Trade: Miami Heat Swing Deal With San Antonio Spurs

 

The Miami Heat have done the expected, and moved on from backup center Dewayne Dedmon, sending him back to one of his former teams. 

Heat Dewayne Dedmon is being traded to the Spurs for a 2nd round pick, per @ShamsCharania pic.twitter.com/a2DTQ2vQGI

— NBA Retweet (@RTNBA) February 7, 2023

Dedmon is being traded to the San Antonio Spurs in return for a second-round draft pick, according to Shams Charania.  

The Heat go from $192,895 below the luxury tax to $4.9M below. They now have more flexibility in trades and to convert Orlando Robinson to a standard contract now.

They also generate a $4.7M trade exception. https://t.co/prEfKyJMwI

— Yossi Gozlan (@YossiGozlan) February 7, 2023

The move allows the Heat more wiggle room under the luxury tax (from $192,895 below the tax to $4.9M below) and are now likely to convert backup center Orlando Robinson from a two-way to a standard contract, according to NBA cap expert Yossi Gozlan.

The 33-year-old Dedmon fell out of favor with the Heat earlier this season, partly due to a bizarre incident during play, and a blow-out argument with head coach Erik Spoelstra on the sideline. 

He returns now to a familiar place, as he spent the 2016-17 season in San Antonio, where he posted 5.1 points and 6.5 rebounds in about 17 minutes of action per contest. He played a career-high 76 games for coach Gregg Popovich that season.

This year, Dedmon was averaging 5.7 points and 3.6 rebounds in 11.7 minutes per game, but has only played in four of the Heat's last 21 contests. 

The natural suspicion after this trade is to wonder if the Spurs are setting up for a trade of their much-in-demand free agent-to-be Jakob Poeltl. Rumors have been flying about the big Austrian center for the past few months. Certainly something to keep an eye on over the next 48 hours. 

David Richard-USA TODAY Sports