The Whiteboard: Goran Dragic is the X-factor the 2020 NBA Finals needed

The Whiteboard is The Step Back’s daily basketball newsletter, covering the NBA, WNBA and more. Subscribe here to get it delivered to you via email each morning.

For as high quality as the basketball has been inside the Orlando bubble, the 2020 NBA Finals have been a serious letdown.

In the most 2020 fashion imaginable, a fresh and intriguing matchup between the powerhouse Los Angeles Lakers and the plucky underdog Miami Heat was ruined before Game 1 had even finished. Goran Dragic sat out the entire second half with a left plantar fascia tear and hasn’t returned to the series, while Bam Adebayo exited the contest with a shoulder strain that sidelined him for Games 2 and 3 as well.

Jimmy Butler’s dazzling 40-point triple-double in Game 3 gave the Heat hope and breathed some much-needed life into the series, but barring lightning striking twice, thrice or four times in the same place, Friday’s Game 5 feels like the last game of professional basketball we’ll be able to enjoy for quite awhile. We probably shouldn’t write Miami’s obituary just yet, but let’s be honest: Does anyone have them winning Game 5, let alone a potential Game 6 or Game 7?

In that frame of mind, and to acknowledge the inevitable, we’d be remiss if we did not take a moment to lament how much fun this series might have been with a healthy Dragic on the court.

For starters, Goran Dragic is one of the nicest human beings on the face of planet earth — NBA or otherwise. That doesn’t matter much to the X’s and O’s of this series, but it does matter that he toiled away with the Phoenix Suns for years and was labeled as the spiritual successor to Steve Nash, only to be dumped for Aaron-freaking-Brooks. It matters that he returned to Phoenix, gave the Suns their only winning season post-Nash (complete with All-NBA honors and the league’s Most Improved Player award) … and was again betrayed by the Suns, this time in the form of being stuck in the corner as a small forward alongside Eric Bledsoe and Isaiah Thomas.

Dragic finally got his out, joining a competent Heat franchise with a winning culture, and though injuries and natural regression had him falling off people’s radars left and right, his resurgence during this playoff run at the age of 34 was an incredible thing to witness.

So of course 2020 twisted the knife and took away the first, long-awaited Finals appearance of Gogi’s career before it ever truly began. The look of pain on his face trying to will himself to play in this series should be one of the lasting images of these Finals no matter where one’s rooting interest lies.

But the sting of his absence extends far beyond simply feeling sorry for a nice guy.

That’s not to say the outcome would’ve been different if he played, necessarily; the Lakers were heavy favorites before Game 1 even began. Maybe “LA in 5” was inevitable either way. But it’s unfortunate we never got to find out, and make no mistake about it: Dragic would’ve tested this stifling defense in ways no one on Miami’s roster except perhaps Butler could in this matchup.

On the court, Gogi is one of the Heat’s primary penetrators and offensive creators. Though he’s only averaged 4.7 assists per game in this postseason, his 13.8 drives per game rank 10th in the entire league and second to only Butler on the Heat. Dragic’s forays to the basket have resulted in points 53.2 percent of the time, and his assist percentage of 10.5 on those drives ranks just outside the top 10 in the NBA playoffs as well.

In addition to the attack threat he poses off the dribble, Dragic’s scoring punch is clearly missed as well. Heading into the Finals, the Dragon was Miami’s leading playoff scorer at 20.9 points per game on tidy .452/.363/.814 shooting splits. The lack of offensive firepower has been apparent without him and Bam.

Tyler Herro has done what he can to fill the void with 17.3 points per game in his first Finals experience, but he’s shooting a dismal 37.9 percent from the floor, canning only 32 percent of his 3s and is only averaging 2.8 assists per game as one of the team’s lead ball-handlers. Between all of that and his defense, it’s no wonder he’s been a team-worst minus-48 in his 147 minutes on the floor.

Kendrick Nunn, the First Team All-Rookie selection who was replaced by Dragic in the starting lineup once the playoffs began, hasn’t done much with his opportunity either. While it’s a tough ask for a rookie who’s seen very little postseason action to suddenly jump back in and produce on this stage against this Lakers defense, Nunn’s 10.3 points on 46.3 percent shooting are undermined by his troublesome shot selection, defensive mistakes and erratic overall play.

Leading up to the Finals, the Heat were averaging 112.2 points and 25.1 assists per game, which ranked fifth and third among all playoff teams, respectively, with an offensive rating of 113.4. In this series, those numbers have dropped to 105.8 points and 23.8 assists per game with an offensive rating of 111.6.

The Lakers’ stifling defense deserves a ton of credit, and those numbers should honestly look worse considering the absences of both Dragic and Adebayo, but there’s no question the Heat’s offense has lacked substantial firepower without a crafty initiator like the Dragon.

The games in the Orlando bubble have been jam-packed with thrilling battles, epic comebacks and feel-good stories galore (remember the Phoenix Suns going 8-0?). Unfortunately, aside from Butler’s Game 3 performance that jumpstarted this series’ flatlining pulse, the Finals have been a depressingly one-sided and predictable snooze-fest. LeBron James has more than earned one easy Finals matchup in his lifetime, and AD winning his first title is a great story, but none of it is particularly interesting when the games have lacked real suspense or intrigue.

Dragic, being the sower of destruction and chaos that he’s been to opposing defenses throughout the NBA bubble, might have injected some much-needed excitement and balance into this series. If the Lakers had continued to dominate their opposition against a fully healthy Heat team, so be it. But the lack of enthusiasm in these Finals lies not so much in Miami falling short of “greatest underdog champions ever” as it does in the Lakers never really being tested in this entire postseason.

#OtherContent

As LeBron James cruises toward another ring, who are the players he’s dominated the most throughout his Hall-of-Fame career?

The Finals have been largely unexciting, but we shouldn’t lose sight of what a success story the NBA bubble was overall.

The Ringer’s Jonathan Tjarks makes the interesting case that LeBron James shouldn’t try and follow in Michael Jordan’s footsteps, but instead, should attempt to emanate another Lakers legend in Jerry West.