The NBA trade deadline has come and gone and the Miami Heat find themselves bearing a striking resemblance to the team they were before the league’s deal-making frenzy. In the end, the only trade that team president Pat Riley and VP/GM Andy Elisburg were able to pull off was the dumping of veteran pivot Dewayne Dedmon.
On Tuesday, the team made official Dedmon’s move to the San Antonio Spurs in exchange for cash considerations. In doing so, Riley and Co. also relinquished a future second-round pick as compensation for taking on the big man’s contract.
While his one-way ticket out of South Beach is as good as redeemed at this point, Dedmon probably shouldn’t unpack his luggage just yet. As expected, he already looks to be on the hunt for another new hardwood home.
As reported by The Athletic’s Shams Charania just ahead of the deadline, the Spurs are waiving Dedmon. Once he clears waivers, he’ll be free to sign with another team.
Dewayne Dedmon’s Heat Tenure Ended in Underwhelming Fashion
When Dedmon originally joined the Heat down the stretch of the 2020-21 season, it didn’t take him long to lock down a spot in head coach Erik Spoelstra’s rotation. He logged a double-double in just 15 minutes of play during his second-ever game with the franchise. And over 16 total games, he averaged 7.1 points and 5.4 boards while hitting on better than 70% of his shot attempts.
As a result of his strong play, the Heat rewarded Dedmon with a veteran’s minimum contract for the following season. He continued to perform when called upon in 2021-22, too, logging a 6.3-5.8 line and shooting 56.6% from the floor and better than 40% from deep.
Consequently, he received a two-year pact worth over $9 million last summer.
Alas, his numbers had dropped across the board this season (to 5.7-3.6 with 49.6-29.7 shooting splits). Meanwhile, he lost his spot in Spoelstra’s rotation in late December.
Just a few weeks later — during a January 10 bout with the Oklahoma City Thunder — his frustrations bubbled to the surface in a big, bad way. After getting into it with Spoelstra on the Heat bench, Dedmon slapped a massage gun onto the court, a move which resulted in his immediate ejection.
Spoelstra later described the incident as “unacceptable,” and Dedmon received a one-game suspension for conduct detrimental to the team.
Heat Namechecked Alongside NBA’s Trade-Deadline Losers
At the conclusion of every deal-making period, fans and pundits alike rush to render judgment on what each team did or didn’t do. Unsurprisingly, the Heat — who have gone from narrowly missing out on a Finals berth last season to hovering just over the .500 mark this season — aren’t faring well in these exercises.
Here’s a good summary of the general feeling on what Miami did, via SB Nation‘s Winners/Losers feature:
The Heat technically did make a move by trading Dwayne Dedmon for a second round pick. Who cares. Miami has an up-and-down season mostly because of injuries, but they’ve been playing better ball lately. Still, the Heat needed a serious addition if they want to compete with the Celtics, 76ers, and Bucks in the East, and it didn’t happen.
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Just-Traded Former Heat Pivot Already Seeking New Gig: Report