When Goran Dragić underwent knee surgery, Justise Winslow became the Miami HEAT's starting point guard. Now in the midst of one of the best stretches of his career, Winslow sat down with HEAT.com before New Year's to discuss the road to get here and what is going so well in his new role.

It’s been about 15 days since you became the team’s starting point guard. Has this been the best 15 days of your career?

Yes and no. Just from an individual growth standpoint it’s been the most on-court growth in these 15 days. But there’s been other days where I’m having a bad game but it’s still growth. This is good growth. This is blooming and blossoming before people’s eyes. Definitely my best 15 days from an individual stretch, but we’re also winning. I’m pretty good with that.

Not to dampen the mood by reminding you of times that weren’t so good, but calling back to your injury-riddled second season, are you basically in the complete opposite headspace now?



That year was tough. Started with wrist injuries. I was actually shooting the ball pretty well and had that so I had to kind of change things. Then I got hurt (shoulder). Definitely a complete 180 since then. I’m just proud of myself. What I went through wasn’t easy, just being hurt that early in your career.



It’s part of my journey. I don’t run from it. I don’t hide from it. It is what it is. I wasn’t playing great. I was down on myself. I wouldn’t say I stopped believing but there were times when I was questioning my place in this league. Head down, keep grinding. That’s been my motto and I’m sticking to it.



Around that time I remember you seeming a little frustrated with being asked so much about your shot and your injuries. So you had said you had let the outside reactions get to you a little bit, so you got off social media a bit. Since then do you think you’ve improved at handling the noise?





I was beginning to be OK with the noise around this time last year, starting to figure out ways for me to handle it. Not even staying positive, but just how am I going to handle it. I could be playing great but the next game I don’t have the best fourth quarter and not play to my game, there’s still going to be noise. It’s just learning to deal with it, the good and the bad. Right now, I just have to stay even keeled and keep getting better.I didn’t get rid of them, I just stopped playing. I was back home and I wanted to maximize my time home and just be with people, and not necessarily be glued to a TV. JRich and Bam are all over the games, but I don’t really play anymore.Yeah, I’m retired.[laughs]

You have long talked about working to improve your efficiency, especially in high-value zones on the floor. Your three ball started to come along last year in fairly low volume, and now you seem to have built on that with more shots and similar percentages (37 percent on six attempts per 100 possessions). How have you gotten to this point?



It was a balance of doing what’s comfortable for me and learning what’s the most efficient way to shoot. Working with [shooting coach Rob Fodor] and learning the mechanics and the flow behind how to shoot is something that, I don’t want to say I overthought, but I have [an active mind] and I was kind of too detailed about it rather than making it natural to me.



Similar to your shooting improvements last year, you’ve had an uptick in the paint over the past month (62.2 percent in the restricted area in December). What work have you done there and why might it be encouraging moving forward?



Just continuing to get better. Little things here and there I’m starting to pick up. I don’t think I was as bad as a finisher as I was showing, but I definitely wasn’t a great finisher. It’s going to continue to evolve as I figure out my type of finishes. Again, not trying to be LeBron James or Kyrie Irving or James Harden. Also watching their games and taking different things from them, but doing finishes that fit me and fit my playing style was a big key.



That’s shown up on film, anecdotally at least, where you’re taking more of the same shots, whereas before it was more…



…random?



Right, always something different.



For sure. I think that’s what I’ve noticed about JRich. He’s just kind of ‘getting to your spots’ as guys like to say. He gets to his mid-range spot. He gets to his lefty scoop layup shot. He has his shots that he gets to and his spot on the floor that he gets to. Now, dealing with injuries and playing time and now having the ball, I’m just starting to figure out my spots.



It’s interesting how much your upticks in efficiency have been tied to the ball being in your hands, last year when you became the backup point guard and this year when you became the starter. It doesn’t seem that it should correlate so closely, that you should be shooting better just because you have the ball in your hands, but how much of the reason is just that?



I’ve always liked to have the ball in my hands. I felt comfortable. Duke was the first time I was off the ball. I definitely feel comfortable just feeling more rhythm and in the flow of the game when I am handling it a little more.



Just the timing though, it seems if you were becoming a better shooter, purely from a skill perspective, whether or not you had the ball in your hands, that would show up either way?



Yeah, but it’s different when you’re shooting the ball and you’re in the corner and that’s the one or two times you touch it versus bringing the ball up and feeling the ball and passing it. Feel for the ball is a big part of the game. It’s hard to come off the bench and just jack up your first three. I can do that, but that’s elite guys that can come right off the bench and knock it down. That’s an elite skill.



We spoke the other day about how Toronto was playing up, going over screens and pressuring you. Now you just played Cleveland and they’re back off you again like teams in the past. How did you think you handled that coverage?



Just staying aggressive. I wanted to get to the basket early, which I did knocking down a floater. That felt good. Taking what they give me and not overthink it. I don’t want to continue to settle if my shot is not on, and it wasn’t on [against Cleveland]. They felt good, the three balls, but they weren’t falling so I was like, ‘Just go to the basket’.



With how much the team is trying to avoid mid-range jumpers, in general, are you supposed to take those?



Yes and no. Time and score, where we’re at in the game [matters]. How many times are they going under? If we keep running pick-and-rolls and they go under, eventually you either have to get off it or shoot it. You have to be a player. That’s something that I’ve realized. I understand the analytics and our approach as a team to the game, but for me I just have to be myself and be a player.



Dwyane had some fairly nice things to say about you after the Cleveland game…



The retire thing?



Right. [Wade had said that he can retire now that Winslow is playing so well.] When you hear that, what did it make you think?



I don’t want him to retire, man.



To be honest, he’s just a great voice for this team in general. And for me, he sees the drive and the desire to be great for me. I’ve just been everywhere he’s been. Whether it’s a family event he’s having, or a sponsor event. I’m just trying to soak it all in. I’d rather him not retire, but One Last Dance, so…



It’s surreal. Even to this day. I think it’s because I’ve played with him but I was telling someone that he’s the second or third best shooting guard of all time. Sometimes I just forget that and think, ‘Oh, he’s just old as ****.’ That sort of thing. But he can still take over games. He can still find his rhythm. He’s so personable and we’re close now, it’s almost just a big brother now. It’s not D-Wade giving back, it’s just my older brother looking out for me.



Presumably he’s not just throwing that out. It’s not like Michael or Kobe in their last seasons were saying that about random guys on their team. He picked his time to say that.



I think he understands how I can impact winning and a winning culture, and how I can make other guys around me better as well. He’s seen my potential and he’s seen it for a while, but he’s needed me to realize it and bring it out in myself before he could help me even more. I had to take that next step. I’m not even sure if I’ve completely taken that next step yet, but I just have to continue to get better.



That’s the next thing, it really has been only 15 days at least in this specific role. How do you see this season playing out, with teams offering different coverages and game-planning for you…



[Josh Richardson joins the conversation and imitates Winslow: “I love JRich. He’s my favorite teammate. He’s the best. And he’s the best shooter I ever played with.”]



[laughs]. I’m sure things are going to get different. I think it’ll honestly help me. I was thrown off by guys not guarding me. That was weird. That was the first time in my life. I had to figure out how to be successful in that. When guys try to get into me more and pressure me more, I think that’ll help me get better. Probably for two out of my three and a half years, guys weren’t guarding me. Now they are. It feels more natural.