The Miami Heat got a heck of a year from Goran Dragic this season. He is expected to remain, to try and continue that excellence.
The Miami Heat got a golden year from their player nicknamed after a giant mythical flying lizard. Breathing fire, doing crazy acrobatic stunts, and flying around like a wild animal aren’t features reserved only for his real-life yet fictitious counterpart.
When it comes to the way that he has operated on the court this season for the Miami Heat, Goran Dragic was every bit of the beast as any of the flying alligators from your favorite episode of Game Of Thrones.
A man that has hit big shots for the Heat in the most clutch moments, been the motor for that bench unit all year long, and has put up numbers that would make even first unit guys jealous, Goran Dragic has arguably had the best year of his career from an efficiency and effectiveness standpoint.
Here’s what we mean. In the season with his third-fewest minutes played since becoming a full-time starter for any team, 28.2 minutes per contest, his drop off in production was practically nonexistent. Now, remind yourself that he came off the pine for the Miami Heat.
The Miami Heat are having a splendid year and it’s still not over. Goran Dragic is a huge part of the reason why.
In his two most potent offseason seasons, 13-14 and 16-17, he averaged 20.3 points per contest. For the most part, his other top years have seen him hover somewhere between 16 and 17.5 points per contest.
This season, again in one of the seasons where he is playing his fewest minutes ever per game, he came in about where he would be in a season where he was playing somewhere near the most minutes he’s played in a season at 16.2 points per contest.
Also, he’s taking and making as many three-point shots as he ever has across his career. Across the most attempts per game he has ever accrued, 5.7 per game this season, he has his sixth-highest percentage and his fourth-highest percentage since becoming a regular starter or playing a starter’s load of minutes.
He’s also taking one more three per game than any season of his career and almost three more per game than some of his other highest three-point percentage shooting seasons. Think about that.
These facts leave it as no surprise that he will resign with the Miami Heat. He’s having one of his best seasons, arguably, if not his best.
So when Kevin O’Connor of The Ringer reports that “league front office sources expect him to stay in Miami“, it’s no surprise to us. This is where he belongs.
We know that and he knows that. That’s why Goran Dragic isn’t expected to go anywhere and rightfully so.