Duncan Robinson agrees to new deal with Heat. And Heat adds PJ Tucker
The Miami Heat is keeping sharp-shooter Duncan Robinson, according to a source.
The terms on his new deal, as first reported by ESPN: five years, $90 million. That’s $18 million annually for one of the league’s best shooters.
Robinson can opt out after four seasons.
With Robinson back in the fold - and deal for Kyle Lowry agreed to - the Heat has now turned its attention to power forward and agreed to terms on Monday night with PJ Tucker on a two-year, $15 million deal, per The Athletic.
Miami used part of its $9.5 million mid-level exception on Tucker. The Heat still has part of that exception and a $3.6 million bi-annual exception.
Tucker, 36, averaged 3.7 points and 3.9 rebounds in 52 games for Houston and Milwaukee, including 33 starts, this past season.
The Bucks acquired him before the trade deadline and he averaged 2.6 points and 2.8 rebounds in 19.9 minutes per game, shooting 39.4 on threes (13 for 33) during the regular season.
During the playoffs, he averaged 4.3 points and 4.8 rebounds and 1.1 assists and 1.0 steals while shooting 32.2 percent on threes in 23 games, including 19 starts.
Tucker’s 3-point shooting varies dramatically. He shot 31.4 percent on 3s in 32 games for Rockets to start last season, 39.4 percent in 20 games with the Bucks to close the regular season.
Tucker is considered a skilled defender with the ability to guard players at all three frontcourt positions.
Miami also has made an offer for Lakers free agent Markieff Morris, according to a source. Morris has a home in Miami and in considering several offers, including Miami’s. He has averaged 11.0 points and 5.3 rebounds in his NBA career and made 27 starts for the Lakers last season.
Earlier in the night, the Heat inquired about free agent power forwards Bobby Portis and Jeff Green, but Portis decided to remain in Milwaukee, and Green joined Denver.
The Heat also called on Kelly Oubre, but did not get a meeting with him because he’s looking for more than what Miami can offer ($9.5 million mid-level).
Otto Porter, Paul Millsap, Blake Griffin and Rudy Gay are among other stretch fours still available.
The Heat also has inquired about Demar DeRozan, who appears unrealistic after Miami spent much of its mid-level on Tucker.
Trevor Ariza, who started at power forward for the Heat late last season, signed with the Lakers.
The Heat also re-signed center Dwayne Dedmon late Monday night.
But the Heat’s priority this offseason -- besides adding Lowry -- was securing Robinson, and the Heat took care of that quickly.
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 this past 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 averaged 13.1 points and shot 40.8 percent on threes last season, one year after averaging 13.5 points and shooting 44.6 percent on threes.
Robinson set a Heat record for threes made (270) in a single season in 2019-20, while also joining Curry as the only two players in league history to finish a season with 270 or more made threes while shooting better than 44 percent from deep.
Undrafted out of Michigan, Robinson made more three-pointers in a season than any undrafted player in NBA history.
The Heat had the right to match any offer for Robinson, but Robinson wanted to stay and agreed to terms in the first 20 minutes of free agency.
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 a recent 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.”
This story was originally published August 2, 2021 at 6:49 PM.
