If you want to choose the "high-paying player" who has regressed the fastest this season, the Knicks' Randall and the Heat's Duncan Robinson will become candidates, and today we will talk about Duncan Robinson. In the last game between the Heat and the Raptors, Dunro played 13 minutes off the bench, shooting 0 of 2, with 0 points, 0 rebounds, 1 assist and 1 steal.
Strus, who squeezed out Dunro's starting position, scored 23 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist and 1 steal in the same game. Some media have posted the data and salary comparison between the two, and Strus's contract is 3.42 million US dollars for 2 years and 1.67 million US dollars this season. Dunroe's contract is $90 million for 5 years and his salary this season is $15.65 million.
In the last four games, Dro has played as a substitute to see his stats: March 29 vs Kings, 15+2+1 on 5-of-8 shooting; Celtics on March 31, 5+0+0 on 2-of-5 shooting; 3 April vs Bulls on 4-of-8 for 10+2+1; April 4 vs. Raptors, 0+0+1 on 2-of-0.
Dunro has played in 76 games for the Heat this season, including 67 starts. He averaged 10.6 points, three rebounds and 1.3 assists per game, shooting 39.6 percent from the field, 36.7 percent from three-point range and 83.6 percent from the free throws. Among them, the average points per game, shooting percentage and three-point shooting rate are all new lows in the past three seasons, only better than his rookie season.
Duncan Robinson has only played 4 seasons in the NBA, but he is 28 years old. He was also an inspirational player, playing five seasons at the NCAA (2 years at Williams College and 3 years at the University of Michigan). There were not many players who could play from the NCAA Third Division to the First Division, but Dunro did it, and he received a full scholarship from Michigan.
In the 2017-18 season, Duncan Robinson averaged 9.2 points per game at the University of Michigan. Mediocre stats and talent, coupled with the age of 24, in the 2018 NBA Draft, Dunro was unattracted. The Heat gave Dunro a chance to tryout, and he seized the opportunity to hit 30 three-pointers in a row in the trial and successfully got a two-way contract.
In the summer of 2018, Dunro played in the summer league for the Heat, and the team regularized his two-way contract, signing a three-year, $3 million contract. In the 2018-19 season, Dunro spent most of his time in the development league, playing only 15 games for the Heat, averaging 3.3 points per game, shooting 39% from the field and 28.6% from three-point range.
In the 2019-20 season, Dunro played in 73 regular season games for the Heat, averaging 13.5 points per game, shooting 47% from the field and 44.6% from three-point range. He shot 46.2 percent from three-point range (237-of-513 from the field), surpassing Klay Thompson (44.4 percent) in 2017-18 and ranking first in NBA history (only 500+ shots in a single season).
In the 2020-21 season, Dunro continued to perform well, playing 72 games, all starting. He averaged 13.1 points per game and shot 43.9 percent from the field and 40.8 percent from three-point range. In the 2021 offseason, the Heat renewed dunro's contract with Dunroe for 5 years and $90 million, which is also the largest contract signed by a player in NBA history.
From 3 million in 3 years to 90 million in 5 years, in just one year, Dunroe has changed from a "cost-effective" player to a representative of "high salary and low energy". Many fans suggest that the Heat send Dunro away this summer, but it is really difficult to make such a big contract to sell!