Heat’s Duncan Robinson dedicated this summer to ‘self-improvement’ amid uncertainty

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 in the Heat’s starting lineup late last season.

With the Heat holding media day on Monday at FTX Arena and opening training camp on Tuesday in the Bahamas, it remains unclear how Robinson will be used this season following a summer full of trade rumors involving his name. So Robinson dedicated this offseason to self-improvement in preparation for a different type of season.

“Just try to take a step back and maintain some perspective,” Robinson said to the Miami Herald earlier this offseason at an event to promote SIQ Basketball, maker of the first FIBA-approved smart basketball. “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. 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 just two weeks left in the regular season. Robinson remained in the Heat’s rotation as a reserve immediately after the change but then completely 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 Heat’s starting lineup since 2019 because of the spacing his elite three-point shooting provides for stars 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.

“It’s been great just to be able to take a little step back, try to gain some perspective over last year and kind of where I’m at, and how to strategically move forward and develop,” Robinson said of this offseason. “Yeah, just super locked in and focused on just trying to improve in specific areas and just continuing to develop as a player. Understanding first and foremost, this time is all about self-improvement and just getting better. Excited to have this kind of an elongated stretch of time where you can really just be strategic about investing time and energy in all the right places.”

Some of that time this summer has been spent on working to improve as a defender after Heat 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 an elite outside shooter to earn consistent minutes again.

Robinson, 28, shot 37.2 percent on 7.9 three-point attempts per game last season. That’s a quality number, but it wasn’t up to the high standards he set for himself after making more than 40 percent 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 has incorporated the SIQ Smart Basketball into his offseason shooting workouts. “One thing I always talk about with shooting is like 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 arch 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 and also get 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, “I think 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 the 2022-23 season only.

Adebayo came in at No. 23 and Butler came in 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 Hawks guard Trae Young, No. 15 Los Angeles Clippers forward Paul George, No. 14 Portland Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard, No. 13 Minnesota Timberwolves center Karl-Anthony Towns, No. 12 Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard and No. 11 Philadelphia 76ers guard James Harden.