How did the Heat discover Duncan Robinson? Erik Spoelstra remembers the phone call.
Duncan Robinson’s pre-draft workout with the Heat has become the stuff of legend within the organization.
After finishing his collegiate career at Michigan in 2018, Robinson wasn’t considered a prospect with first-round potential. The 6-7 forward known for this outside shooting wasn’t even expected to be drafted.
But when Robinson went through a private pre-draft workout for the Heat in a Los Angeles gym, then-Heat Vice President of Player Personnel Chet Kammerer left impressed. So impressed he immediately called coach Erik Spoelstra during the car ride home.
“Chet was in LA traffic and he called me and said, ‘I really am interested in this Duncan Robinson. Can you do some research on him? We should invite him in. I just saw him perform one of the best shooting exhibitions I’ve ever seen,’” Spoelstra recalls from that conversation.
“I almost dropped the phone. Because if Chet Kammerer says it, it’s going to make you pay attention. I asked him, ‘Chet, are you sure that’s what you’re saying because you’ve seen 50 years of shooters and been in a ton of gyms and I’ve never gotten a phone call like this from you?’ He said, ‘Yes. I don’t know if he’s good enough. I don’t know if he will develop. But as far as shooting, that part is really unique and he has got a great ethic. He’s also 6-8.’”
That pre-draft workout led to the Heat offering Robinson a spot on its summer league roster after he went undrafted in 2018.
“That workout and that story has kind of taken on a life of its own,” Robinson said with a smile, as the Heat prepares to continue its four-game homestand Monday against the Jazz. “Chet came in and it was the first time I worked out in front of an NBA team. At that point in my career, I was the furthest thing from a surefire NBA player.
“I remember one little segment, I think I hit like maybe 25 or 30 threes in a row. Maybe missed one and then hit another 20 in a row. Chet, to this day, reminds me all the time that I didn’t miss two in a row the whole workout.”
Less than two years later, Robinson is in the first season of a two-year standard NBA contract with the Heat and has started in 24 of the Heat’s first 29 games. The 25-year-old has also turned into one of the league’s top three-point shooters, serving as the ultimate floor spacer for a Heat offense that entered Sunday with the league’s eighth-best offensive rating.
Robinson leads the Heat and entered Sunday ranked seventh in the NBA with 94 made threes this season, tied with Portland’s Damian Lillard. Among the 23 players averaging seven or more three-point shot attempts per game, Robinson owns the third-best three-point shooting percentage at 45 percent behind only New Orleans’ JJ Redick (46.2 percent) and Utah’s Bojan Bogdanovic (45.1 percent).
With 94 made threes in the first 29 games, Robinson is on pace for 265 made threes this season. That would surpass Wayne Ellington’s mark of 227 made three-pointers from 2017-18 for the most threes made in a single season by a Heat player in franchise history.
“Not surprised,” Robinson said of his success this season after spending most of his rookie year with the Heat’s G League affiliate while on a two-way contract in 2018-19. “I’ve learned that you don’t want to expect anything or feel that you’re owed anything. I could have put in the same amount of work and not played a minute. That’s just kind of how it goes. This league is so competitive and I have an understanding and appreciation for that. For me, it’s that competitiveness and competitive spirit that I think at times brings out the best in me.”
Robinson is in the middle of a hot stretch. He has made 32 of 64 threes (50 percent) in the past seven games, and has made multiple threes in a franchise-record 14 consecutive games.
On top of all that, Robinson already matched the team’s franchise record of 10 made threes in a game previously set by Mario Chalmers on Jan. 12, 2013 and Brian Shaw on April 8, 1993. Robinson sank 10 threes in a Dec. 10 overtime win over the Hawks.
Spoelstra called Robinson “one of the best shooters on this planet” before the start of the season.
“I’ve been really fortunate that I have a locker room and coaching staff and front office that they’ve done nothing but encourage and push me and want me to be successful,” Robinson said. “When you have people like that in your corner, it makes it so much easier. I’m just appreciative of it all. I’m just still trying to grow through everything, learn. I feel like I’m still far from what I could be as a player.”
But if Robinson only offered three-point shooting, he wouldn’t be playing this many minutes for the Heat. After adding 15 pounds since first signing with the Heat last year, he has improved as an on-ball defender and now feels comfortable enough to use the dribble when opponents overplay the three-point line.
Robinson has proven he can finish plays around the basket, as he’s 20 of 24 (83.3 percent) on shots at the rim this season. And over the past six games, he has totaled nine assists and just one turnover.
“All of the above. Everything,” Spoelstra said when asked what has contributed to Robinson’s impressive play this season. “The work ethic, the success that he has had in practice and in games. The confidence that our veteran players have given him. All of these things add up to his esteem matching the level of the talent of his shooting, which he has had for quite a while.”
With the shooting display Robinson has put on this season, a spot in the three-point contest during February’s NBA All-Star Weekend in Chicago could be in his future.
“Only just because people keep saying stuff to me about it,” Robinson said when asked if he has thought about the possibility of competing in the three-point contest. “It would be an honor, obviously. I’ve had that in my skill set my whole life. It would pretty surreal to be a part of it. But I try not to get too caught up in that and just focus on making shots and winning games.”
How does Robinson think he would fare in that type of competition?
“As long as the hoop is 10 feet, it doesn’t matter to me. I have no problem with it,” he said. “I just would like to be a part of it just to have the opportunity to compete against some other great shooters. It would be pretty cool.”
▪ Forward Justise Winslow remains out for Monday’s game against the Jazz because of a strained lower back. It marks the ninth consecutive game he has missed with the injury.
This story was originally published December 22, 2019 at 1:56 PM.
