New role, new goal for Heat’s Goran Dragic — Sixth Man of the Year
Besides Jimmy Butler, there is only one other player on the Miami Heat’s roster who has played in the All-Star Game.
Goran Dragic.
The Heat point guard earned the honor as an injury replacement during the 2017-18 season, when he finished with averages of 17.3 points, 4.1 rebounds and 4.8 assists in 75 games (all starts).
But after playing in a career-low 36 games last season due to right knee surgery, Dragic has been asked to transition to a different role this season. At 33 years old and beginning his 12th NBA season, he’s playing as the Heat’s sixth man.
While Dragic has accepted the new role following a preseason conversation with coach Erik Spoelstra, it hasn’t necessarily been easy to go from All-Star to bench in a span of two years.
“What do you think, it’s easy?” Dragic said Wednesday following the Heat’s opening-night 120-101 win against the Grizzlies at AmericanAirlines Arena. “It’s not. We’re all competitors. Everybody wants to play a lot of minutes. But at the end of the day, I’m professional. I need to do my job and what’s best for the team. I went through conversations with Spo and other players, and there comes a point in your career that you need to make those decisions and accept it.”
So far, so good for Dragic and the Heat.
Even with the Heat’s youth, specifically 23-year-old Justise Winslow and rookies Tyler Herro, Kendrick Nunn and Chris Silva, dominating the headlines after their strong performances in the opener, it didn’t take long for Dragic to prove his value off the bench.
Dragic finished with 19 points while shooting 4 of 9 from the field, 2 of 4 on threes and 9 of 10 from the free-throw line in 25 minutes in Wednesday’s season-opening win against the Grizzlies. He was especially effective in the third quarter, scoring 11 on two threes and five made free throws in the period.
“He sure looked energetic and young to me,” Spoelstra said, with the Heat off until Saturday’s road game against the Milwaukee Bucks. “That’s why I think he’s going to be able to do this virtually every night. It’s right in his wheelhouse. He was aggressive, attacking, getting to the free-throw line, drawing fouls. We’ll continue to build on this. But that was perfect. I don’t think we could have planned that better — 25 minutes and then him giving us such an energetic spark offensively off the bench.”
With Dragic wearing a bulky brace on his surgically repaired right knee, the Heat’s plan is to maximize his minutes while keeping him fresh for the entire season by playing him off the bench. Plus, Dragic fills the void left behind by the retired Dwyane Wade, who averaged 15 points and 4.2 assists in a sixth man role for the Heat last season.
Entering this season, Dragic had started in 268 of the 282 regular-season games he played in with Miami. He also averaged 32 minutes per game during the past four seasons, but that number is expected to dip closer to 25 minutes per game this season.
“He can do that role very well,” Winslow said. “I mean, Goran has been in this league a long time now, so he understands the game, he understands his spots. But even more than understanding his spots, he understood the timing. He understands he needs to score in that role and that’s what he has done over the course of his career. He’s a great playmaker, especially once he gets downhill, but those threes he hit in the exact same spot. That’s just the type of guy he is. He understands. He’s a savvy player. I love Goran in that role.”
This is an important season for Dragic, who is in the final year of the $85 million deal he signed with the Heat in the summer of 2015. Not only because he’s entering the next stage of his career, but because he’s set to become an unrestricted free agent next summer.
With a new role comes a new goal. Dragic has his sights set on the Sixth Man of the Year Award, which is an honor a Heat player has never earned.
“That’s my vision, and I want to do it,” Dragic said. “It’s going to keep me going to have one goal in my mind.”
▪ Heat guard Dion Waiters’ one-game suspension for conduct detrimental to the team was set to end Thursday. His status with the team beyond that is still unknown.
This story was originally published October 24, 2019 at 12:38 PM.
