Are the Miami Heat in need of a backcourt shakeup?

What should the Miami Heat backcourt look like in 2018-19?

Report cards are out, and the summer sun shines bright, but the astringent sting of the Miami Heat’s 2017-18 season lingers.

Though the Heat lapped the Washington Wizards and Milwaukee Bucks for sixth in the Eastern Conference, they met their demise faster than any team in the East. Miami matched up poorly against the Philadelphia 76ers, and fell short at the free throw line, taking what could have been (should have been) a close series, and drowning it in the Biscayne Bay.

In the series’ five games, head coach Erik Spoelstra saw 10 Heat players play over 70 minutes a piece – a fittingly deep rotation for a team that cited its regular season depth ad nauseam.

For contrast, only four sixers players – JJ Redick, Ben Simmons, Dario Saric and Marco Belinelli – saw 70-plus minutes over the course of the series, exemplifying the age-old strategy of shortening rotations in the playoffs.

The blame game can name inexperience for Miami’s underperformance. Only Dwyane Wade posted a positive plus-minus through the series (5), while taking his 36-year-old frame to the line a team-high 26 times.

Or a season’s worth of injuries can take the blame, as much of Miami’s roster missed at least some time to a laundry list of afflictions.

Regardless, Miami is in a pickle for next season. Well acquainted with their salary schedule, the Heat have talent to make the the playoffs in the lesser of two conferences, but need to find the consistency to tilt games in their favor.

For the 2018-19 season, the Miami Heat need a better backcourt.

Hold the phone. Goran Dragic has a career year, Wayne Ellington shoots his way into history and Josh Richardson plays 81 games, and the blame rests on Miami’s backcourt?

Yep.

In the very short epoch that has been the post-LeBron James era, Miami’s greatest achievements have come with breakout performances from guards one and two. Spoelstra tooled with a variety of rotations this season and strung together a seven-game win streak at the start of January.

For that two-week run, two things happened. First, Dragic endeared himself to NBA Commissioner Adam Silver, who would eventually select him as an All-Star replacement for Kevin Love. He notched, 21.9 points per game in that stretch, and was awarded Eastern Conference Player of the Week on January 15, for the second time that season.

Second, Tyler Johnson made doubters completely forget why he wears his upcoming contract like a scarlet letter. Contributing 15.7 points on nearly 51 percent from the floor, Johnson played some of his best sets of the season.

Of course, no Heat criticism/retrospective/Twitter rant is complete without referencing that magical, 30-11 run to end the 2016-17 season. 13 of those Miami Heat victories came in sequence, starting with the Houston Rockets and ending with the Brooklyn Nets.

The hallmark of that run? Another Heat guard, this time Dion Waiters, was named player of the week.

Accompanying Waiters and the pose he hit during that run was Dragic and his 20-point per game contributions, on 50 percent shooting. As much as the Heat value roster flexibility, the team’s success is often rooted in stellar guardsmanship, which creates opportunities for the rest of the roster to contribute.

It’s also relevant that both the runs in 2016-17 and 2017-18 were bisected by injury to one half of the backcourt duos at the time. Waiters missed three consecutive games in the 2017 run, the third of which was a loss to the Sixers. The next year, Tyler Johnson injured his ankle mid-game and the Heat’s streak ended to the Chicago Bulls.

Thankfully, the iteration of the Heat’s best backcourt returns next season.

Waiters, fresh off of surgery, can reconnect with Dragic, reuniting their sizzling brand of swagger and efficiency. Miami’s core may or may not need another season of development, but with a potential reorganization to the Eastern Conference power structure this summer, Miami needs to strike when the opportunity presents itself.

While a backcourt shakeup might be inevitable if team president Pat Riley decides to clear house this summer, Miami isn’t yet resolved for mediocrity.

Next: Miami Heat: Individual player grades for the 2017-18 starting five

With a couple Eurosteps and a few deep 3’s, Dragic and Waiters might put Miami back on their playoff pace.