Getty Bam Adebayo and Dewayne Dedmon of the Miami Heat.
Fans have been waiting for the Miami Heat to make some sort of trade all season. Well, on Tuesday morning, they finally got their wish.
The Athletic’s Shams Charania was first to report that the Heat traded center Dewayne Dedmon to the San Antonio Spurs along with a second-round draft pick, on February 6.
The Miami Heat are trading center Dewayne Dedmon and a second-round pick to the San Antonio Spurs, sources tell @TheAthletic @Stadium.
A deal centered around Dedmon was something that many beat writers had been speculating about for months. Miami was rumored to be looking to avoid the luxury tax and moving off of the 10-year-veteran’s $4.7 million salary was an easy way to cut costs.
Dewayne Dedmon’s Unceremonious Exit From Heat
On top of Dedmon’s expendable contract, he’d also fallen out of favor with Heat Head Coach Erik Spoelstra. Before Friday’s blowout loss to Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks, the big man hadn’t seen any playing time since the two got into a heated exchange on the sidelines back on January 10.
The spat between the coach and Dedmon, in the win over the Oklahoma City Thunder ended when the center slapped a massage therapy gun onto the court and wound up being ejected from the game.
The following day in article for the Sun Sentinel, Ira Winderman hinted that the backup big’s days in South Beach could be numbered.
“In many ways, the Heat had moved on from Dewayne Dedmon even before Tuesday night’s words with Erik Spoelstra and subsequent ejection,” Winderman wrote.
He cited Spoelstra’s then recent favoring of rookie-center Orlando Robinson as writing on the wall for a potential Dedmon exit. Robinson got the start against in that win over the Thunder, as regular-starter Bam Adebayo was sidelined with a wrist injury.
Widerman then went into detail about what would have to happen in order for Miami to move on from the veteran center.
“Dewayne is not trade eligible until Sunday (January 15), and the Heat cannot afford to eat his salary. What the Heat have to do is find a trade partner who can send less back in salary, so the Heat then can shift Orlando from his two-way contract and still remain below the luxury tax,” he explained.
Dedmon played a 11.7 minutes in each of his 30 games for the Heat this season. He averaged 5.7 points, 3.6 rebounds, and 0.5 assists, while shooting 49.6% from the field and 29.7% from deep.
Heat ‘Willing to Listen’ to Offers for Max Strus: Report
Miami may not be done making trades ahead of the February 9 NBA Trade Deadline. According to Barry Jackson and Anthony Chiang of the Miami Herald, the Heat are “willing to listen” to offers for Max Strus.
“According to a source, the Heat also has received trade calls on Max Strus, who will be a free agent this summer,” Jackson and Chiang reported. “The Heat has interest in re-signing Strus this summer but is willing to listen to offers on most players on the roster.”
Strus, who is in the final year of his contract, has appeared in 52 of Miami’s 54 games this season. He averages 12.5 points, 3.6 rebounds, and 2.1 assists, while shooting 40.4% overall and 34.3% from 3-point range.