Justise Winslow has, somewhat quietly, missed the Miami Heat’s last eight games while recovering from a left wrist injury he initially tried to play through.
And kind of like the extent of his injury, his timetable for return remains unknown, per the Palm Beach Post‘s Anthony Chiang:
We asked Erik Spoelstra this exact question before Monday’s game. So I’ll let coach answer this question for you.
“No,” Spoelstra said when asked if Winslow’s injury is worse than he anticipated. “We didn’t necessarily know, but it’s in a tough area. And playing through it was aggravating it. It definitely was not getting better. So he’s been able to take care of that with rest. It’s still not where he wants it to be. But some areas take a little bit longer. The wrist, there are a lot of moving parts to that.”
Spoelstra isn’t wrong, especially when it comes to Winslow’s left wrist. Winslow is a lefty and was really struggling to shoot the ball. Winslow was shooting 33.1 percent from the field and 21.4 percent from three before deciding to take time off to allow the injury to heal. Spoelstra and Winslow won’t blame those struggles on the wrist injury, but it’s hard to believe that it didn’t impact those shooting numbers at all.
Winslow doesn’t have a strong jumper to begin with, so if the wrist injury is impacting his form and efficiency, it’s best to slow-play his recovery. Plus, the Heat don’t figure to compete for anything special this year. Keeping him on the sidelines ensures they rack up a few extra losses, which will be valuable when the draft lottery rolls around.
Of course, this season is also about seeing what the Heat’s kidlets can do on their own. The team needs to see how he operates, from a long-term perspective, next to Tyler Johnson, Josh Richardson and Hassan Whiteside. So his absence isn’t ideal from a development standpoint.
Still, Winslow is just 20 years old. There’s no need to rush him back if playoff hopes aren’t on the line. It’s more important to the Heat that he get right, and stay right.
