Heat’s Duncan Robinson details his offseason goals ahead of free agency, and Spoelstra news
Don’t expect any clues on Duncan Robinson’s NBA future ahead of his impending free agency when listening to his podcast.
“We’re just not in the time frame where that type of news gets broken,” Robinson said during last week’s episode of The Long Shot podcast. “We’re about a month and a half removed. So basically what I’m saying is there will be no free agency Easter eggs dropped in the podcast.”
But Robinson did offer insight into some of his other offseason plans during this week’s edition of his podcast, which he co-hosts with close friend Davis Reid. The Miami Heat’s three-point shooting forward is in Los Angeles for his offseason training program.
The emphasis for Robinson, 27, this summer? Working on his body, developing a go-to two-point shot and finding ways to earn more trips to the free-throw line.
“Obviously for me, it’s keep the main thing the main thing,” Robinson said during this week’s episode of The Long Shot podcast. “I understand what I’m good at. I think that’s part of my strength as a player is that I know who I am, and I don’t try to do more than that. With that being said, you still never want to put yourself in a box. So there’s always room for improvement and development. I have a lot of room for improvement offensively, particularly when it comes to inside the three-point line.”
Robinson, who has scored 80.5 percent of his points on threes and has averaged one free-throw attempt per game in the regular season during his NBA career, is working to establish a consistent go-to two-point shot “whether it’s a midrange pull-up, whether it’s a floater.”
“If you look at it as simple as if I get one more layup a game, that’s two points,” Robinson said. “If I get to the line one more time a game, that’s two more trips to the line and I’m a pretty good free-throw shooter. So that’s basically another two points. ... That’s going from averaging 13 or whatever it is points per game to 17, and that’s a big difference in winning and losing during an NBA season.”
Robinson is also working on his “lower body,” which he hopes translates into him “moving better.”
“I have some movement deficiencies, limitations, whatever you want to call them,” Robinson said on his podcast. “For me, it becomes how I then mitigate those limitations. I think I got to the point toward the end of the year where I was definitely respectable on defense. I also know I’m always going to be called out and every time I give up a bucket, it’s going to be: ‘Oh, that guy can’t guard a chair.’ But with that being said, I’ve made a lot of improvements since I’ve been in the NBA. But then it’s about how do we continue to push this forward and build.”
In the past two regular seasons combined, only Sacramento’s Buddy Hield (553) and Portland’s Damian Lillard (545) have totaled more made threes than Robinson (520).
Robinson was the only Heat player to appear in all 72 games this regular season. He closed the regular season with the fourth-most made threes in the NBA at 250 behind Lillard (275), Hield (282) and Golden State’s Stephen Curry (337), and shot 40.8 percent on 8.5 three-point attempts per game.
Robinson is set to become a restricted free agent this summer and the Heat has interest in bringing him back.
Miami will have the right to match any offer Robinson receives from other teams, assuming the Heat extends a qualifying offer as expected. His 2021-22 cap hit for the Heat will be modest (about $4.7 million), but his salary could top $15 million per season after playing on a $1.7 million salary this past season.
While Robinson made clear that he won’t offer any hints prior to the start of free agency, he didn’t rule out announcing the outcome of his free agency on his podcast in August.
“With that being said, are there plans to have maybe some sort of an announcement included in the podcast? Now that’s a different story,” Robinson teased podcast listeners. “So make sure you like and subscribe for future episodes because you could be Woj. You could be breaking news if you’re listening to The Long Shot podcast.”
SPO TO HELP USA BASKETBALL
Erik Spoelstra has visited numerous coaches during past offseasons to pick their brains. This summer, Spoelstra is trying something new in the hope of learning new lessons.
The Heat head coach accepted an invitation to join the Team USA basketball coaching staff as it prepares for the Tokyo Olympics in Las Vegas in July, a source confirmed to the Miami Herald. The Associated Press was the first to report the news.
Spoelstra will help coach the Team USA select team, which is a group of players that will be at the national team’s training camp in Las Vegas to practice and scrimmage against the Olympic roster. But Spoelstra’s specific role with the select team is still unclear.
This marks Spoelstra’s first stint with Team USA, but he’s not expected to travel to Tokyo for the Olympics. The head coach of Team USA’s Olympic roster is Gregg Popovich of the San Antonio Spurs, and his assistants are Steve Kerr of the Golden State Warriors, former Atlanta Hawks coach Lloyd Pierce and Villanova’s Jay Wright.
Spoelstra, 50, just completed his 13th season as the Heat’s head coach. He’s the second-longest active tenured NBA head coach with one team, trailing only Popovich.
Team USA finalized its 12-man roster for the Olympics on Wednesday, and Heat center Bam Adebayo is on it. The roster, which could change in the coming days and weeks, also includes: Washington’s Bradley Beal, Phoenix’s Devin Booker, Brooklyn’s Kevin Durant, Detroit’s Jerami Grant, Golden State’s Draymond Green, Milwaukee’s Jrue Holiday and Khris Middleton, Chicago’s Zach LaVine, Lillard, Cleveland’s Kevin Love and Boston’s Jayson Tatum.
Team USA is scheduled to begin its men’s training camp in Las Vegas on July 6.
▪ The Heat, the Miami Heat Charitable Fund, The Coral Gables Community Foundation, The Key Biscayne Community Foundation and The Miami Foundation are working together to build a hardship fund for those impacted by the Surfside building collapse.
Contributions to the fund can be made here.
