Miami Heat year-end report cards

Caleb Martin: A

The rugged two-way forward typically guarded the other team’s best wing while providing an elite transition attack and just enough shooting to keep the defense honest. Martin leveled up in the playoffs, nailing 43% of his threes and 64% of his twos while regularly beating the league’s best defenders. Boston fans will have nightmares about “Caleb ******* Martin” for years to come.

Martin was just one vote away from being named the Eastern Conference Finals MVP. He went toe-to-toe with Giannis Antetokounmpo and came away victorious more often than not. For most of the playoffs, he was Miami’s third-best player. Not bad for a guy who needed a rapper’s intervention to stick in the league.

Gabe Vincent: B+

The Heat’s rash of injuries throughout the year thrust the undrafted Vincent into a bigger-than-expected role, and he delivered. The point guard proved adept at navigating the pick-and-roll and became a catch-and-shoot specialist (although the less said about his off-the-dribble shooting, the better).

Vincent’s point-of-attack defense earned him steady praise from the media and playing time from Coach Spoelstra, who found himself unable to take Vincent off the floor in the playoffs. And, like most of the other role players, his shot finally translated once the calendar flipped to May.

An unrestricted free agent, Vincent may have priced himself out of Miami. His no-fear attitude, two-way effectiveness, and comfort on and off the ball make him an elite backup point guard more than capable of starting when called upon.

Max Strus: B-

Strus was the anomaly among the role players. He performed rather well during the regular season, but his shot disappeared in the playoffs when needed most. That said, he hustled hard, played credible wing defense, and certainly didn’t hesitate to shoot, an important consideration in the Heat’s offense (of course, making shots would have been nice, too).

As another unrestricted free agent, Strus has shown enough two-way ability to be an attractive target for many teams looking to bolster their wing depth. We’ll see how much his playoff stinkers depress his value.

Duncan Robinson: C+

Robinson was the perfect story for this Miami team. He was out of the rotation for large swathes of the season, nailed to the bench for his foul-prone defense and poor three-point shooting.

But come playoff time, Robinson looked like a man who deserved every penny of his $90 million contract. Not only was he nailing every shot he took from deep, bending the defense in ways that only the sharpest of shooters can, but he even unveiled a shocking off-the-dribble game. He crossed up Jrue Holiday in Round 1 and mean-mugged the entire Nuggets team in the Finals.

Most shooting specialists are 82-game players, not 16-game players. But Robinson once again proved his bonafides on the biggest stages and redeemed what was shaping up to be a lost year.

Kyle Lowry: C+

It’s hard to overstate how bad Lowry was, particularly on defense, during an absence-riddled regular season. In addition to shooting just 40% from the field and 34% from deep, Lowry was consistently beaten both on and off the ball and looked nothing like the savvy uber-competitor the Heat were hoping for.

That all changed in the playoffs, where Lowry looked like an entirely new player. He zipped around like a maniac on both ends, found his three-pointer in the pants he wore last year, and generally got under opponents’ skin with his Lowryian antics.

In the absence of Tyler Herro and Victor Oladipo, Lowry was asked to do too much. He damn near did it anyway.

Udonis Haslem: A+++

Haslem saved his best for last, dropping one of the best offensive games of his life in his final home game. I wrote more about that here.

In short: it was a legendary send-off for a man who might well be the last of his kind.