Call me an optimist, but I really, truly, and without sarcasm, thought that Luke Babbitt would be a factor for the Heat is this year. An offensive factor. A 10 ppg factor. The Heat needed shooting, so they went out and got a guy who can shoot. A guy who would be in line for decent minutes, considering the perimeter ineptitude of many of his new teammates.
The Heat have been trying to make it work, starting him in 19 games this season, but it hasn’t been working. I don’t know what the deal is. He showed some stuff with the Pelicans (especially against the Heat, which is probs a big reason why they signed him), but the only thing he’s showing right now is 4.2 ppg on 35 percent shooting. I’m still hopeful that he’ll pick it up and start performing better. That’s the Babbitt homer in me talking, the realist in me knows that he’s never been that good, so it’s unreasonable to think that he will suddenly become good for no reason. 16 points tonight is “good”, sure, but he’s not going to have Jabari Parker guarding him every game.