Crowder and Iguodala have now played in 10 games with the Heat. A look at how it has gone
Things around the Miami Heat seemed unsettled immediately following the trade it made in early February.
After moving James Johnson, Dion Waiters and Justise Winslow to acquire veterans Jae Crowder, Andre Iguodala and Solomon Hill from the Memphis Grizzlies on Feb. 6, the Heat dropped six of the following eight games. But it appears things have settled back into place for Miami, which enters Wednesday’s home matchup against the Orlando Magic on a three-game winning streak.
And the Heat’s new additions are starting to feel more comfortable in their new roles. Hill remains out of the rotation and has logged just 23 minutes of playing time since joining Miami, but Crowder and Iguodala have each now played in 10 games with the Heat.
“I’m not thinking as much as I was the first week I got here, I can tell you that much,” Crowder said following Monday’s impressive win over the Milwaukee Bucks. “Obviously, I still have a ways to go with learning some things, but competing is something I bring to each team I go to. That makes it a lot easier for me to catch on very fast.”
While Crowder has started one game with the Heat, both Crowder and Iguodala have been used primarily in bench roles.
“I’m still progressing,” Iguodala said Tuesday. “I’m adding layers, which is what you plan to do throughout the entirety whether it’s two weeks, two months or two years. You just keep trying to build, keep trying to add layers and assessing how you can keep adding to the team or how you can take things from the team and put it in your game. It’s a process and I’m enjoying it so far.”
For Crowder, the transition to Miami has been fairly seamless. After finishing Monday’s victory with a team-high 18 points on 5-of-9 shooting on threes, the 6-6, 235-pound forward has averaged 14.2 points while shooting 45.1 percent on threes, 5.9 rebounds and 1.7 steals in 29.9 minutes over his first 10 games with the Heat.
Crowder is a 33.7 percent three-point shooter for his career and made 29.3 percent of his threes in 45 games with the Memphis Grizzlies this season before the trade. So, why is he making so many threes with the Heat?
“No disrespect to my old teammates in Memphis, they’re just younger. This is a veteran type team here,” Crowder said. “It’s a veteran style offense. The ball hops. We know great shots, we know good shots and we know bad shots. When you have that mindset and when you know those three things on the offensive end, you’re going to find yourself and find rhythm within the flow of the offense.
“Nothing has changed mechanically for me. I just feel like my confidence is there because I’m playing with a veteran group and the ball is moving.”
Crowder, 29, has also served as a reliable and versatile defender, with coach Erik Spoelstra trusting him enough to play him in 108 of the possible 120 fourth-quarter minutes since the trade. Although the Heat has been outscored by 28 points during Crowder’s fourth-quarter minutes, Spoelstra believes that will trend toward the positive end over a larger sample size.
“He’s an experienced, high-IQ player on both ends,” Spoelstra said of Crowder. “Defensively, he fills in a lot of different gaps. You can play him on four different players. He reads situations well and he has seen enough of these NBA situations over the course of his career. He has been in good defensive systems, so he has great defensive habits.
“Then on the other end, he just does a lot of little things to help your team. The spacing obviously helps. But he does a lot of other things, as well. He moves the ball, his spacing is very good. You can use him in pick-and-roll situations, where he flares. I feel very comfortable with him. So I know if the head coach feels like that, I know his teammates feel that as well.”
It has been a slower process for Iguodala. The 36-year-old forward has averaged 4.2 points on 47.2 percent shooting from the field and 36.8 percent shooting on threes, 3.9 rebounds and 1.8 assists in 18.3 minutes over his first 10 games with the Heat.
“Just still getting acclimated,” Iguodala said. “Taking it short term and then kind of re-assessing the long term. Not trying to get it all at one time. Just continue to build each game, finding different things and then adding to the next game.”
This slow build was expected since it had been almost eight months since Iguodala last played in an NBA game when he was acquired by the Heat. Iguodala and the Grizzlies mutually agreed he would stay away from the team after the Golden State Warriors traded him to Memphis this past summer.
“I’m surprised,” Iguodala said of how good he has felt on the court. “I was working out, but I guess one of the [boxing] workouts I was doing, I didn’t realize it has that big of an effect. I was going pretty hard. It became like every day just regular work. But when I came in, I was like, ‘Woah.’ That’s what kept me in that tip-top shape.”
Has the Heat used Iguodala differently than the Warriors did?
“There are similarities,” said Iguodala, who won three NBA championships with Golden State. “But I think here I’m actually getting a few more opportunities to do some things playmaking wise.”
There is one common thread when it comes to Crowder and Iguodala, though. It looks like the Heat will rely on both to play important minutes over the final six weeks of the regular season and in the playoffs.
“They add versatility on both ends of the floor,” Heat forward Duncan Robinson said. “Just coming off the bench and helping us on both ends. They’re two experienced guys, two guys who have been through it.”
