Miami Heat Rotation Spotlight: Defining Gerald Green’s Role
In the Miami Heat rotation spotlight, we will take a look at some key reserves, breaking down what their role will be and their impact on the team. Here, we take a look at Gerald Green.
He’s never been an all-star, or even a consistent starter, but Gerald Green is expected to make a sizable impact off the bench for the Miami Heat.
The choice to sign Green was pretty much a no-brainer. Green brings the two things this team needs most: athleticism and long-range shooting.
Green is a career 36.8 percent 3-point shooter, and over his past two seasons with the Suns, he shot an impressive 38 percent from beyond the arc. Even more important, Green has proven to be an excellent catch-and-shooter. On these opportunities last season, Green shot 37.6 percent, per NBA.com statistics.
The Heat were one of the worst 3-point shooting teams in the league last season, ranking 20th in 3’s made per game. With Ray Allen and James Jones no longer on the team, and Bosh out for most of the year with a pulmonary embolism, the Heat were left without a consistent outside threat.
Greens ability to hit 3’s alone should get him some valuable playing time. The biggest problem for Green is his inconsistent defense. Last season, he recorded a -3.34 real defensive plus-minus, which ranked 86 among all shooting guards, per ESPN.
Not to mention, Green will have to compete for minutes with Justise Winslow, Mario Chalmers, Dwyane Wade, Loul Deng, and Josh Richardson. The Heat’s surplus of wings may make it difficult for the 29-year-old to see the 24 minutes per game he saw in Phoenix, but with Wade’s long history of injuries, Green could serve as his fill in.
There’s also a chance that Wade stays healthy, and the rookies (Winslow and Richardson) become instant impact players, which would then bury Green at the end of the Heat’s bench. In Green’s defense, he has the highest career 3-point shooting percentage on the team, and is probably this team’s best outside shooter. A lot could go right and wrong for Green this year, but only time will tell what his role will be.
No matter who you think should get most of the playing time behind Wade, it’s hard not to root for Green. From 2009 to 2011, he spent his time out of the NBA in Russia. After Russia, Green spent the 2011-12 season with the Los Angeles D-Fenders in the Developmental League. He playing well with the D-Fenders, and was selected to the D-League All-Star game. Green’s had a rough career, filled with up’s and down’s but he’s worked his way back to the NBA as a valuable role player off the bench.
Like I said before, it’s going to take some time to see how the cards fall, and only then can we determine how big Green’s role should be. The team’s plethora of wings, and Green’s inability to play consistent defense will limit his playing time, but his knack for hitting 3’s should be enough to get him valuable minutes.