Miami Heat: Why Erik Spoelstra will misuse Victor Oladipo

The Miami Heat have strengthened their guard rotation by acquiring Victor Oladipo from the Houston Rockets. The Heat sent Kelly Olynyk, Avery Bradley and 2022 first-round swap rights to Houston in exchange for Oladipo.

But now that Miami has acquired Oladipo, how will they use him? As a floor spacer. Head coach Erik Spoelstra has implemented an offensive system centered around dribble handoffs and pick and rolls.

How the Miami Heat will use Victor Oladipo on offense

The Heat are currently at the top of the league in dribble handoff possessions averaging 9 per game in 44 appearances. Spoelstra has allowed Tyler Herro, Jimmy Butler and Goran Dragic to take 45.5 percent of the possessions as they averaged 4.1 per game.

On the other hand, Miami is currently 17th in pick and roll possessions averaging 19.8 per game. Dragić and Butler were given 69.7 percent to the pick and rolls, averaging 13.8 per game.

Spoelstra’s system has put other players on the roster in a position where they have to be floor spacers. For example, Andre Iguodala had the ball on the right-wing late in the second quarter of a home game against the Raptors when he started a handoff with Dragić.

After Iguodala gave the ball to Dragić, he joined Robinson and Gabe Vincent in standing behind the arc for the rest of the possession. Dragić went on to accept a screen Bam Adebayo set on the right-wing a few seconds later. Upon going over the screen, he drove to the basket for a layup.

Miami’s system has been the catalyst behind players like Kendrick Nunn taking most of their shots from behind the arc. Nunn has taken 48.1 percent of his shots from behind the arc averaging 5.5 per game. 70.9 percent of those attempts were catch and shoots as he is averaging 3.9 per game.

Having to be a floor spacer is sub-optimal for Oladipo as he has converted 36.1 percent of his catch and shoots since the 2013-14 season on 2.9 attempts per game. Catch and shoots have accounted for 63 percent of his threes as he has made 34.8 percent of his field goals from behind the arc on 4.6 attempts per game.

Oladipo’s shooting statistics are significantly lower than his predecessor in Bradley who has converted 38.3 percent of his catch and shoot field goals since the 2013-14 season on 3.5 attempts per game. Catch and shoots have been responsible for 81.4 percent of the shots as he has a shooting percentage of 36.8 percent on 4.3 per game.

How Miami Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra can optimize Victor Oladipo

If head coach Spoelstra wants to optimize Oladipo’s skill set he should put the ball in his hands. Oladipo has excelled as a pick and roll ball handler shooting 45.2 percent from the field since 2015 on 3.3 attempts per game. The shooting percentage has helped him create 5.9 points per game, 31.9 percent of his scoring output.

Spoelstra could reduce Dragic’s pick and roll possessions from 6 to 3 per game as he is better suited to succeed off the ball. Before this season, Dragić converted 38 percent of his catch and shoot threes on 2.4 attempts per game.

Unfortunately, Spoelstra isn’t known for optimizing the skill set of a specific player. For example, Spoelstra used Jae Crowder as a floor spacer last season as he took 78 percent of his shots from behind the arc.

At the time Spoelstra’s decision was ill-advised as Crowder had a career shooting percentage of 33.9 percent from behind the arc on 4 attempts per game. The ill-advised gamble paid off as Crowder shot 44.5 percent on 6.4 attempts.

However, it is unrealistic to expect players to maintain their usual level of performance when they are in a sub-optimal situation.