Miami Heat: Defining Max Strus’s Role In Rotation… Reserve Volume Shooter

The Miami Heat love to shoot the outside shot these days. While they were really great at it in the season before last, the Bubble Year, they came back to earth, a bit, on last season.

With new faces in tow, development from their returning guys, and a proper offseason, the Miami Heat are expecting big things in the coming season. Well, there’s that reason and another.

With more consistency to the whole situation and be that the season itself, the regular schedule of it all, or just a bit more understanding and ability to handle the situation that is and has surrounded the pandemic, that should give the Miami Heat a better chance to get out to a good start.

That’s especially considering how they got underway last season and that’s after an elongated prior season and shortened offseason. That’s neither here nor there at the moment, but reflective of how they just couldn’t seem to get right last year, as also indicative of their range shooting that they have come to depend so much on.

When you think about some of the factors mentioned earlier though and specifically the part surronding the development of returning faces, there is one guy that comes to mind when thinking about their range shooting.

Miami Heat: Defining Max Strus’s Role In Rotation… Reserve Volume Shooter

He highlighted it a ton this past summer, while excelling on the NBA Summer Circuit and catapulting into the minds of NBA fans that aren’t die hards or that watch a ton of Miami Heat basketball.

That guy would be Max Strus. Shooting the light outs during the NBA’s Summer League situations this summer, he also excels in other areas of the game.

While a ton of people see him and want to compare him to another Miami Heat sniper, Duncan Robinson, he’s not quite the same type of talent as Duncan.

While they do share a ton of similarities, such as their path through the levels of basketball and then to the league, Strus is a more multiple and versatile player than Duncan is.

Though Duncan is the better shooter, flat-out, Max can get his shot off from more platforms than Duncan can and can get to those many platforms by himself. Duncan needs help, such as the much-debated, dribble-handoff action between he and Bam.

Though Robinson is also beginning to try and show a bit of versatility to his game, driving and dishing off of those drives in some instances (if he could just stop the jump passing, you know, where he goes up for the layup and kicks it out… sometimes for turnovers), he isn’t as naturally gifted or athletic as Max is, to be honest.

Miami Heat: A Ton Of Triples For Max Strus And Maybe A Highlight Jam Or Two

Robinson is also a bit taller than Strus, but to his athleticism spoken about a second ago, Strus can go up and finish it over the top of the defense, throwing it down if need be. Just ask Will Barton.

That’s also something that Duncan doesn’t have. However and with all of that being said, Strus is in line for a Duncan Robinson-like ascension and that plays right into his role in the Miami Heat’s rotation this season.

He should be a volume shooter off the pine. Averaging 17.3 attempts per game during the Las Vegas portion of the NBA Summer League, 11.3 of those attempts were from range, where he shot 40 percent.

Though that is just Summer League, it’s indicative of the type of success he can have with volume. With the talent that the Miami Heat should be able to throw out there and especially on that second unit, where Strus will see most of his tick, that should leave for plenty of opportunity for him to get them up.

He should be the Duncan of the second unit. What that means is that if he gets an open look, he should, most certainly, let it fly.

If Duncan doesn’t do that, Spo chastises, well, sort of but the notion is factual. That should be Max Strus’s role this season for the Heat, a volume shooter off the bench, as Duncan Robinson is for the first unit.