The Miami Heat intentionally didn’t show public interest in Duncan Robinson to keep his talents under the radar prior to the 2018 NBA Draft.
This was revealed recently by Chet Kammerer, the Heat’s senior adviser of basketball operations. By secretly admiring the University of Michigan product, Miami struck gold with Robinson, who went undrafted that year.
“We purposely didn’t bring him in,” Kammerer told the Sun Sentinel.
Robinson was so under the radar that other teams didn’t get a chance to see his pro-level talent.
“He didn’t get invited to Portsmouth. He didn’t go to Chicago,” Kammerer added. “He had very few workouts.”
By ignoring Robinson on purpose, the Heat ensured that no one else saw what Kammerer saw in the 6-foot 7 guard. Rather than spend to get a pick in the second round of the draft, Kammerer hoped to invite Robinson to their summer league team if no one drafted him.
“I saw him work out early,” Kammerer said. “I saw him, I said, ‘Guys, I’m telling you, if this guy is on the board [after the draft], he needs to be on our summer-league team.’”
The gamble paid off handsomely for the Heat as Robinson didn’t get drafted and became a member of the Heat’s roster in the summer league. In one of their games, Robinson nailed 5-of-6 3-pointers against the Los Angeles Lakers.
Unbeknownst to anyone at the time, it was a preview of what the Lakers would see when they faced the Heat in the 2020 NBA Finals. In Game 5, Robinson connected on 7-of-13 shots from beyond the arc to finish the game with 26 points.
More importantly, Robinson was instrumental in extending the series to a sixth game, keeping the Heat’s hopes for a championship alive.
Though the Lakers emerged victorious in Game 6 to win the title, Robinson had a solid performance with 10 points, nine of which came from 3-of-7 shooting from three.
