Duncan Robinson started 68 games for the Miami Heat this season, but as the team got healthy and moved towards the playoffs he was pushed back to an off-the-bench as Max Strus took over the role as starting wing. In the playoffs, Robinson saw his role shrink even more, racking up some DNP-CDs.
On his podcast “The Long Shot,” Robinson said that not playing “sucks in a lot of ways.”
"Not playing sucks... especially when you feel that you are capable and you feel that you can help win. It's a really challenging feeling."
— The Long Shot (@TheLongShotPod) June 7, 2022
Dunc opens up about embracing his changed role in the playoffs. Full ep drops tomorrow.
Full clip here: https://t.co/adx2YVCHVg pic.twitter.com/gTvRwKneB1
“Not playing, it sucks in a lot of ways... especially if you’re capable and you can help win. It’s a really really challenging feeling to combat. Especially when you’re on the cusp of and in the midst of a run where your team is playing really well. It’s this really challenging mix of emotions of excitement because you’ve sacrificed so much to the team and in your personal life to be in this situation, but you also understand with that sacrifice comes an expectation to feel like you have a role where you’re contributing.”
Robinson went on to say he thought he handled his demotion like a professional and would work to thrive in whatever role the team gave him.
Robinson shot a respectable 37.2% from 3 last season (more than three-quarters of his shots were from beyond the arc), which is down from being above 40% the previous two years. Combine that with Robinson being a minus defender, and in the postseason coach Erik Spoelstra looked to other players (Strus shot 41% from 3 on the season and is a slightly better defender).
Robinson signed a five-year, $90 million contract with the Heat last summer (the final year of that is a player option). His name has come up in trade rumors as Miami looks to upgrade its roster and already has Tyler Herro — who has a similar skill set — on the payroll.