Miami Heat: Justise Winslow should be repositioned in the starting lineup

Justise Winslow has been bounced around the starting lineup and the entire rotation for the Miami Heat, but it’s time for just one more repositioning.

While Justise Winslow started 52 of his 66 games last season for the Miami Heat, there remains something of a mystery element to him. He was forced into emergency duty as starting point guard for the bulk of the stretch run last year, but his best role may still be unsure.

Whether he starts at the point, the wing or plays heavy minutes as the first man off the bench, Winslow remains an important part of this Miami Heat roster and at some point his best role must be determined.

As the point guard in the pick-and-roll, he struggled to score as the ball handler last season, finishing in the 14th percentile of all scorers in the league at just .638 points per possession (PPP) per Synergy. However as a distributor out of the pick-and-roll, his passes led to 1.19 PPP from spot up shooters and 1.189 PPP from the roll man, so his play-making was more than adequate.

Winslow is an oddity in that he struggles to score when creating his own offense off the dribble, but he creates well for others. He is also an excellent scorer off catch-and-shoot opportunities. He scored a glittering 1.271 PPP on all catch-and-shoot chances, placing him in the 92nd percentile.

While he performed admirably under difficult circumstances as the point guard last season, Justise Winslow is likely at his best playing off the ball as a secondary play maker on the wing. Most of his offensive struggles last season stemmed from scoring opportunities with the ball in his hands as the initiator, so curbing those situations can only benefit him.

As a result, it seems like the best way for head coach Erik Spoelstra to reposition him alongside Jimmy Butler would be to slot him into the two-guard spot, moving Dion Waiters to the bench. This would produce a starting lineup of Goran Dragic at point guard, Winslow at shooting guard, Butler at small forward, Kelly Olynyk at power forward and Bam Adebayo at center.

Winslow could focus his energies as a 3-and-D wing who can be an above-average facilitator and secondary play maker, and he would be an upgrade across the board over Waiters at that position.