Miami Heat: 3 candidates for a breakout season in 2019-20
2. Justise Winslow
Justitse Winslow gave a glimpse of how effective he can be with the ball in his hands. When Goran Dragic was sidelined due to knee surgery, Winslow impressed as the team’s starting point guard.
His well-rounded play helped the Miami Heat have two of their most successful months of the season. Although Winslow showed undeniable talent in that stretch, whether or not he gets back to that level is up in the air.
Despite the coaching staff having tremendous confidence in him, Winslow returning to his December 2017-January 2018 form isn’t a given.
The main obstacle could be his new teammate Jimmy Butler, who can almost always be found in isolation scorer and pick-and-roll ball-handler roles on offense. Butler being so commanding of the ball will limit Justise’s ability to run the offense.
Winslow will have to be a spot-up shooter more frequently to be dangerous next to Butler. He has improved his shooting from deep every year of his pro career and most of his 3s are already catch-and-shoot shots, so it’s not like he has to overhaul anything about his game.
Still, since Winslow is projected to keep his role as starting small forward, he likely won’t be as effective as he can be with Butler and Goran Dragic taking touches from him.
However, if Coach Spoelstra can get creative with playing time distribution, Winslow can effectively be the point guard for the second unit at times. The starting lineup will likely be Dragic, Butler, Winslow, Kelly Olynyk, and Bam Adebayo.
This would leave a bench consisted of Tyler Herro, James Johnson, Dion Waiters, Derrick Jones Jr., Meyers Leonard and possibly KZ Okpala and Kendrick Nunn.
When Dragic and Butler are out, Winslow can be the primary ball-handler/facilitator while still having support from Waiters and (hopefully) Herro. Winslow will be able to take command of the offense just as he did during the holiday season in 2018-19.
It’s up to coach Erik Spoelstra to act on this, but the head coach has plenty of confidence in Winslow. He sees him as a player that is best when he isn’t confined to a position and that “at his best is out there impacting all facets of the game”.
Another obstacle is Winslow not finding that groove again. After Dragic returned from injury, Winslow’s level of play declined. Now that the team is fully invested in Butler, there might not be a huge urgency for Winslow to be a point forward.
Winslow could end up returning to being mostly a 3-and-D role player with sparing ball-handling duties.
Even if that’s the case, Winslow still has the chance to breakout. His 3-point shooting and defense are both strong, but not yet elite. If he can build further on his foundation, he can be extremly effective both ways.
Yet, there’s still a chance he finds his rhythm as a playmaker and plays like he did in that fantastic stretch last year.