Robinson works on his shot with new ‘smart’ ball
There was very little uncertainty surrounding Duncan Robinson’s role with the Miami Heat entering the past two seasons: He was an important part of the starting lineup.
But things are different for Robinson entering this season after Max Strus replaced him as a starter late last season.
It remains unclear how Robinson will be used this season following a summer full of trade rumors involving his name. So he dedicated the offseason to self-improvement in preparation for a different type of season. Work officially begins Tuesday when training camp opens in the Bahamas.
“I think that time initially after the season, it’s important to take a step back and reflect and not get emotional or reactionary to whatever,” Robinson told the Miami Herald this offseason at an event to promote SIQ Basketball, maker of the first FIBA-approved smart basketball. “Be able to remove yourself a little bit and just look at it from a very objective standpoint of what needs to happen moving forward.
“I feel like I’m capable of doing that, but I also have people in my corner that can really help me with that because that’s a huge part of it. Sitting and having real honest conversations with people and getting real honest feedback.”
Robinson started 67 games last season before Strus replaced him in the starting lineup in late March with two weeks left in the regular season. Robinson remained in the rotation as a reserve immediately after the change but then fell out of the rotation in the second round of the playoffs before logging sporadic minutes off the bench in the Eastern Conference finals.
Before this late-season role change, Robinson had been a fixture in the starting lineup since 2019 because of the spacing his elite three-point shooting provides for Bam Adebayo and Jimmy Butler. Robinson started 68 of his 73 regular-season appearances in 2019-20, all 72 of his regular-season appearances in 2020-21 and 68 games last season.
“Just super locked in and focused on just trying to improve in specific areas and continuing to develop as a player,” Robinson said of his offseason
work. “Understanding first and foremost, this time is all about self-improvement ... Excited to have this kind of an elongated stretch where you can really be strategic about investing time and energy in all the right places.”
Some of his summer work was spent working to improve as a defender after team President Pat Riley said in June that Robinson has “got to get better” on that end of the court. Robinson, who is entering the second season of a five-year contract worth $90 million, also knows he needs to continue to be a premier outside shooter to earn consistent minutes again.
Robinson, 28, shot 37.2% on 7.9 three-point attempts per game last
season. That’s a quality number, but it wasn’t up to the standards he set for himself after making more than 40% of his threes in each of the previous two seasons.
“For me, the ball flight is really big and the fact that it has a variety of data and feedback,” Robinson said when discussing how he incorporated the SIQ
Smart Basketball into his offseason shooting. “One thing I always talk about with shooting is no two jump shots are the same.
“Nobody’s fix is going to look the same as somebody else’s. So it can really be like kind of pick and choose what you’re looking for. For me, that ball flight is a huge, huge part of it. Because normally when I’m making shots and I’m my best version, the ball is coming out clean and I’m getting good arc on it. So to get that feedback in live time, it’s different.”
Robinson noted that he has spent most of the offseason working out in Miami with the organization. He also got “a little bit of a change of scenery by working outside of it.”
“I think how last season ended [with a loss in Game 7 of the East finals],” Robinson said, “obviously the motivation for everybody across the board is super high.”
PLAYER RANKINGS
The Heat features two of the NBA’s top 25 players entering this season, according to ESPN’s NBArank panel.
The panel, which includes over 200 reporters, editors, producers and analysts, were asked to rank players based on their predicted contributions for this season only.
Adebayo came in at No. 23 and Butler at No. 17 on ESPN’s list. Heat guards
Tyler Herro and Kyle Lowry also earned spots on the list at No. 61 and No. 60, respectively.
Who was voted immediately ahead of Butler? No. 16, Atlanta guard Trae Young; No. 15 L.A. Clippers forward Paul George; No. 14, Portland guard
Damian Lillard; No. 13, Minnesota center KarlAnthony Towns; No. 12, Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard; and No. 11, Philadelphia guard James