The pure point guard, in quotes, was the dominant point guard archetype for decades in the NBA. A pure or traditional point guard seeks to pass before shooting and only shoots when necessary. John Stockton, Steve Nash, Rajon Rondo and Jason Kidd fit this profile.
The Heat haven’t had many traditional point guards leading the team. ’90s Heat point guard Tim Hardaway was one of the first point guards to score first. Mario Chalmers was the technical point guard during the Heatles era, but he was more of a sharpshooter than a playmaker, and Goran Dragic was another assassin to score first.
Kyle Lowry was the last pure point guard the Heat had at the helm. Say what you will about Lowry, but no one can deny that the Lowry era was a fruitful one. After clinching the top seed in the East, reaching the 2022 Eastern Conference Finals and making an improbable run to the 2023 Finals, there was no denying that the old-school, throw-the-rock-first point guard game was the key to Miami’s run.
While those types of point guards are hard to come by these days (most point guards, in general, are primarily about scoring these days), the Heat had an opportunity to get two pure point guards this offseason, but the Phoenix Suns beat them to it.
