Dewayne Dedmon gets first Miami Heat test, in whatever role, against Enes Kanter and Trail Blazers.
The Miami Heat brought in Dewayne Dedmon for specific, reasons, as he noted. Those are areas such as rebounding, where they rank near the bottom of the league.
They could also use the rim protection that he might add. Though only a 0.9 block per game guy throughout his career, his sheer size and 7’4″ wingspan are certainly enough to deter shots or looks at the basket.
He will have his first opportunity in a Sunday matchup with the Portland Trailblazers. Imagine showing up to a new school and on the first day, you had a pop quiz that was worth 10 percent of your total grade.
That’s what Dedmon is walking into. You have to say that because with him being the biggest and most capable player, outside of Bam Adebayo, at helping them with their weaknesses, that you have to imagine he begins to play immediately.
The thing about that though is that he’d be immediately matched up against a guy, Enes Kanter, that has already eaten the Miami Heat’s lunch this season and not that long ago, back on March 25th. On top of that, Kanter might be feeling pretty good about himself on Sunday.
Considering that he set a Portland Trail Blazers franchise record for rebounds on Saturday night. He finished that contest with 24 points and 30 rebounds, becoming only the third player to have a game of that magnitude.
Yea, that’s what Dedmon has to battle on Sunday night. For what it’s worth, he should be up to the task.
He has the right kind of length to bother Kanter, you just hope that with him being out of professional basketball for some time, he has enough to give it a strong go for 3-5 minute spurts at a time.
If he can do that, he should be effective against the Trail Blazers’ Turkish tyrant on the glass. The Miami Heat will sure need someone to be effective against him if they want to stand a chance.
Why not Dedmon? That’ll be the ultimate test of whether he can step in and be a hero in his role or simply “Captain Obvious”, before he ever plays a game for Miami.