Duncan Robinson still adjusting to life off the bench as he nears Heat three-point record
At the start of 2022, Duncan Robinson was a full-time starter for the Miami Heat. As the year comes to a close, Robinson is being used in a much different role.
Robinson started 67 games last season before Max Strus replaced him in the starting lineup in late March with just two weeks left in the regular season. Robinson remained in the Heat’s rotation as a reserve immediately after the change but then completely fell out of the rotation in the second round of the playoffs before logging sporadic minutes off the bench in the Eastern Conference finals.
Through the first 32 games this season, Robinson has yet to make a start and is playing in a bench role that fluctuates from game to game based on how much the Heat needs his three-point shooting and the team’s injury report. There have also already been four games this season that he hasn’t played in despite being healthy and available in part because of his limitations on the defensive end.
“It’s a challenge,” Robinson said of his new role, with the Heat (16-16) continuing its four-game homestand on Friday against the Indiana Pacers (8 p.m., Bally Sports Sun). “I don’t think it’s like something I can’t overcome. It’s just about continuing to wrap your head around that it’s going to be different things on different days, and I’m starting to get to that point.
“I had to kind of get out of my own way at first, which is what most people have to do. Honestly, it’s just part of it. So understanding it’s going to look different on different nights and be different on different nights. That’s OK. That’s part of being a part of something bigger than yourself.”
With the Heat struggling to make threes at an efficient rate this season, Strus in the middle of a shooting slump that his him just 17 of 70 (24.3 percent) from beyond the arc in the last 10 games and three Heat starters unavailable, Robinson logged a season-high 36 minutes off the bench in Tuesday’s loss to the Chicago Bulls to kick off Miami’s four-game homestand.
Robinson has actually played more than 20 minutes in four straight games, with the Heat searching for a shooting spark as it entered Thursday ranked 23rd in the NBA in three-point percentage (34.3 percent) and 26th in offensive rating (scoring 109.5 points per 100 possessions) this season. Robinson didn’t shoot up to his high standards, but he did convert on 13 of his 37 (35.1 percent) three-point attempts during this four-game span.
“Duncan keeps himself ready,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “Sometimes when you’re not getting the regular minutes, it’s not easy. But he’s mentally tough. ... You know what you get out of him, so that reliability is important.”
While Robinson is shooting just 32.2 percent from three-point range this season — his lowest percentage since his rookie year in 2018-19 — he has the ability to be an elite outside shooter. He entered this season shooting 40.6 percent on threes in his first four NBA seasons and set a Heat record for threes made (270) in a single season in 2019-20.
Even when including this season’s struggles, Robinson is still shooting 40.1 percent on 7.6 three-point attempts per game for his NBA career. Golden State’s Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson are the only other two players in league history who have shot better than 40 percent from deep on seven or more three-point attempts per game in their NBA careers.
So it’s not too surprising that Robinson is closing in on another Heat three-point record. Robinson (799 career three-pointers) stands just eight threes away from setting a new franchise record for the most three-pointers made by a player in their Heat career, which is a mark Tim Hardaway set at 806 made threes.
“Any time you have an opportunity to set a record, you want to try to make the most of it,” Robinson said, “especially in an organization like this — a lot of great players, a lot of great shooters. So the opportunity to be first is definitely something I’ve got my eye on, for sure.”
Setting that record will be meaningful to Robinson, but so would getting his three-point percentage for this season closer to 40 percent. He considers 40 percent as his three-point shooting baseline, which is a threshold he exceeded in two of the last three seasons.
“That’s part of the challenge,” Robinson, 28, said when asked whether reaching 40 percent is tougher this season because of his inconsistent playing time. “There’s a lot of contributing factors to what makes it a challenge. It’s not necessarily just one thing. But it doesn’t mean that I can’t still be around that number or shouldn’t be around that number and expect to be around that number moving forward.”
In some games, Robinson will play limited minutes.
But in other games, the Heat will run offense through Robinson down the stretch. Like in Saturday’s win over the San Antonio Spurs in Mexico City, when Robinson hit two threes and dished out three assists while playing the entire fourth quarter.
“I know the coaches are willing to adjust and adapt if I make a couple and get it going a little bit or whatever, that they’re willing to run through me a little bit more or just give me the ball a little bit more in sets,” said Robinson, who is in the second season of a five-year, $90 million contract he signed with the Heat in the 2021 offseason. “That doesn’t necessarily mean me shooting, but just using my ability to shoot as a threat in different ways. We might see more of that, we might not for 10 games. You just don’t know what it looks like. That’s the kind of the resolve that you got to work to build.”
If Strus’ shooting slump continues, will Robinson’s role grow? Can playing Robinson more minutes help the Heat’s struggling offense? As the roster gets healthier, will Robinson’s playing time be diminished?
Those are the type of unanswered questions that Robinson tries to avoid from cluttering his mind.
“Just not get caught up in your own mental dilemmas like, ‘I should be this or that,’” Robinson said. “Obviously, we all have our instinctual reactions to certain situations. But I’m trying to just wrap my mind around the bigger picture.”
It’s a lesson that Robinson has had to learn since signing with the Heat as an undrafted free agent in 2018.
“Ups and downs have been my whole career, so it’s not uncharted territory,” he said in a recent televised Bally Sports Sun interview. “I just continue to roll with the punches, and keep showing up. I believe showing up is a super power. So continue to do it, be consistent with it and over time I’ll have something to show for it.”
This story was originally published December 22, 2022 at 2:53 PM.
