Miami Heat: Dwyane Wade’s Struggles This Season Go Beyond Injuries
Dwyane Wade’s struggles this season go beyond simple injuries, and it’s finally beginning to take effect on the Miami Heat
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Dwyane Wade has been injured for a good part of the season, but it’s his shooting inefficiency that has negatively impacted the Miami Heat more this year.
Wade, who has missed 17 of the Heat’s 58 games this season, is working on potentially his worst efficient season of his career shooting-wise. The Heat’s star guard is only posting an effective field goal percentage of 48.5 and a total shot percentage of 53.1. Both of which would be his lowest marks since his second and rookie season, respectively.
He’s also posting is worst player efficiency rating since his rookie season (21.0).
| Season | G | MP | PER | TS% | WS/48 | VORP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003-04 | 61 | 2126 | 17.6 | .530 | .103 | 1.8 |
| 2004-05 ★ | 77 | 2974 | 23.1 | .561 | .177 | 4.8 |
| 2005-06 ★ | 75 | 2892 | 27.6 | .577 | .239 | 7.0 |
| 2006-07 ★ | 51 | 1931 | 28.9 | .583 | .219 | 5.1 |
| 2007-08 ★ | 51 | 1954 | 21.5 | .549 | .082 | 2.5 |
| 2008-09 ★ | 79 | 3048 | 30.4 | .574 | .232 | 9.7 |
| 2009-10 ★ | 77 | 2792 | 28.0 | .562 | .224 | 8.0 |
| 2010-11 ★ | 76 | 2823 | 25.6 | .581 | .218 | 5.7 |
| 2011-12 ★ | 49 | 1625 | 26.3 | .559 | .227 | 3.4 |
| 2012-13 ★ | 69 | 2391 | 24.0 | .571 | .192 | 3.5 |
| 2013-14 ★ | 54 | 1775 | 22.0 | .588 | .149 | 1.9 |
| 2014-15 ★ | 40 | 1271 | 21.0 | .531 | .078 | 1.0 |
| Career | 759 | 27602 | 25.1 | .566 | .187 | 54.2 |
Provided by Basketball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 2/28/2015.
To put Wade’s low total shot percentage in perspective, let me throw a few names and numbers at you to add some meat to simple flavor.
Of players on his own team, Luol Deng, Goran Dragic, Chris Bosh, Chris Andersen, Tyler Johnson, Henry Walker and Hassan Whiteside all have better total shot percentages that Wade this season. Albeit, some are shooting at a much lesser volume.
Eric Bledsoe, Ben McLemore, Otto Porter, George Hill and Russell Westbrook (a notorious chucker) all have better total shot percentages than Wade this season, as well.
And perhaps much of that could be attributed to the amount of three-pointers that Wade has attempted this season, because he’s shooting the 3 at 27 percent this year. But his shooting percentages, top to bottom, have taken a hit this season.
To simplify it all, you can even look at Wade’s mere shooting percentage this season. It’s the first time he’s hedged below 5o percent since 2009. If this trend remains constant for the remainder of the season, Wade would finish this season with his third worst shooting percentage of his career.
From midrange this season, Wade has been pretty average, if not bad.
He’s only shooting 36 percent this season from that range (16-24 ft). Mind you, that is his go-to shot on most nights; 31 percent of his shots this year have come from that range.
Wade is slightly better from 8-16 feet this season, but is still only shooting 44 percent from that range. In comparison, last season he shot 49 percent from there.
And, sure, you also have to take into consideration that his role has changed this season. Wade no longer has the luxury to measure his offensive strategy now that LeBron James is in Cleveland and not Miami. But, that doesn’t cover up the fact that the Heat have needed an efficient Dwyane Wade this season, and simply haven’t gotten one.
Wade also shouldn’t be given a pass because of that. There are many times this season that Wade has simply settled for contested midrange jumpers, which often times leaves us watching at home scratching our heads.
Yes, those typical possessions were OK earlier in his career, when he was shooting the midrange jumper consistently better than he’s been firing this season.
More than Heat fans have experienced in a while, Wade is simply tossing crucial offensive possessions away this season quicker this shooting efficiency can spike.
Dwyane Wade has missed roughly a third of the Heat’s season so far this year, but his numbers are even more damning and are a clear indication of what’s really hurting Miami this season. It’s only becoming more visible with the loss of Chris Bosh.
If the Miami Heat are going to have any shot at making the playoffs this season, they’re going to need a better version of Dwyane Wade than we’ve seen so far this season.
And with the consistent numbers that he’s posted this year, I’m not sure if that is even possible.
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