Point guard has always been the position of choice for the Heat’s Justise Winslow

Justise Winslow had already placed his stamp on the game.

By the final possession of the high school league championship game his freshman year in Texas in 2011, he had 42 points and 17 rebounds. With his St. John’s School team needing a basket for victory, a play was designed for Winslow to be the hero.

Instead, he drew three defenders and made a pass to his brother Joshua, who scored the winning layup. It was at that moment St. John’s coach Harold Baber knew Winslow, who is entering his fifth season with the Miami Heat, was a destined playmaker.

“He could’ve easily forced up a shot and nobody would’ve been mad at him but he dishes the ball to his brother and his brother lays it in at the buzzer and we win,” Baber said. “He just gets it. Nobody would’ve been mad at him for taking a shot with three people on him. He found a better way because there was a better way out there. That says a lot about him.”

On Sunday, Winslow strongly said he wants to continue playing point guard after being the replacement last year when starter Goran Dragic missed two months because of injury. Winslow was drafted as a small forward in 2015 and has since played all five positions.

Now, he wants just one label.

“I’m looking forward to playing point guard this season,” Winslow said before hosting 25 underprivileged youth aboard a Carnival cruise ship. “We’ll see how that works out. That’s my plan, to play point guard and be the point guard for this team. Everyone has ideas or what they want their role to be. For most people, it never fits what they want. Everyone always wants a bigger role whatever team they’re on. Everyone wants the ball late in the game. Everyone wants the ball in their hands. Everyone wants every play to run through them. That’s just how we’re built as basketball players.”

Winslow had the best season of his career, averaging 12.6 points, 5.4 rebounds and 4.3 assists while filling in for Dragic. The Heat have yet to decide how they plan to utilize him but Winslow clearly wants the ball in his hands. It is one of the many things the coaching staff has to assess once training camp opens Oct. 1 at Keiser University in West Palm Beach.

“That’s how I’m going into the season,” Winslow said. “I want to play point guard. Me and Goran have played together last year, so I’m sure we’ll figure it out.”

In April, Heat team president Pat Riley reiterated Dragic was the starting point guard. Winslow will almost certainly have to accept the backup role if coach Erik Spoelstra designates him to that position. Part of the reason for Winslow’s bouts with inconsistency throughout his career has been the inability to find a permanent spot. He has jockeyed from both backcourt and frontcourt slots and even played center in the first round of the 2018 Eastern Conference playoffs against the Philadelphia 76ers.

Justise Winslow dribbles past Raptors guard Danny Green during a regular-season game in April. Winslow, who filled in at point guard while Goran Dragic was injured, had the best season of his career, averaging 12.6 points, 5.4 rebounds and 4.3 assists. (John E. Sokolowski / USA Today)

Spoelstra has often talked about taking advantage of Winslow’s versatility because he excels at so many things.

“He’s a basketball player,” Spoelstra said at his season-ending press conference in April. “Justise Winslow at his best is out there impacting all facets of the game. I would prefer not to label him as a specific position. The more versatile he can be, the more places you can plug him in, the more he can maximize himself to help impact winning. When he fills up the floor game part of the stat box score, I think is when he’s at his best — more rebounds, more assists, more hockey assists, more deflections, setting up the offense. … I just think of him as an all-around basketball player is where I have him, and I want him to really embrace that as well.”

Winslow played point guard all four years in high school. Although he was among the team’s tallest players, the coaching staff placed him there because of his ability to see over defenses and get others involved. He was moved off the ball his one season at Duke. The Blue Devils already had Tyus Jones, also a first-round pick in 2015, to run the offense.

Still, Winslow played well enough at small forward for the Heat to select him at No. 10. Many draft experts considered him a steal after he helped lead the Blue Devils to the NCAA championship before forgoing his final three years of eligibility.

Even with the success, Winslow always felt most comfortable at point guard.

“I mean, in high school he could’ve averaged 40 or 50 points and we would’ve never won any championships,” Baber said. “He trusted his teammates. They’re obviously not on the level of Miami Heat players but even at that level he trusted them. I think that’s an uncanny type of deal when you have the belief guys are going to make plays.”

Grizzlies) pictured on the @NikeEYB circuit. They would later help form the chemistry to help win the last Duke national title. pic.twitter.com/UX5wc19bSi

— Blue Devil Nation (@BlueDevilNation) September 9, 2019

Last week Winslow returned to his high school to deliver a speech to the student body. Before the address, he and Baber spoke about returning to what he feels is his ideal position. Winslow prefers to the role of backup point guard over starting small forward.

“I said, `Jus, I don’t think it’s any coincidence that last year you had your best season in the NBA and you played point guard most of the time,”‘ Baber said. “It resonates to me that he says, ‘I’d rather come off the bench and play point guard than do anything else.’ He’ll do anything you ask him to do. That’s just his way of saying this is where I think I should be.”‘

Critics say Winslow lacks the ball-handling skills needed for a consistent playmaker. His outside shooting has also been a concern. Last year, however, he did make a career-high 96 3-pointers, shooting 37 percent.

“He’s long, athletic and looks the part as a prototypical small forward but I’ve never said he could play point guard,” said one Western Conference scout, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. “He’s not a poor man’s LeBron James or Scottie Pippen. He doesn’t shoot it well from any of the stripes. I just don’t see him as a point guard. Maybe in an emergency situation. He needs improvement in other areas.”

Winslow thinks otherwise. He feels he has made all the necessary adjustments in the offseason. This is his chance to prove it.

“I just think for what our team wants out of that position, somebody who is a great communicator, somebody who is vocal, somebody who gets guys in their spots. I feel like my playmaking and my ability to take care of the ball has gotten a lot better, as well,” Winslow said. “That’s kind of what our organization sees in that position and I think I pretty much embody all that. So that’s why I think I’m a good fit.”

(Top photo: David Butler II / USA Today)