The Miami Heat can't help but continue to feel some regret as they prepare to visit the Eastern Conference-leading Detroit Pistons to begin the new year, especially after hand-wrapping them a missing piece during the offseason. Duncan Robinson may not get the headlines, but he's emerged as a valuable player for the Pistons this season.
After the Heat traded Robinson to the Pistons this past summer, Miami can't help but feel as if they may have pushed a rival closer to winning a championship. And even more than the fact that Simone Fontecchio has been wildly inconsistent so far this season (the compensation for Miami in that S&T involving Robinson), that's what the Heat has to be struggling with the most.
Robinson has helped fuel the Pistons to the best record in the Eastern Conference, and this is a team that has the look of one that could be prepared to make a deep run.
The Heat could use a shooter like Duncan Robinson
The frustrating part of Robinson's success with the Pistons this season revolves around the idea that the Heat could really use him in the team's new offensive philosophy.
While the Heat have shown some encouraging signs at different points this year, they don't have a player on the roster who replicates the impact that a shooter like Robinson would be having in the rotation.
Robinson would immediately become the Heat's best 3-point shooting threat and would add another element that they currently don't have on the roster. Just looking at how much he unlocks Detroit's offense, it's easy for the Heat to play the "what if" game with Robinson.
More often than not, Robinson's 3-point shooting threat helps expand the offense for the Pistons. It helps clear the paint, and even the mere threat of Robinson on the perimeter opens the lane toward the basket, and makes the playmaking possibilities even easier for the likes of Cade Cunningham and the rest of Detroit's guards.
Could the Heat use a player like that? Absolutely.
But, at the end of the day, it is what it is, and the Heat elected to move on from Robinson, and it's a decision that they'll have to live with.
That doesn't mean the Heat may not regret it. And as the Heat prepares to take on the Pistons, who they've already lost to once earlier this year, they're going to get another close look at what they lost and what the Pistons gained.