Miami Heat: Grading Duncan Robinson’s 2021-22 Season

Miami Heat: He’s Not A Great Defender, But Was Terrible, At Times, This Year

Getting right to it, Duncan is a below-average defender. Yes, it’s a known fact but there were moments where he would show some upside.

Duncan Robinson’s Defensive Grade: C-

Whether it be getting active in passing lanes, rotating into the paint to take a charge, or even cutting off players to not allow them to get to their spots (before the bail-out foul calls started to overrun him).

Truthfully, perhaps Duncan didn’t look as bad as he could’ve due to the Heat’s overall defensive effectiveness, which allowed him to hide at times. So, that may have influenced the grade but when he was moving on defense, he was always looking to make the correct play for the team.

That’s something that you can’t say for a lot of the bad defenders in the league. Other than that, he’s still not a great defender though.

And when the game slows down in the playoffs, you will get hunted as that type of guy, no matter how much you try to hide. So, when your “three-point specialist” isn’t the marksman as advertised and is constantly getting attacked on defense, you’re going to lose minutes.

It really is no secret as to why he didn’t see the court, which is a shame because he is good enough to have been on the floor. To wrap all of this up, Duncan is better than this.

Only time will tell if he is still in the Heat’s future plans or moved in a deal in the offseason, but whatever the future holds for him, this season will serve as a learning experience. Duncan was never a guy to take an opportunity for granted, so there is a real belief that he can bounce back from this.

Duncan Robinson’s Overall 2021-22 Season Grade: D+.

He didn’t work this hard for it to fall apart like this. He couldn’t have.