The Miami Heat will be without point guard Goran Dragic in Tuesday night’s game versus the Toronto Raptors.
While he has already been ruled out for Wednesday’s game versus the Boston Celtics as well, the former All-Star offered a loose timeline on when fans can expect him back.
“I don’t know. It depends on how it’s gonna go,” Dragic said when asked if he expects to miss more than two games. “I understand that Jay (athletic trainer Jay Sabol) has the best interest of the team in mind. Initially, he tells you a time that you don’t want to hear. But I’m just going to play it out, see how it’s going to go, day by day. The only thing I can do right now, is do everything I can, the treatments and see how I’m going to feel the next few days.”
So far this season, Dragic has served as a revelation coming off the bench for Miami. He’s averaging 15.9 points, 5.0 assists and 3.2 rebounds per game. Thus far, he’s making a fairly strong case to be considered amongst the frontrunners for the Sixth Man of the Year award.
Without Dragic, Miami will likely rely heavily on Tyler Herro and Justise Winslow to offer firepower off the bench. It is also possible that Dragic’s absence will open the door for Dion Waiters to finally make his 2019-20 season debut.
So far this season, the Heat have managed to find great success amidst a number of injuries and absences to key contributors. Dragic’s injury will offer them another opportunity to do just that.
Four of Miami’s upcoming seven games will be against some of the best teams in the NBA.
After facing Toronto and Boston, the Heat will enjoy a three-game stretch against the Washington Wizards, Chicago Bulls and Atlanta Hawks before facing two formidable enemies in the Los Angeles Lakers and Dallas Mavericks.
Hopefully, Dragic is able to return sometime in that challenging span of games.