Does Winslow’s time as point guard come with expiration date?

MIAMI — It was a role earned, not gifted, Erik Spoelstra said the day after Christmas, when he anointed Justise Winslow.

“He is our starting point guard,” the Miami Heat coach said Dec. 26. “That’s what I told him. I told our team that. It’s a big responsibility. He loves those type of challenges. I don’t want to put a ceiling on it.”

The question now is whether there is a time limit.

With the Heat announcing on Dec. 19 that Goran Dragic was “expected to be out until approximately the NBA All-Star break” following his knee surgery, decision time appears to be imminent about whether it’s out with the new and in with the old at point guard.

Which, as with many of the team’s decisions, comes down to whether the Heat are playing for the moment, amid their scramble for a playoff berth, or for the future, with Dragic eligible to return to free agency as soon as this summer.

“Just being able to read the game and read the flow, and being able to pick my spots, and knowing when the team needs me to be more aggressive, I’m still getting better at it,” Winslow said of these two months of transition from what largely had been a frontcourt role during his first three seasons. “But I love the position I’m in to be able to help this team.

“I’m in a different position, but I still want to use my versatility to my advantage.”

One approach could be a compromise that has both in the starting lineup, Dragic at his best with his one-man fast break, Winslow showing a deftness in directing the halfcourt offense. The two have played 151 minutes together over 10 games this season, with the Heat outscoring the opposition by one point over that span.

No matter the alignment, Winslow acknowledges that for this season’s Heat is keeping it simple.

“When we keep our turnovers down, our record is pretty good,” he said, the Heat 14-22 this season when committing more turnovers than the opposition. “We’ve just got to keep staying with it, value the ball, don’t always try to go for the home run.

“Coach talks about making the singles, getting a bunch of singles and the home runs will come. When we play like that, we can beat anybody. We make it a possession game and give ourselves a chance, get shots on goal. So that’s a big point of emphasis with this team, is the turnovers.”

Two-man unit: Spoelstra said he is pleased with the rotation at power forward that has Kelly Olynyk starting and James Johnson following off the bench, similar to the approach with Hassan Whiteside and Bam Adebayo at center.

“In some ways, the way we look at it, to simplify, sometimes you just want to get 48 minutes of great basketball from your fours, from your fives, each position,” he said. “And oftentimes with our centers, usually Hassan will get the bulk of the minutes, but Bam, whatever minutes he gets or fills in, that’s 48 minutes of really good center basketball, that’s the most important thing.

“It’s a team game. It’s not necessarily who’s playing 35 minutes. Can you get 48, quality, winning basketball minutes from those positions?”