Miami Heat: Biggest strengths and weaknesses for 2017-18
Weakness No. 2: Free throws
Last season, the Heat were second in the league in drives per game. Despite diving into the paint 35.1 times per game, Miami was middle of the pack in terms of fouls drawn off of drives. A big reason for this is Spoelstra’s drive-and-kick philosophy, encouraging potential scorers to find an open shooter. As a result, Miami’s free throws per field goal attempt rate was second-to-last in the league. The problem goes deeper than philosophy though. Overall the Heat saw four of their top nine rotation players shoot free throw percentages in the 60s.
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Overall general trends say that Miami won’t just all of a sudden become a markedly better free throw shooting team, even with the addition of Kelly Olynyk (a career 74.3 percent free throw shooter). But the biggest difference can — and hopefully will for Spoelstra’s sake — come from Dion Waiters.
Waiters signed a four-year $52 million contract this offseason. He felt Miami is finally the organization he is comfortable to call home. But a free throw percentage of 64.6 percent is unacceptable for a guard entering his prime years.
Heat president Pat Riley (per the Miami Herald) said “He needs to get his free-throw percentage up…I can’t believe he’s not an 80 percent free-throw shooter.”
Miami’s commitment to Waiters signifies that they believe he is someone who is an important piece of its core. Waiters has looked better in recent preseason action and is shooting 75 percent from the charity stripe through four contests. The Heat organization is counting on Waiters to clean up his issues at the line, otherwise it will become tough to justify using him in late-game situations.