Goran Dragic and Dwyane Wade are two fixtures on the Miami Heat for the upcoming 2015-2016 season. Dragic was acquired by the Heat at last years trading deadline, for essentially spare parts and two first round picks. Wade has been on the Heat his entire career.
Over the off-season, both became free agents and while Dragic re-signed with the team in no time, it was surprisingly Wade that took longer to re-sign with the team, but eventually did.
Coming into the 2015-2016 season, ESPN.com ranked Dragic as the 38th best player in the league, with Wade coming in not far behind, at number 46. While those numbers may not be something Heat fans love for Wade, it’s important to remember he did miss 20 games last season.
"“Wade missed 20 games last season due to injuries, and his field goal shooting plummeted to a seven-year low of 47 percent while his turnovers skyrocketed to 3.4 per game. Wade did bump up his scoring average to 21.5 points per game, but that was due to volume, not efficiency.”"
Wade was ranked 36th before last season.
In Dragic’s case, he slipped from 27th to 38th. ESPN did however praise his ability to get to the rim and make his shots.
"“Dragic is an uptempo point guard who played for a team that didn’t like to run. That might change, but when The Dragon gets a full head of steam, there’s no stopping him. With great body control and touch around the rim, he shot 69 percent on shots within four feet, a scorching mark for someone his size.”"
Neither ranking is ideal for Heat fans to see, but it is accurate to both’s talent level at this stage of their respective careers.
Wade, entering his 12th season in the league, is on the downward slope due to continuous knee issues. His strength of attacking the rim with reckless abandon has started to take a toll on him.
Dragic, coming off an off-season where he signed a 5-year $90 million contract with the Heat will be on the wrong side of 30-years old before the NBA playoffs kick off in 2016. After he posted a career best PER of 21.43 in 2013-2014, Dragic saw that number dip to 17.47 last season with the Suns and Heat.
So far this preseason, Wade has averaged 10.0 points per game, 3.2 rebounds, and 2.2 assists in 20.4 minutes per game. His shooting percentage is at an uncharacteristic low of 42 percent, but his 3-point shooting sits at 33 percent, which is a remarkable number for him. Wade has just missed one game this preseason, with that being as a precaution in a back-to-back night game.
Dragic, however, has averaged 6.8 points, 2.4 rebounds, and 3.6 assists in 23.5 minutes per game. His shooting percentage sits at 41 percent and 18 percent from three.
In an extremely small sample size that almost means nothing, Dragic and Wade have both posted negative plus/minuses when on the court. The Heat have been -6.2 worse with Wade on the court and a -8.2 with Dragic. With a larger sample size, that number should change rapidly.
While many fans will feel like Wade and Dragic will need to play better than their ESPN rankings, it’s actually not true. If both players play at their expected talent level, the sum of the parts will actually be greater than any one individual part.
With a projected starting lineup of Goran Dragic-Dwyane Wade-Luol Deng-Chris Bosh-Hassan Whiteside, the best bet for the team would be for the two guards to be the playmakers for the team, setting up the two big men to play their game and finesse the team to victories.
A Dragic-Wade backcourt will be a thrill to watch on fast breaks, as both players excel at finishing at the rim. Wade is a bit better than Dragic at drawing fouls, while Dragic finishes near the rim at a big-man efficient level.
Both are also gifted passers, and with Wade’s cutting skills, it will be fun to see Dragic setting Wade up for dunks and layups in the half court, somewhere the Heat were not particularly great at last season.
Assuming health and no bad breaks, the Heat are well positioned to make a run for one of the top seeds in the Eastern Conference, and then a shot to potentially knock LeBron James off the throne for the Eastern Conference championship.
While the same thing was said about the Heat before last season, the roster to begin last season had nowhere near the talent this team does. And while Hassan Whiteside might be the most important player for the Heat’s chances of getting back to the finals in 2016, we cannot forget about one of the most dynamic backcourts the Heat will have in their history, in Goran Dragic and Dwyane Wade.