The Miami Heat have needed another piece for some time now. While they were able to add Victor Oladipo, though hurt, Trevor Ariza, and Nemanja Bjelica at the trade deadline, they were still in need of another big man to add to their power rotation.
With the options limited, the Miami Heat were able to land one of the best names on the market. Bringing in former Spurs, Hawks, and Kings center, Dewayne Dedmon, the Miami Heat got a player with size and a good work ethic.
Here’s the thing though and while only really on the team a few days, in the grand scheme of it all, he was yet to make an appearance as of Wednesday night’s game against the Denver Nuggets and appeared as though he might not get the chance to do it then.
The Miami Heat need Dewayne Dedmon to be as active, every night, as he was on Wednesday.
In looking back for a moment, while he wasn’t as needed as initially thought in the Heat’s win over Portland on Sunday, he could have been used and even if only in spot minutes against Deandre Ayton on Tuesday. Though Ayton didn’t have an all-league night or anything like that, the near-20 points he did score were the impactful kind that helped the Suns maintain control of the pace, narrative, and ultimately, the game.
The Denver Nuggets had a lot of that going on as well in their win over Miami. While Nikola Jokic gets it done in a different way than Ayton, he was also dictating things on the court on Wednesday.
Though the Miami Heat could have used Dedmon against him a bit more, they didn’t and didn’t put Dedmon in until the game was out of hand already. In his short stint on the floor though, Dedmon looked pretty good.
Although he only finished with three points and five rebounds on 1-4 shooting from the floor, he was able to do so in only six minutes of action and with a ton of it actually being against The Joker. Even outside of the numbers though, you could see the difference that his physical size could make in the game.
He was a presence in the paint, in general, and especially when it came to rim protecting. In his short first appearance, he altered, at least, three shots that could be seen and counted clearly.
Again, the Miami Heat didn’t win the game and that is sad. However, they might have something in Dedmon and they need to continue to dig into that by playing him.
Perhaps Friday’s game against Minnesota is the one where Dedmon gets some time with the rest of the main guys. It would sure be nice to see that, especially with the way the big men have killed the Heat over their last two games, both defeats, might it be added.