How Miami Heat's Duncan Robinson Continued To Improve His Game

After falling out of the rotation, Duncan Robinson is now playing some of the best basketball of his career.

It seems like just yesterday Duncan Robinson was the undrafted rookie free agent darling that came from nowhere, lighting it up from three-point range.

After a two-year decline, it appears Robinson is back. He had 21 points, seven assists and six rebounds in Wednesday's victory against the Toronto Raptors. He is averaging a career-high 15 points this season. 

Robinson fell out of the rotation after being a real weapon during 2019-2021, shooting over 40 percent from the arc. He landed a five-year, $90-million deal after averaging 30 minutes. 

Then the following season Robinson’s minutes, points, and three-point percentage dropped.

What changed so quickly?

The league keeps changing. Everyone wanted switchable athletic wings to counter the new swarm of elite point forwards. Being able to switch everything was the key. It didn’t matter if you could just shoot anymore. Teams needed tall wings to guard multiple positions, rebound, and defend in space.

You had to be able to affect the game in more than one way because "positionless" basketball keeps evolving. Matchups matter more than ever.

This led to Robinson falling entirely out of the Heat rotation. Just like that, $90 million was on the bench. Fans were outraged. They wanted him gone. Most would’ve traded him for anything to get out of that contract.

The whole Duncan Robinson experience confuses me. He was so key to the Miami offense and now he's just a 12th man.

— Keith Smith (@KeithSmithNBA) May 24, 2022

Robinson didn’t let that stop him from working on his game. He obviously will never successfully guard Giannis Antetokounmpo or Jayson Tatum, but he continued to improve on controllable things.

“It has been a challenge,” Robinson said last season while falling out of the rotation. “But it comes with the territory. It’s part of being a professional.”

Now, Robinson is much more comfortable putting the ball on the floor, getting into the paint, and finishing at the rim. He’s operating the pick and roll with Bam Adebayo, making the correct reads. He’s cutting back door and finishing.

Duncan scoring in so many different ways 🤌

We're up 8 with 5:30 left in the game pic.twitter.com/R9Rjv5w9P1

— Miami HEAT (@MiamiHEAT) December 7, 2023

According to bball-index.com, Robinson's play-making talent improved tremendously. He now grades at a B+, the highest of his career, after earning a D- in 2019. 

His three-point shooting is also back. Robinson is averaging career-highs in assists, and field goal percentage, too. 

While most would’ve sulked at being out of the rotation, Robinson kept working. He stayed ready and has taken full advantage of his opportunity. 

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Devin Brown is a contributing writer to Inside The Heat. He can be reached at dbrwnjr@gmail.com or Twitter @dbrwnjr.