Miami Heat: A New And Improved Goran Dragic?
The Miami Heat’s many offseason changes have certainly tempered expectations for this upcoming year. But are there reasons to believe Goran Dragic could benefit from said changes?
It’s been a whirlwind of an offseason for the Miami Heat.
With the departure of Dwyane Wade as well as Chris Bosh‘s health issues that have effectively ended his tenure with the team, the Heat are now forced to take a long look towards the future.
Despite that, the Heat still have enough to work with on their roster to remain competitive in the present.
While it’s been overshadowed, the re-signing of Hassan Whiteside gives the team a starting level big man for the foreseeable future.
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Additionally, the team’s base of young and interesting talent made up of Justise Winslow, Josh Richardson and Tyler Johnson is all just scratching the surface of their potential, respectively.
Whether the Heat’s many flyer-type additions can collectively make an impact remains to be seen, but there’s enough there to think this won’t be as lost of a season many believe it could be right now.
However, one key player may rise above for the Heat as the one that stands to gain the most from the key losses the team experienced during the summer.
Acquired by the Heat at the trade deadline in the 2014-15 season, Goran Dragic‘s time in Miami has been more underwhelming than many envisioned at the time of the trade.
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Some of that is due to the high expectations set upon his arrival in South Beach. After all, Dragic was recently fresh off a career year, which ended with him earning All-NBA third team honors, along with being named Most Improved Player as part of the Phoenix Suns for the 2013-14 season.
Although Dragic hasn’t been able to meet that standard of play since coming to Miami, there have been other factors in play that have been out of his control.
Certainly, Bosh’s health setbacks had an indirect effect on Dragic’s transition and Dragic’s struggles playing alongside Dwyane Wade garnered plenty of attention throughout the early part of last season (the pairing of Dragic and Wade had a net rating +.2 points per 100 possessions, per NBA.com/stats).
But after the All-Star break, Dragic showed flashes of the player the Heat expected to see when they acquired him, mainly due to their switch to play an uptempo offense that was made by head coach Erik Spoelstra.
Suddenly, Dragic boosted his scoring output (17.3 points per game), improved on his assists (6.7 assists per game) and upped his true shooting percentage to 54.4 percent.
Not only that, but the change helped get the best out of Dragic and Wade when they saw time on the floor together (Dragic and Wade had a net rating of +6.9 points per 100 possessions after the All-Star break).
Now much of the supporting cast is now gone, but the Heat, namely Spoelstra, is dedicated to carry that style of play over into this season with their current roster.
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While he spoke on this well before the start of training camp, Spoelstra commented on Dragic’s involvement in that change and his effect it has on young players with Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald:
"“When you’re pushing the tempo and attacking, that’s a fun style…. It will only make sense for us to maximize Goran’s strengths, Hassan’s strengths, Justise Winslow’s strengths. Their strengths are their speed, their athleticism.. Young players gravitate to Goran. They want to play that style.”"
There’s no question on how a faster paced offense affects Dragic at this point, considering that’s been a big part of his play when he’s been at his best throughout his career.
With that said, how a more unproven supporting cast affects Dragic’s performance will be very interesting to watch this season.
There are still a few areas Dragic has to improve on, with the biggest being his three-point shooting (Dragic’s shot 32 percent from deep since coming to Miami).
Considering the loss of multiple three-point shooters, Dragic now looks to be the biggest contributor that could sway the Heat’s effectiveness from beyond the arc.
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Obviously there are plenty of question marks that surround the Heat as they now transition from one era to another. But being competitive might be one of them this season, as long as Dragic plays to the standard he’s shown in the past playing an uptempo offense.