Justise Winslow’s position in the Miami Heat lineup has been a hot topic. Only heating up as we approach the season, here’s the latest on the situation.
The Miami Heat are a resourceful organization that knows how to get the most out of any situation, no matter the circumstances that they may find themselves in. Whether it be through the usage of the waiver wire, the acquisition of cheap free agents while expecting a contribution, or thrusting players into roles that stretch their capabilities while perhaps even unlocking some more of their potential.
In the vein of a frequent phrase turned by Miami Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra, with that phrase being “we have enough”, thrusting and entrusting players into new and expanded roles is something that was called for on last season. This particular instance saw Justise Winslow thrust into the starting lineup as the point guard, lead guard, or main ball handler, whatever you want to call it.
They prefer to use the term big guard among the Miami Heat organization when it comes to describing exactly what Justise is. While it hadn’t come up much during the offseason, at some point not too long go which infers that it was near the end of the offseason, Pat Riley said that he envisioned Goran Dragic as the teams starting point guard during this upcoming season. This was countered by a statement from Justise Winslow just a few weeks back where he said that he wanted to be this teams starting point guard.
As we approached Miami Heat Media Day, there was still no official word yet, but as early as it still is in the whole process, that wasn’t that surprising. On media day however, the topic was touched upon. Here is a tweet from Fox Sports’ Will Manso.
Spo on point-Justise: “he really truly needs to be a two way basketball player for us.” He won’t call him a point guard. Says the team is positionless and Justise will have the ball in his hands a lot, but added, “you better believe Goran will too.” And other players, as well.
— Will Manso (@WillMansoWPLG) September 30, 2019
Did we mention earlier that this was a hot topic? Local Miami sportswriter Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel does his well known Ask Ira question and answer type piece regularly and wouldn’t you know it, one of the questions was simply worded “Here’s my roster in five words: Don’t start Winslow at PG.” Although it wasn’t that much of a question, here was Winderman’s answer.
"It certainly seems as if Pat Riley and Erik Spoelstra have made it clear that would not happen, at least at the moment. And it’s certainly possible that the two wind up in the same lineup, potentially with Justise Winslow involved in more of the playmaking than Goran Dragic. In fact, if Kelly Olynyk is not fully up to speed at the start of the season, and if James Johnson is still in the doghouse, the only options at power forward might be Justise or Derrick Jones Jr., who, even bulked up, still seems a bit too lithe."
That appears to be as solid of an answer as we have heard thus far and furthermore, probably about as absolute an answer as one could receive. That has tended to be the notion taken from both Miami Heat team president Pat Riley and Coach Spo.
If you were wondering what Justise thought as of recent though, he maintains some of his previous answers, but he also has more of an adjusted viewpoint it seems. When approached on the topic at media day on Monday by Anthony Chiang of the Miami Herald, here is what Winslow had to say.
"“Starting point guard,” Winslow said Monday during a break from taking photos at the team’s annual media day, when asked what he envisions as the perfect role for himself. “Playmaking. Second-Team All-Defense. Most Improved. All-Star. Whatever that picture looks like on the court.”"
Chiang notes that he then thought about those comments a minute, “realizing the reality of a roster that features multiple rotation players who can run the Heat’s offense” in Chiang’s words, before coming back with more to add to that answer. Winslow eventually said he would be doing a bit of everything.
This included rebounding, making plays, defending, while he also noted that it was a bit “different because we really truly are kind of positionless”, and also including the fact that this positionlessness meant that everyone needed “to be able to play with everyone”
It sounds like sort of a done deal. While Justise won’t be the full-time starter as the lead ball-handler, he will have his fair share of opportunity to make plays it sounds. We just can’t wait to get the season started to see however the team is deployed and how well this deployment will execute, especially with Jimmy Butler in tow.