Miami Heat: An uneducated national view of Justise Winslow

While his status among Miami Heat fans was enhanced after last season, the view on Justise Winslow from a national perspective is still a work in progress.

In addition to the arrival of Jimmy Butler, the other major topic of conversation this offseason as it relates to the Miami Heat has been the starting point guard debate.

Having started a good portion of last season as the Heat’s floor general in the absence of Goran Dragic, Justise Winslow recently addressed the topic when speaking with Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinal:

"“I’m looking forward to playing point guard this season. We’ll see how that works out, but that’s my plan, is to play point guard and be the point guard for this team. I just think for what our team wants out of that position, somebody who is a great communicator, somebody who is vocal, somebody who gets guys in their spots.”"

After Dragic succumbed to a nagging knee complaint that required surgery in mid-December, Winslow was handed the reins as the starting point guard for the first extended time in his career. Considering his relative lack of experience in the job, Winslow didn’t let the Heat down.

In a 16-game stretch shortly after taking over from Dragic, Winslow averaged 15.9 points, 5.6 rebounds, 5.0 assists and 1.2 steals in 30.6 minutes per game, with the Heat 13.6 points per 100 possessions better off at the offensive end when Winslow was on the floor during that time.

Despite the significant improvements in his game, and the increased responsibility he’s undertaken with his new role, a couple of members of The Jump on ESPN were somehow unaware of Winslow’s growth. During a recent episode, Winslow’s comments relating to his desire to start the season at point guard were discussed.

In introducing the topic, as can be seen in the above clip, host Rachel Nichols stated:

"“Despite not starting at point guard a single game since being drafted in 2015.”"

Nichols then proceeded to read out Winslow’s comments mentioned at the start of this article, before fellow panelist Nick Friedell chimed in with his thoughts:

"“What has Justise Winslow really done in his career to this point?”"

Considering the notable growth made by Winslow over the course of last season, and the reach and platform ESPN holds as one of the major broadcasters of the league, the dismissive and uneducated nature of these comments are simply perplexing.

Overall, Winslow posted 12.6 points, 5.4 rebounds and 4.3 assists in his 66 appearances, 52 of these in a starting role. Most notably, Winslow attempts from long range increased from 1.9 to 3.9 per game, with his 37.5 percent shooting clip a more than respectable return. Furthermore, Winslow’s 41.2 percent shooting clip on catch-and-shoot triples led the Heat.

https://twitter.com/MiamiHEAT/status/1083725214943449088?s=20

Granted, the Heat have missed the postseason in two of the past three seasons, and Winslow at this stage is far from a finished product, having struggled through inconsistency and injury over his first three seasons.

But considering his considerable pedigree as a lottery pick coming out of Duke, and the fact that he started over half of last season as the Heat’s floor general, it’s hard to fathom such oversights will continue into the near future.