The Heat have made a significant investment in combo guard Goran Dragic. First by giving up two future first-round picks to acquire him from the Suns, then by re-signing him to a five-year, $85MM contract as a free agent this past summer. Things haven’t quite worked out as Miami envisioned when it decided to pair Dragic alongside Dwyane Wade in the backcourt, and the team hasn’t found much consistency this season despite the strong play it is receiving from Chris Bosh and Hassan Whiteside. Dragic has looked remarkably tentative on the court, and the Heat’s offense has run more smoothly when Wade and Dragic haven’t shared the floor.
This brings me to the topic for today: Can the backcourt of Dwyane Wade and Goran Dragic flourish, or will Miami need to make a change?
Do you think the duo are merely experiencing a temporary downturn and will pick up their play as the season progresses, or are the two players’ games not a good match? If you believe a change needs to be made, then let’s hear your best solutions to the problem. Take to the comments section below to share your thoughts and opinions on the matter. We look forward to what you have to say.
They may not be an ideal match but the Heat are five games over .500, so I don’t believe it’s a major problem. They’re both smart players and they’ll figure it out. Seems that Miami’s style of play hinders Dragic more than playing alongside Wade.
That’s a good point about the Heat as a whole being an awkward fit for Dragic. A lineup with two traditional bigs and two wings who are best-suited to a halfcourt style doesn’t exactly serve a guy who thrives in an up-tempo attack very well. The presence of Dragic on a long-term deal might make them hesitate to either commit max money to Whiteside, re-sign Luol Deng, or both. But Wade isn’t going anywhere. Miami will make it work with Wade and Dragic one way or another.
I don’t consider Bosh a traditional big. That being said, there is a reason Whiteside doesn’t play in the 4th quarter much against certain teams
I can definitely see this pair working, because both can handle the ball, create for others and score when needed. The only thing is Wade is not a consistent 3pt threat (only 26% on the year), and while Dragic is not shooting well right now, hopefully he can get into a groove soon and raise his shooting percentages.
The problem was that Dragic came to camp out of shape, and has looked abhorrent on the defensive end. They played together pretty well last year. There just isn’t much space on the floor, with our lack of shooting, and Dragic has been indecisive at times, while he is also shooting poorly and not finishing at the rim at the same percentage. As much as I originally liked it, though I did speak about being wary of that 5th year, that deal looks horrible right now. We would have been better off holding onto Rio, with Tyler Johnson and Josh Richardson behind him, and use that money on a Batum or Jeff Green in free agency. Of course, nobody likely thought he would decline before the 1st year of the deal
Having said all that, Dragic has had his moments at times, mostly in the last couple of weeks. His last game against Atlanta may have been his best all around game of the season. Hopefully, that will continue moving forward. I don’t think the offense will continue to be as much of an issue moving forward. I’m more worried about the defensive end. He was never good defensively, but he was ok/serviceable. This year, he has been really bad. But as I said, he was pretty good against Atlanta on Monday. He did a good job against Jeff Teague and Schroeder, which really surprised me
How did the Showtime Lakers fare with a traditional, and end of his career, center Kareem Abdul Jabbar? Was Magic a good fit for that team?
Dragic will get in better shape as the year goes along. Tyler Johnson has game. Deng is at the end of his career – a lot of miles on those legs. Bosh is still one of the best PF in the league. Whiteside is developing his offensive game (defensively, one of the best centers now). Wade scores 28 points last night, and takes 17 FGAs……Kobe needs to shoot 30 times to get 28 points (and won’t squeeze out but 2 assists)
Whiteside is the 2nd least efficient post up player in the league. I disagree about Deng. He is versatile, and is important for us at the 3/4 spots. He and Dragic seem to have good chemistry.
Bosh is very over rated especially at $22M+ & we will see with Winslow? but I see another mediocre duke player so far…. So Miami will do or die with their backcourt…. Riley blew it with Michael Beasley. A Westbrook – Wade backcourt would have delivered more rings then the big 3 could have ever accomplished… My bet is the up tempo Dragic won’t fit long term here unless they move on from Bosh
Riley certainly did blow it with supercoolbeas, not once, but twice. The fact that Beas EVER took minutes on the court as a Heat player, was embarrassing as a 20+year Heat fan. Simply didn’t have the professionalism needed at this level. Minnesota found out, Phoenix paid him to just leave, and he didn’t stay very long with the Griz.
Riley’s record is strong enough to endure a couple of mulligans, but signing this guy a second time, on 9/11 no less, was puzzling.
I agree with you formerlyz, Deng does still have game, and is a very versatile defender, but it will only be a year or two until father time knocks on that door, and says, time’s up. Until then, defend, knock down three’s and run the floor.