The Miami Heat made moves at and after the NBA’s Trade Deadline this season and not out of luxury. Two of the guys that they brought in, through very different means, have been absolutely crucial in their late-season push towards the postseason.
Those two guys are Trevor Ariza and Dwayne Dedmon. They have both been essential in the Miami Heat’s game plan as of late.
Through 27 games played and 24 of them being starts for the Miami Heat, Ariza is averaging 9.5 points, 4.7 rebounds, 1.8 assists, and a steal per game. That’s primetime production from a guy who sat on his couch for most of the season, figuratively, as it can now be seen that he kept himself in good shape.
On the other end, Dedmon is producing at a high clip as well. Being one of the Miami Heat’s better players since he came aboard, he’s averaging 7.5 points and 5.7 rebounds across only 13.5 minutes played for Miami.
That doesn’t seem like a ton on Dedmon’s behalf, but it’s about the when more than the what for him. He allows the Miami Heat to still be productive, to contend even, when Bam Adebayo isn’t on the floor.
That’s worth its weight in gold to the Miami Heat alone and in itself. That also leans towards the reason why they should not only be looking to retain him this offseason, but Ariza as well.
The Miami Heat lacked size in the middle… until Dewayne Dedmon arrived in South Florida.
When it comes to Dedmon, you’ve see what he can do in limited minutes. On top of that, he fits and that’s pretty obvious by now.
Looking deeper, even if you have to give a few dollars, it’s not so bad. Not playing a ton of organized basketball until later in his life, for real and only in college to be honest, he doesn’t have a lot of wear and tear on his body, which means he still has a ton left to give.
If what he’s given, thus far, is any indication of things to come, the Miami Heat should be more than happy to sign up for that. When you think about Ariza, it’s not quite the same, though he still appears to have quite a bit of tread on the tires as well.
Looking at Ariza, you see Jae Crowder 2.0 and that’s just being honest. What Crowder gave to this Miami Heat team last season couldn’t be quantified, which is part of the reason he was able to secure a really nice deal from Phoenix.
However, Ariza is capable of a bit more. Ariza has more wiggle, off the dribble ability, and when he’s right, is a much better finisher at the rim than Jae Crowder.
Although his shooting isn’t as prolific as the nearly 40 percent that Crowder shot for the Heat last season and is approaching for Phoenix this season, Ariza still shoots a very respectable 35.2 percent, which also just so happens to be his career average.
That means that he won’t ever get much worse than that. You also take into account that defenses tend to respect Ariza more as an offensive player, because of said wiggle that Crowder doesn’t necessarily have.
The Miami Heat were left looking for a Crowder replacement all year long… until they nabbed Trevor Ariza.
While Crowder would have been a joy to have back, so this isn’t that, he didn’t come back to Miami. That’s the key for why they can’t afford to let Ariza go.
All season long and up until they landed him, they needed an Ariza-Crowder Type to go along with Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo. They were burned by that once, letting Crowder go but understandable from a salary-perspective, but they can’t let it happen again.
The same stands for Dedmon. Even last season, they could have stood to have another big or at least, play the ones they had a little more down the stretch (Kelly Olynyk didn’t play enough in the Finals, where he could have helped against the Lakers’ size) but this season, it became just that much more clear.
They were being manhandled in the paint and especially in the Bam-less minutes before the “Ded Man” arrived. These are the reasons why they should both be retained, unless the numbers just become flat-out bonkers, which really shouldn’t happen.
The fact of the matter is this. When they didn’t have guys like Ariza and Dedmon in tow, they were looking for them.
Though there are still improvements that can and should be made, they have helped, massively. That’s why the Miami Heat should deeply look into keeping them both around, at least for one more season after this one.