Miami Heat wing Duncan Robinson hasn’t had the best season so far, and the team has apparently made him available in trade talks.
It seems like his time in Miami might be coming to a close, but something that might impede a potential deal is his large contract. The University of Michigan product is in the second year of a five-year, $90 million contract he signed with the Heat in 2021.
One Eastern Conference executive recently slammed Robinson, saying that his contract is arguably the worst in the league for its length.
“You can argue that, for its length, he has the worst contract in the league,” the executive told Heavy.com’s Sean Deveney. “There are other big ones that are bad, like what the [New York] Knicks are paying Julius Randle or the Ben Simmons contract, but those are guys who have value because they can still produce. And there are bad ones like [Davis] Bertans in Dallas, where he just got overpaid because he was in the right place at the right time.
“With Robinson, though, he has a big deal, a long deal, and a bad deal — he has all three there. The Heat have him signed through 2026, and you just do not know what level he is going to be able to help you at from here on. He has been really bad as a shooter, and we know he can’t defend, so what is he bringing to the table?”
Robinson has been linked to some other teams recently, but no deal has materialized as of yet. The Phoenix Suns reportedly rejected a deal that would’ve sent veteran forward Jae Crowder to Miami in exchange for Robinson.
The 28-year-old is only getting 17.2 minutes per game this season. In those minutes, he’s recording 6.1 points and 2.1 rebounds per contest while only knocking down 35.6 percent of his shots from the field and 31.6 percent of his shots from beyond the arc.
Shooting is his main skill, but he hasn’t really been all that effective from downtown over the past two seasons. Since the start of last season, he’s only made 36.6 percent of his attempts from deep.
While Robinson has tried to expand his game a little by taking more shots inside the 3-point line, he hasn’t been all that effective. He also continues to struggle on defense a bit.
It’s a sad fall from grace for Robinson, who averaged 13.5 points per game on 44.6 percent shooting from deep during his first season as a consistent starter.
As for the Heat as a whole, they are currently 11-14 on the season and hit a low point of sorts on Tuesday by getting blown out at home to the lowly Detroit Pistons.
Hopefully, Robinson and the Heat will be able to turn things around soon. If not, big changes might be on the horizon.