Heat wants Meyers Leonard to shoot more. But Leonard has a reason for deferential approach
As Tyler Herro was asked a question about Heat center Meyers Leonard’s season-high 14 shot attempts late Saturday night, Goran Dragic added his own commentary.
“Finally,” Dragic muttered with a laugh from a nearby locker. “No pump faking.”
There were some pump fakes from Leonard, but not as many as usual. Leonard recorded his second double-double of the season in Saturday’s road win over the Magic, with 18 points on 7-of-14 shooting from the field and 4-of-9 shooting on threes and 14 rebounds.
It marked the eighth time Leonard has finished with double-digit points this season, as he’s averaging only 4.6 shot attempts and 2.4 three-point shot attempts per game. But with the 27-year-old Leonard shooting 42.7 percent on threes, Heat coaches and teammates have encouraged him to take more shots.
“Everybody in the locker room wants Meyers to be aggressive,” coach Erik Spoelstra said, with the Heat set to host the 76ers on Monday. “He really worked at it the last couple days in practice, letting it fly almost past his comfort zone. I’m not talking about range, I’m just talking about shooting it every time he touched it. That’s what everybody wants. It changes the complexion of our spacing. It opens up driving lanes for Jimmy [Butler], Goran, etc.
“It’s very similar to Duncan [Robinson] at the beginning of the year. Meyers understands it. His heart is in the right place. He wants to set screens and set up his teammates. He doesn’t want to be the focal point offensively. But our offense really benefits when he’s shooting the ball from three. We even want him to do it without the shot fakes. Just let it fly, don’t even hesitate.”
But Leonard has an explanation for his deferential approach.
“No. 1, I understand scouting reports to a tee and what we’re looking to do,” said Leonard, who is averaging 6.2 points and 5.1 rebounds in 20.2 minutes in his first season with the Heat. “Have there been moments throughout the season where maybe I could have taken a few more shots? Sure. But teams have now started to occasionally put the five on me rather than the five on Bam [Adebayo], which is going to put me in the trigger more often throughout the game.
“I’m an unselfish player. I couldn’t care less how many points, rebounds, blocks — I don’t care. As long as we win. ... So, it simply is just the fact that I was in the trigger [Saturday]. Teams really just got to kind of pick their poison. Put the five on Bam [Adebayo], good luck. He’s a playmaker, getting behind the defense and making passes and getting guys involved and scoring the ball. Put the five on me, good luck. I’m just going to shoot threes.”
Leonard, who has started in each of the Heat’s 48 games this season, is one of the NBA’s most efficient three-point shooters at his his size. Among 7-footers averaging more than one three-point shot attempt per game this season, Leonard ranks first in three-point shooting percentage.
And Leonard has proven he’s not going to force threes up when he has a defender in his face. According to the NBA’s tracking stats, 112 of the 117 threes he has attempted this season have come when he was either open (closest defender four to six feet away) or wide open (closest defender more than six feet away).
“I trust him when he feels like somebody is all over him, he’ll make the right play,” Spoelstra said. “If somebody is all over him at 25 feet, that means somebody else’s driving lane is probably going to be a little bit more open.”
Even with rebounding, Leonard has taken an unselfish approach that just happened to result in a season-high 14 rebounds Saturday.
“I don’t care about getting the rebound, I care about the Miami Heat getting the rebound,” said Leonard, who was acquired by the Heat this past summer from the Trail Blazers as part of the Butler sign-and-trade deal. “So if you watch, I just give up my body and go box out and we get it. That’s what’s important to me, winning games.
“As I said when I first got here, I am simply here to impact winning, bring character and work ethic every day when I walk through those doors.”
Sometimes, though, the Heat wants Leonard to be unselfish. He’s that good of a shooter.
“We always tell Meyers to be aggressive,” Herro said. “We know how well he can shoot it. When he’s shooting like that, even if he’s not making them, he’s still spacing the floor because you have to guard him. When he’s taking those shots, it really helps our offense. We are on him to shoot the ball a lot, especially when he’s open. Passing up them open ones never leads to anything good.”
