Time For Justise

By: JJ Lanier

TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services

There are a lot of great things to love about the NBA free agency period, such as seeing which players end up where and for how much.

This year has been extremely interesting in that regard. One of the things that I always look forward is the aftermath once all the dust has settled. For all those teams that make a big splash and get the guys they’re looking for there are those teams that miss out on their targets and are left with a drastically different team than the previous year.

If Miami’s fortunes so far are any indication what the rest of the summer will hold, they need Justise Winslow to step up and quick.

I fully admit that when it comes to Winslow all objectivity is thrown out the window. In my 30 odd years of being Duke fan, he is probably my favorite player ever to have come through the program.

I equate his game to that of a Walking Dead episode. For ninety percent of the game everything is pretty much status quo. But, you spend the remaining ten percent jumping around, yelling obscenities at the television because you just witnessed something incredible. I’ve seen him make the “LeBron” block more than once.

Like most rookies, Winslow had an up and down inaugural season. The flashes of brilliance were fewer and farther between than during his time at Duke, but they happened enough to give you a glimpse of his potential, mostly on the defensive end.

With Luol Deng and Joe Johnson already signing with other teams, and as right now there being a very realistic possibility that Dwyane Wade may be leaving, a lot is going to fall on young Justise’s shoulders.

As I mentioned, defensively he is in good shape. Spoelstra almost went to Winslow exclusively as the Heat’s primary defender in the playoffs, with mostly positive results. Offensively, well that’s a whole different story.

His ball handling skills remind me of something you would see at a middle school camp which would be an even more generous comparison when referring to his jump shot. He is currently much more of a slasher, but his progression outside of 5 feet from the rim will be integral in Miami’s success.

That’s not to say he’s going to be their main perimeter threat. Goran Dragic and Josh Richardson will be carrying the load in that department, but Winslow will have to develop a respectable jumper at the very least.

During these same playoff games where he was excelling on the defensive end, he was killing his team when they had the ball. Toronto would basically leave him alone and play Miami five on four. That can’t happen this upcoming season.

I have no doubt that Winslow will eventually get to where needs to be. He’s a great kid who from everything I’ve seen and read has an excellent work ethic and absolutely hates to fail.

The edge that he plays with on the court is one that won’t let him be anything but successful.

The Heat were always going to lean heavily on their younger players next year, but with the exodus of free agents and Bosh’s health in question, the players I’ve already mentioned, along with Hassan Whiteside, will have to shorten their learning curve and become major contributors.

Miami thought Lady Luck was on their side when Winslow fell to them with the 10th pick in last year’s draft. Next year it’s up to him to show just how lucky they were.