Miami Heat: 3 Goals for Rodney McGruder in 2018-19

Stay scrappy

Asking a player to continue his defensive regimen should be a no-brainer. No one has to tell Al Horford to box out any more than they have to tell Rudy Gobert to keep swatting shots.

But for McGruder, whose defensive contributions don’t always show in stat sheets, staying active defensively is key to his utility.

In 2016-17, McGruder led all rookies in total loose balls recovered. He supplemented that effort with 100 deflections. Taken together only three rookies, McGruder included, managed at least 100 deflections and at least 50 recoveries.

His success on defense is a testament to his misleading stature. Like his Heat colleague Richardson, McGruder’s build doesn’t immediately strike fear into his opponents.

But where McGruder succeeds, is in his ability to stick with the play.

Here, Johnson and Olynyk envelop the backpedaling Tim Hardaway Jr. Hardaway is one wrong move away from taking a tumble, but as the ball bounds out of his control, Johnson and Olynyk come to a halt.

Instead, McGruder, who has no real reason to insert himself into the scramble – between Dragic, Olynyk and Johnson, some Heat player should have recovered the ball – jumps into the fray, recovering the rock and maintaining Miami’s lead.

Such a fervor for reclaiming lost goods has led Johnson to nickname McGruder “The Scavenger”.

"“Since camp,” Wayne Ellington said to the Sun Sentinel in February 2017. “I’ve always called him ‘my dog.’ He’s like a pit bull out there.”"

Continuing to build on that pit bull mentality is the type of trump card Miami needs next season. Between Winslow, Richardson and Adebayo, the entire league is aware of the Heat’s potential rise in defensive power rankings.

As the season trudges along however, McGruder can be Miami’s best kept secret on the defensive end.