Former Miami Heat big man Dewayne Dedmon has found a new home.
The Heat sent Dedmon and a 2028 second-round pick to the San Antonio Spurs for cash considerations just prior to the February 9 trade deadline, and San Antonio subsequently released him. The veteran big didn’t stay on the market for long.
As first reported by ESPN insider Adrian Wojnarowski, Dedmon is signing with the Philadelphia 76ers “for the rest of the season.” Dedmon will give the Sixers some depth and insurance behind starting center Joel Embiid, and he’ll join a squad that has made the playoffs each of the past five seasons.
Dedmon spent the last three seasons in Miami, primarily in a reserve role. He played in 113 games (15 starts), and averaged 6.2 points, 5.1 rebounds and 0.5 blocks while with the Heat (stats from Basketball Reference).
Heat Could Add Another Big to Replace Dedmon Soon
“The Dedmon trade put the Heat nearly $5 million below the luxury tax threshold,” The Miami Herald’s Anthony Chiang wrote on February 13. “This means Miami can use its $4.1 million bi-annual exception or the remaining $4 million of its midlevel exception to sign players in the coming days and weeks without entering the tax.”
Miami has been rumored to have interest in several players on the buyout market, including veteran center Serge Ibaka, but it remains unclear how the team will allocate the remaining two spots on its roster.
One option for the Heat could be to convert rookie big Orlando Robinson’s two-way contract to a standard deal, but Robinson has only played three games in the month of February due to a fractured thumb, so he remains a question mark, as does Omer Yurtseven, who is expected to make his debut sometime after the All-Star break after having surgery on his left ankle in November.
With two of their backup bigs still recovering from injuries, adding a center like Ibaka seems more and more likely.
Guard Jamaree Bouyea Coming Off Career Game for Heat
Steal on one end, bucket on the other 👌
Jamaree’s up to double figures and keeps adding to his career high
With Dedmon gone, Miami signed G League standout Jamaree Bouyea to a 10-day contract, and the young guard has played better with each opportunity. Over his first two games, Bouyea played a total of 21 minutes and he scored 2.0 points, also nabbing a block and a steal. He had three turnovers over his first two games, which is to be expected when young players make the transition from G League to NBA play.
In his third game, against the Denver Nuggets on February 13, Bouyea broke out a bit, playing 28 minutes with guards Kyle Lowry and Tyler Herro both out. He scored 10 points, while dishing out 3.0 assists, grabbing 3.0 steals and hauling in 2.0 rebounds. He also committed just one turnover all game.
“It’s tough,” Heat forward-guard Max Strus said about Bouyea, via Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel. “You’re coming up here from the G League and being asked to play and help on a team that’s trying to make a little run here. So we asked a lot of him and we wanted him to be more aggressive. We wanted him to be himself. We know he’s a heck of a player, so he stepped up and showed what he was capable of.”
If Bouyea can continue to improve, it will be interesting to see how long he sticks around. Either way, Miami is set to make some roster moves soon.
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Former Heat Big Signing With Eastern Conference Powerhouse