Miami Heat: Top 10 NBA Draft picks in franchise history
By Frank Urbina
8. Justise Winslow (SF/PF) — No. 10 pick in 2015 NBA Draft
Career stats: 96 GP, 7.3 PPG, 5.2 RPG, 1.9 APG, 1.0 SPG, 0.3 BPG, 1.3 TOV, 40.0 FG%, 25.8 3P%, 66.5 FT%
Coming in at No. 8 on our list, we have former Duke Blue Devil Justise Winslow. Admittedly, his career has gotten off to a bit of a slow start, but he hasn’t been that bad, either. And for a Heat draftee, “not that bad” may as well be a Hall-of-Fame trajectory.
As a rookie, Winslow participated in 78 games, averaging 6.4 points and 5.2 rebounds along the way. He was an important contributor on a 48-win team, an impressive feat considering he was 19 years old at the time. The left-handed combo forward even netted a start at center in the Eastern Conference semifinals that year, after Hassan Whiteside went down with injury.
His sophomore season was supposed to be a coming out party, but alas, it wasn’t to be. After struggling through shoulder and wrist ailments, he was finally shut down on Jan. 4.
Winslow’s raw stats took a jump in his second year, but his efficiency took a huge hit. He went from shooting 42.2 percent to 35.6 percent. And among players who partook in at least 15 games, Winslow’s effective field goal percentage (37.1) was ninth-worst in the entire NBA.
His poor play could be partially attributed to lack of health, though. Additionally, he’s shown great maturity through it all. As a sophomore, he had an eye-opening 2.1 assist-to-turnover ratio, which points to a potential future as a distributing wing on the offensive end.
So yeah, like I said, he hasn’t been that bad.