Duncan Robinson spent his first seven NBA seasons with the Heat. He’ll return to Miami for the first time in a different uniform when the Pistons visit on Saturday night.
“I’m excited. It is definitely going to be a fun experience, but weird. I have so much rhythm and flow of being on the other side of that building, it’s going to be interesting,” Robinson told The Detroit News’ Coty Davis . “But, I am excited, especially the chance to go in there with this group, go out there and try to get a win.”
Robinson wound up in Detroit as part of a sign-and-trade at the beginning of free agency. Robinson terminated his contract with the Heat in order to become a free agent. Had Robinson opted into the final year of his deal, his $19.9MM salary for ’25/26 would have become partially guaranteed for $9.9MM, which would have forced Miami to decide whether to guarantee his remaining $10MM or waive him in order to create $10MM in savings.
He signed a three-year, $48MM deal with Detroit. It’s only partially guaranteed in year two and non-guaranteed in year three.
Robinson has started all 19 games with the Pistons, averaging 12.3 points per contest. He’s shooting 40.6% from beyond the arc but feels he can do more.
“We are still working through some things, building synergy on both sides of the ball,” Robinson said. “We have a system on both ends that we are trying to play to. The goal throughout the season is to optimize that. From an individual standpoint, continue to become more comfortable and aggressive and find my spots.”
Robinson appreciates the time he spent in the Heat organization.
“Heat culture is all about maximizing every day, putting your best foot forward and taking advantage of every opportunity,” Robinson said. “Pat (Riley) is a legend himself. I was a beneficiary of the stability of that organization and learned a lot.”
The Heat’s coach still keeps close tabs on his former player.
“It’ll be strange,” Erik Spoelstra said, per Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel . “I catch a lot of their games and I’ve watched their highlights a lot. I still root for Duncan. He’s one of the great success stories from our building. I wrote him a note after the deal, and I’ve told him this before, but I really do think his story is so inspirational that eventually it can be a book, a movie.”
Robinson holds the Heat franchise record with 1,202 made three-pointers after initially joining the team as an undrafted free agent.
“That just doesn’t happen, where you come from Division III, then transfer, be a sixth man (at Michigan), and then to come into the league and get to 1,000 threes as quickly as he did and break our record for threes, and then he’s going to continue to go,” Spoelstra said. “That’s just a credit to his fortitude and grit, just an amazing super power. So I do root for him, but it looks strange, him in that uniform, it really does.”
The franchise will show a Robinson tribute video prior to the contest, Anthony Chiang of the Miami Herald tweets .