With Bam Adebayo finally returning on Monday night, all Miami Heat fans were happy to have their best big man back. With Adebayo coming back though, you think Miami Heat fans would be a bit happier.
However and via the sentiments pouring out on social media, the more pressing issue to most was why Omer Yurtseven wasn’t playing. Listen and understandably so, people are excited for Yurtseven’s future with Miami.
He put up really good numbers when Adebayo was out. The same goes for Dewayne Dedmon, who got injured as well.
That’s when Yurtseven’s play really took off, when he was Miami’s only “real” big. Yurtseven did more than a good job as a starter.
Now, with Adebayo back in action for Miami, they have three centers that deserve playing time. Head Coach, Erik Spoelstra, is going to have a lot of difficult decisions upcoming.
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With the Miami Heat also potentially getting Markieff Morris back any day now and the long-awaited return of Victor Oladipo, he’s going to have his hands full when it comes to picking and choosing the rotational pieces down the line.
Spoelstra has until the regular season to finish up. There is time left in the season for Miami to work in new guys and come out with different matchups.
The Oladipo return will be something to talk about whenever Miami crosses that bridge.
However, all of those above factors go into a bigger equation— one that eventually means less playing time to go around.
But from an overarching perspective and the reason you speak about the end of the regular season as a deadline is that as the postseason tips off, he has to go to his veterans first.
Could Spoelstra play Yurtseven before Dedmon at times? Yes, Yurtseven deserves some playing time, but it will probably depend on the matchup.
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Dedmon is more of a defensive center but is pretty good around the rim as a finisher. He will also hit the trailing three when available.
Yurtseven has the higher upside, only being twenty-three years old, compared to Dedmon being thirty-two years old. Will Yurtseven be better on defense during the playoffs?
It’s hard to say unless you see it, but as stated, Coach Spoelstra will likely believe in the veteran there in Dedmon. You could even see Spoelstra using his back-up big in different manners depending on round and matchup.
Miami is deep this year. They just don’t have guys on the team that can’t give you something, especially both backup bigs.
Playing Dedmon or Yurtseven are both good options for the Miami Heat moving forward. Resting Dedmon from game to game even wouldn’t be bad either.
In order for him to be fresher for the playoffs, of course. Yurtseven could still get some real minutes and work on his game simultaneously to eat up the minutes.
The long story, in short, is that Yurtseven needs to be better on defense. Yes, he is a good rebounder who has a knack for finding the ball.
Having said that, none of that matters if the guy actually scores the bucket, as theirs no board to get. His offense is not a problem, as you actually can’t wait to see him realize his ceiling there.
Right now though, Dedmon should continue getting the first crack as the main backup. But being able to have a debate about it is a great problem to have, as that means they are both contributing.
Spoelstra will know what to do when the time comes and you can be sure of that. As one of the best coaches in the league, he’ll certainly keep a handle on it.