When the Miami Heat traded for Goran Dragic last winter, they were hoping to fill a void at their weakest position, and most importantly, speed up the pace of their offense.
Things can change pretty quickly in basketball, can’t they? Basketball used to consist of skilled bigs and half-court offense, but now, teams are distancing themselves from this concept. Can you blame them? What are teams supposed to think after watching the Golden State Warriors win a championship with 6’7 Draymond Green as their starting center.
The Warriors’ use of three point shooting and an upbeat transition offense led to Golden State having the best record in the NBA with 67 wins. They had the best record in the West by 11 games. To put that into perspective, the Warriors were closer to the single-season wins record, than they were to the second seed.
The Warriors ranked first in the league among all teams in Pace Factor, per ESPN Hollinger stats. The Miami Heat ranked 29 in the same category. Even worse, the Knicks were ranked 28. Yikes.
Pat Riley knew the league was changing to a faster pace, and that’s why he brought in Dragic. The Heat had a Pace Factor of 93.3 this past season. In February, his first full month with the Heat, Dragic recorded a 97.42 Pace. If the Heat played at this pace all year, they would have ranked tied for ninth in the league.
Before Dragic took his talents to South Beach, the Heat were forced to run the offense through Wade, which is a bad idea considering Wade’s knees are ticking time bombs and his only offensive weapon was an unhealthy Bosh. Dragic’s much-needed arrival allowed the offense to flow through a natural point guard, not to mention it gave the team an extra skilled scorer.
The Heat with Dragic, Wade, Whiteside and a healthy Bosh, could be lethal in a weakened Eastern Conference, especially if Dragic continues to determine the speed of play.
For the 2013-14 season, when Dragic was running the offense in Pheonix, the Suns ranked eighth among all teams in pace. And back in 2012, the Suns finished ninth, so it’s been proven that teams with Dragic run a more up-tempo offense.
However, according to 82games.com, the Heat were only 1.5 points better offensively with him on the court, but that number could be deceiving considering the Heat had Bosh before Dragic was traded to Miami. With Bosh as the starting power forward instead of an inconsistent Michael Beasley, the Heat should see a huge boost offensively.
For the first half of last season, when Dragic still repped the purple and orange, the Suns were 4.4 points better with him on the court. This may be a better indication of his impact.
In 2014, when Dragic was the sole point guard and floor manager in Phoenix, the Suns were a whopping 10.2 points better offensively with him on the court. Dragic has proved time and time again that his presence dramatically improves any teams offense.
The Heat need to re-sign Dragic if they want any chance of making it through the East, and with the Cleveland Cavaliers as the only real threat, Miami has a legitimate chance to compete.