Miami Heat: Goran Dragic should be the sixth man of the future
Jamal Crawford and Lou Williams have made careers out of being able to come in off the bench and light it up in quick spurts. With the Miami Heat being aware of what Goran Dragic is capable of, and with what he has shown in his return, they should push to make him their own personal sixth man.
Out of a possible 67 games this season for the Miami Heat, Goran Dragic has missed 46 of them. This could be due to a few things including the amount of basketball he has played over the years for his professional club and his home country, the controlled recklessness with which he plays the game, or simply a byproduct of his body getting a bit older. Regardless of the reason, he hasn’t been there for a good part of the season.
This absence hasn’t been all bad though as it has allowed others to step into different roles and thrive, with the main benefactor being Justise Winslow. When “The Dragon” did make his eventual return on the 23rd of February against the Detroit Pistons ironically enough, he did so by coming off the bench.
It could have been suspected that he wouldn’t be thrust back into the starting lineup, with one reason being the growth of Justise Winslow, but also because he hadn’t played in a real NBA game since October. What couldn’t have been expected, was the revelation he would be in that role.
Although it has only been a small sample size, Dragic has seemed to thrive in that role. Averaging around 14 points per game while hitting on about 48 percent of his field goal attempts in his return, Dragic has been pretty good coming off the bench. Along with those averages, he had back-to-back outbursts of 27 and 21 points, in games where he played an average of around 23 minutes.
While the sample size is small, if you take what he has done in his short return combined with the game we all know he has shown over his career, it could bode well for the Heat if they were able to maintain this role for him.
One of the most important things this play would allow for is the continued development of Justise Winslow as the point guard. Along with Winslow’s development in itself, this move would allow for the continued development of the Winslow/Josh Richardson combo, which is the essence of the Heat’s core moving forward.
As they would continue to gel as a back court, it would also allow the other parts of that core like Bam Adebayo and Kelly Olynyk to continue to build that rapport with the back court that they will be playing with for the foreseeable future. This core has taken steps together, and bringing Dragic off the bench should only help to accelerate that growth, but at least won’t slow it down.
When looking at the benefits of it for Goran Dragic himself, they far outweigh the negatives. The first thing you notice is that it fits his game to a tee. Dragic is the type of player who would prefer to go “balls to the wall” early, often, and immediately.
By being the established go-to-guy off the bench as the sixth man, he could immediately hit the floor every night and mash the gas pedal. This isn’t always the case as a starter because sometimes the game flow, match-ups, and game plan dictates otherwise.
This fits Dragic well also because his game isn’t singularly dependent on one facet or another for him to thrive, as he can drive the ball, pass the ball, and shoot the ball from the perimeter. Just like Vinnie Johnson was for those great Detroit Pistons teams, Goran Dragic could be a “Microwave” off the bench for the Miami Heat.
In speaking about the other key element of Dragics game, the sheer tenacity he plays with, it also fits well with the sixth man role. He would know that when he comes in the game, his main thought should always be to get buckets.
This is not only a good role for “The Dragon”, it is a perfect role for him. He is still a pretty good player, and has fit the mold of a Miami Heat player perfectly, with his willingness to not only do whatever it takes but give his body up in the process.
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If he is interested in continuing his career on the sunny beaches of Miami past his current contract, and it would be wise of the Heat in having an interest to retain him, it wouldn’t be a bad way to live.