Let’s not try to overcomplicate things about why the Heat entered Thursday’s game on pace for a 16-win season: Not having a single power forward on the roster who should be a starter on a good team is one of a few obvious factors.
But here’s the far bigger reason: In a league where a large chunk of scoring comes from small forward and shooting guard, the Heat starts two players who own among the worst shooting percentages among all NBA qualifiers at those positions this season.
Dion Waiters entered Thursday’s game shooting 34.8 percent from the field. That was worst among qualifying shooting guards on Wednesday, and now second-worst because Dallas’ Wesley Matthews now has enough shots to qualify.
And Justise Winslow, who missed his second game with a wrist injury Thursday, is last among qualifying small forwards at 33.1 percent from the field. The next-to-last player on that ESPN.com list, Kent Bazemore, is well ahead of Winslow at 40.6.
In Winslow’s case, Heat officials aren’t overly concerned, because they believe his wrist injury has contributed to his offensive issues. They remain confident his technique, which was adjusted by new shooting coach Rob Fodor, is sound and that he eventually will be a much better shooter than he has demonstrated.
Regardless, that won’t preclude the Heat from pursuing high-end small forwards in free agency, with Utah’s Gordon Hayward an expected target next summer and Sacramento’s Rudy Gay also of interest to Miami if it cannot land Hayward. Under that scenario, Winslow could move to power forward.
Waiters’ struggles have been more exasperating, because even though he has never been a great shooter, he’s well below his 40.9 career average.
The reason is clear: Though Waiters can penetrate most anytime he wants, he cannot get the shots to drop. He entered Thursday shooting a shockingly low 35.8 percent at the rim (19 for 53). He never was a great finisher, shooting between 51 and 54 percent at the rim each of the past four seasons. But he has never been this bad.
He has the NBA’s fourth-lowest shooting percentage on shots within five feet (21-60, 35 percent).
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