Duncan Robinson’s evolution gives Miami Heat another dimension on offense

Miami Heat guard Duncan Robinsonhas had his fair share of ups and downs in the NBA.

After going undrafted andbecoming a key player in the 2020 NBA Finals, he got paid the bigbucks and then was unplayable at times in the playoffs.Now, Robinson has once againemerged as a vital piece in Miami’s offense under ErikSpoelstra.

At 6-foot-7, Robinson can shootthe lights out. The threat of his shooting from beyond the arcstretches the defense out, allowing Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo tooperate from inside the paint.

However, over the past twoseasons, Robinson was close to unplayable (especially in thepostseason) as teams exploited his inability to put the ball on thefloor by running him off the three-point line and attacking him ondefense.

Robinson made it a point in theoffseason to develop his in-between game and how to attackcloseouts off the catch (either getting to the rim or dishing toteammates). This work paidoff, as Robinson is currently averaging a career-high 2.8 assistsin addition to his 13.2 points and 40.6% shooting fromdeep.

By improving his ability to putthe ball on the floor on dribble handoff actions – a staple of theHeat’s offense – Robinson is earning significant playing timeagain. He now makes it a point to find his rim-running teammatesand make kick-out passes to the wings.

On Monday against the SacramentoKings, this was on full display as Robinson dished out acareer-best 11 assists as the Heat played without their mainplaymakers Butler, Terry Rozier and Tyler Herro Robinson’s previous career-high in assists was7 (which he did four times -- three of which came this season).This is a testament to his incredible growth as a facilitator, andhe deserves credit for correcting his biggest weakness.

Most of Robinson’s assists werefrom Adebayo’s dribble-handoff actions, finding him multiple timesby going downhill and dropping it off in the paint. When Adebayowasn’t available for the roll, Robinson kicked it out to CalebMartin for a corner three.

Duncan Robinson dribble handoffs pic.twitter.com/f2WFMAfWa7

On these couple of possessions,Robinson connected with Kevin Love in another dribble handoff thatflowed into a pick-and-pop three as well as finding Love on the runfor a transition triple.

Duncan Robinson connecting with Kevin Lovepic.twitter.com/XnmluzNFXJ

Robinson is giving Miami'soffense a different look and an additional option. Rather than justshooting off of screens, he's looking to set up his teammates bypicking his spots and playing at his own pace.

Gone are the days when teams canrun Robinson off the three-point line because he can't attackcloseouts, and that's great news for Miami come playofftime.