It’s games like this that remind me that I shouldn’t be so quick to give up on players, even when they play like total busts, as Justise Winslow did last season. His win-shares were negative last year, the team was 4-14 when he played, and his injury might have been a blessing in the skies for the Heat, who went on to almost make the playoffs.
But now I’m looking slightly foolish for being so pessimistic. Winslow went 4-of-4 from the three-point planet this game and is shooting 38% on threes this season. If those numbers aren’t just a mirage caused by small sample size and are actually sustainable, then it’s fair to say that Justise Winslow is a serviceable “3 and D” player RIGHT NOW. With the 10th pick, you kind of hope that you get more than just a role-player, but it’s also late enough in the lottery where you just really, really hope you didn’t draft a big busterooni. With the way Winslow is playing right now, I’d say he’s not a busterooni even though I kinda want him to be.