, the Miami Heat promised him that they would draft him with their pick late in the first round if he was still on the board, but Miami broke that promise.

Miami ended up drafting power forward Wayne Simien with its selection, and he spent just two years with the Heat before he was out of the league.

“Miami had promised me at 27 that they were going to take me if I was still on the board,” Williams said. “But at that time, Wayne Simien was still on the board. Y’all remember Wayne Simien at Kansas? National player of the year. He was the national player of the year at Kansas that year, and he was still on the board, and they ended up taking him.”

Williams likely meant to say that the Heat promised to take him with the No. 29 overall pick, as that’s where their selection fell in the first round.

Miami’s decision to pass on Williams in order to take a flier on Simien is an interesting one to look back on. While Simien never made much of an impact at the highest level, Williams made a name for himself as a premier bench scorer. Still, Simien did win a ring with the Heat as a rookie. He got some playing time that season, though he didn’t have much of a playoff role.

Williams is one of the more accomplished bench players in the history of the league, as he is in a tie with retired guard Jamal Crawford for the most Sixth Man of the Year awards won by any one player (three each). He won the very first Sixth Man of the Year award of his career playing for the Toronto Raptors and won the other two during his time with the Los Angeles Clippers.

In addition, Williams holds the all-time record for most career points scored off the pine, as he scored a whopping 13,396 as a reserve throughout his 17-year career.

Williams bounced around from team to team for much of his NBA tenure, as he suited up for six teams during his playing days. However, he never played a single contest in a Heat uniform.

The Heat have made some solid draft picks over the years, but they might’ve swung and missed with their choice to draft Simien in lieu of Williams.