The Miami Heat make another addition as the push for the playoffs begins.
After making a run to the NBA Finals a season ago, the Miami Heat haven’t exactly looked like that same team. They’ve had their moments in the sun in flashes, but haven’t consistently been able to channel the greatness that they found in the NBA’s restart bubble during the summer.
That helped lead to the Heat shaking up the roster at the NBA Trade Deadline in which they acquired Trevor Ariza, Nemanja Bjelica, and Victor Oladipo. Additionally, the Heat just signed Dewayne Dedmon in an attempt to solidify the team’s frontcourt depth.
Dedmon hasn’t played at all this season and last appeared in an NBA contest as a member of the Sacramento Kings last season, in which he averaged five points and five rebounds on 40 percent shooting from the field.
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Where Dedmon could help the Miami Heat
Even though he likely won’t be asked to play a vital role for the Heat, especially not initially, there are a few areas that he’ll immediately help this team. For one, the Heat will certainly welcome Dedmon’s size.
At 7-foot, Dedmon will give the Heat size that they simply don’t have on the roster at the moment. Dedmon will give Miami a true 7-footer and a big that could help against other contenders in the playoffs that play much bigger – which is exactly why the Heat struggled so much with the Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA Finals.
Of course, this isn’t to say that Dedmon will be able to shut down any team with a difference-making big, but it gives the Heat the option of upsizing if they would so choose to in any given game or series.
At the same rate, Dedmon’s presence on the roster will allow Miami to play Bam Adebayo at the power forward or even play Dedmon ahead of the younger Precious Achiuwa, who has struggled as of late. He gives the Heat another body that they could throw on the floor to buy a few more minutes of rest for Bam, essentially.
It’s tough to gauge exactly what version of Dewayne Dedmon the Heat is going to get once he’s introduced into the lineup and rotation, but you can bet that this franchise will be in a position to exhaust all they can out of the big man.
With all the additions and adjustments that the Heat has made over the last few weeks, it’ll be interesting to see what this team will look like once they get going and comfortable with each other.
After what this team accomplished in the restart “last year,” I don’t think anyone would be counting out the Miami Heat from potentially making another deep run in the postseason. In order to get there, however, there’s no question that this team has some work to do between now and the start of the playoffs.