Miami Heat: Goran Dragic should be the starting point guard

After a rough, injury-filled 2018-19 campaign, it’s time for Goran Dragic to reclaim his job as starting point guard for the Miami Heat next season.

As with a number of veterans on this Miami Heat roster, Goran Dragic would likely prefer to think of 2018-19 as the season that never was. He only played 36 games due to injury, lost his starting job for much of the stretch run until the Heat were completely overwhelmed by injuries, and now may have an uphill battle to supplant incumbent starting point guard Justise Winslow.

It’s a journey he needs to take up, as it’s in the best interests of the Miami Heat for Dragic to retake his rightful starting role. After the draft, team president Pat Riley indicated that as far as he was concerned, Dragic was likely to be the starter, in spite of the fact that the assembled media expects it to be Winslow.

Dragic is the most accomplished ball handler on the roster, and Winslow struggles mightily in the pick-and-roll to the point where he’s one of the least efficient scorers from that play-type in the entire NBA, scoring just .638 points per possession (PPP) in the pick-and-roll. While Dragic’s .749 PPP is not setting the world on fire, some of that could be attributed to his overall bad and injury-riddled season.

With some health and consistency, it wouldn’t be hard to see him bounce back to his more effective self, as in 2017-18 he scored a more reasonable .853 PPP.

The Heat performed reasonably well with Winslow in the starting lineup and Dragic coming off the bench, but this stretch also came during a weak point in the schedule. To be sure, a bench lineup with Goran Dragic, Hassan Whiteside and Dwyane Wade is going to have advantages over many other bench units, but that will especially be true against the lesser lights of the NBA.

Over the long haul of the NBA season, the Heat will struggle to get by without a capable and experienced primary ball handler. While maybe down the road Justise Winslow will develop as a ball handler, it’s likely better for him to do so on the wing, where his natural talents more fully lie.

Experience matters at the point guard spot, and it’s a major deficit when a young player like Winslow is playing out of position in addition to his youth and inexperience. When that may never be the role for him, the Miami Heat are doing him no favors by playing him extensively there.

Winslow was forced into action last season, but for both his own long-term future and the shorter-term future of the Heat, it’s better to slot him back on the wing and return Goran Dragic to his starting spot.