The 2023 NBA Draft has come and gone and the hopes and dreams of many players have finally become reality. Now that all the dust has settled, the talk now turns to which teams made out well, which teams maybe did not so well and which teams came away with absolute steals. Every draft there are players who slip and fall to later than they might have been projected. Some of them end up having solid careers in the NBA and outplay their draft selection spot. The Miami Heat lead the teams who came away with potential NBA Draft steals with their first round selection at No. 18 in UCLA's Jaime Jaquez.

Jaime Jaquez – Miami Heat

Jaime Jaquez climbed up the draft board in the weeks leading up to the draft following the combine. Although he had a phenomenal senior season at UCLA, he was still only projected to be a second round NBA Draft pick in many mock drafts. Some even had him potentially not being drafted. He's a winning player and he fits perfectly with the culture that the Heat have cultivated. He is a steal even though he was drafted in the mid-first round because he can have a better career than many players drafted ahead of him. The knocks on him don't make sense as he was one of the best defensive players in a Power 5 conference and he's been an efficient scorer. The Heat got one of the best players in the draft, period.

Cam Whitmore – Houston Rockets

The Houston Rockets grabbed an absolute steal in the mid-first round. Most people probably think of draft steals as being late first round pick and even second round picks but for the talent that Cam Whitmore has, he is a steal. He is a lottery-caliber talent and for a rebuilding team like the Rockets to draft him, he'll get minutes right away and be able to prove that he should have been drafted higher. Some of the chatter suggested that medical issues were to blame for Whitmore's slide but he downplayed that. He can play multiple positions and is a real potential building block.

Leonard Miller – Minnesota Timberwolves

The second round is where a lot of NBA Draft steals come along and the Timberwolves certainly grabbed one in Leonard Miller. Hailing from the G League Ignite, Miller also has first round talent. He is one of those players who had to adjust to playing a different position as he got older due his growth spurt. As a result, he's a versatile player with multiple skills. He can handle the ball, initiate the offense and he can play around the basket too. He's a double-double threat and he has some of the highest upside out of anyone in the draft.

Jordan Walsh – Boston Celtics

Jordan Walsh is a first round talent, period. One of his biggest attributes is his defensive ability to guard multiple positions. That's something that should be able to translate right away to the NBA. His offense is going to be a work in progress but he has a high motor and is very athletic. He can for sure be an impact player in the NBA from the get-go with his defense and the rest of his game should come along with work.

Maxwell Lewis – Los Angeles Lakers

The Lakers got a solid player in with their first round pick in Jalen Hood-Schifino but they got a steal of a pick in the second round with Pepperdine's Maxwell Lewis. Lewis is a player that at one point was projected to be a potential lottery pick and at least a first rounder. He slipped though and other teams loss is the Lakers gain. Lewis is a guard with good size. He has good offensive shot creation and the ability to be a good three-point shooter. There were some questions about some other parts of his game, but the upside is there to justify drafting him.