Dedmon, Oladipo become trade-eligible on Sunday
Every player on the Miami Heat’s roster will be eligible to be traded on Sunday.
While 14 of the Heat’s 16 players are already eligible to be included in a trade, the remaining two players join that list when center Dewayne Dedmon and guard Victor Oladipo are able to be traded starting on Sunday.
Why did it take so long for Dedmon and Oladipo to become trade-eligible?
Players around the NBA who received more than a 20 percent raise when re-signed as a free agent through their Bird rights this past offseason aren’t allowed to be traded until Jan. 15, and Dedmon and Oladipo both fall into that category.
But there is one difference between the two players.
Because players on one-year contracts with Bird rights can’t be traded without their consent, Oladipo can’t be dealt without his permission. Heat forward Udonis Haslem also can’t be traded without his consent because he was signed to a one-year deal this offseason and would have Bird rights this upcoming summer.
Dedmon does not hold this veto power and can be traded without his permission.
Dedmon, who served a team-issued one-game suspension for “conduct detrimental to the team” in Thursday’s win over the Milwaukee Bucks, is a trade candidate because of the structure of his contract.
With Dedmon playing as the Heat’s backup center this season, the Heat has been outscored by
10.1 points per 100 possessions this season. Undrafted rookie Orlando Robinson ,whoisona two-way contract with the Heat, has taken some of Dedmon’s playing time as the backup center recently. birth of his son, Harlem Herro. Martin sat out his fifth straight game on Saturday.
When asked about Lowry’s lingering left knee issue that forced him to miss two straight games in December and now three consecutive games this month, Spoelstra said: “We’re still treating him day to day and continue to be on that protocol until he’s ready.”
The Bucks remained without two starters, Antetokounmpo (left knee soreness) and Khris Middleton (right knee soreness) on Saturday. Antetokounmpo missed both games in Miami this week and Middleton missed his 15th consecutive game.
Those absences didn’t allow for a true read on how the teams match up, even though they faced each other two times in Dedmon, 33, is on a $4.7 million salary this season and his $4.3 million salary for next season is fully non-guaranteed, which is a contract that could be attractive to a team looking for salary-cap relief in a trade.
Such a deal could also help the Heat create more room under the luxury tax threshold in order to add to its roster. three days.
The Heat also was without Nikola Jovic (lower back stress reaction) Duncan Robinson (finger surgery) and Omer Yurtseven (ankle surgery) on Saturday. The Bucks also did not have Serge Ibaka (personal reasons).
Vincent shined for the second straight game to again step up for the shorthanded Heat.
After setting a new career high with 28 points in Thursday’s win over the Bucks, he followed up that performance by nearly establishing a new career high for a second straight game with 27 points on 11-of-14 shooting from the field and 5-of-8 shooting from beyond the arc in his third straight start in place of the injured Lowry. The Heat improved to 4-0 this season with Vincent in the starting lineup.
The Heat has one open spot on its 15-man roster, playing with only 14 players on standard contracts so far this season because of its position against the luxury tax.
Miami stands about $200,000 away from crossing the luxury tax threshold, which does not give it enough space to sign a 15th player to a standard contract at this point for the rest of the
“I think I was just in a rhythm and my guys did a really good job of getting me open time and time again when they were setting screens or cutting or finding me when I’m open in the corner or something,” Vincent said after Saturdays’ win.
“They did a good job of that and I made some shots. That always helps.”
Vincent totaled 55 points while shooting 21 of 31 (67.7 percent) from the field and 10 of 19 (52.6 percent) on threes during the Heat’s two-game set against the Bucks.
Before this two-game stretch, Vincent was averaging just 8.1 points per game on 38 percent shooting from the field and 29.1 percent shooting from three-point range in his first 28 appearances the season.
Vincent, who has missed season without becoming a luxury tax team.
Trading Dedmon’s contract to a team with salary cap space, like the Indiana Pacers and San Antonio Spurs, that can take him in without needing to send much in return would help the Heat open the necessary room to potentially convert Robinson to a standard NBA contract, add an outside free agent and/or create the flexibility to take in more money in another trade without entering luxury-tax territory.
The Heat also has its full allotment of $6.4 million of cash available that it can dip into to help facilitate such a trade. NBA teams are allowed to include up to a total of $6.4 million this season as part of trade packages to incentivize teams to accept a deal.
The NBA trade deadline is less than a month away on Feb. 9.
SPOELSTRA’S IDEA
After hearing that the San Antonio Spurs and 12 games this season because of a swollen left knee, had not scored more than 20 points in a game before this two-game set against Milwaukee.
Behind Vincent’s shooting display, the Heat put together its most efficient threepoint shooting performance of the season.
The Heat finished 11 of 22 (50 percent) from three-point range. It’s the best three-point percentage that Miami has finished a game with this season.
This is notable for the Heat, as it entered Saturday with the NBA’s sixth-worst team threepoint percentage this season
Golden State Warriors would have a regularseason NBA record crowd of about 68,000 fans at their game Friday night at the Alamodome, Heat coach Erik Spoelstra spitballed his own idea to top that mark in Miami.
“One of these days, we got to do something outside and pack 100,000 down here in South Florida,” Spoelstra said Thursday. “Let’s do that. Make that happen. We might be able to do that, put a court in the Marlins’ stadium. Get the roof, open it up, let’s do it, 100,000. That’s my call.”
If that idea were ever able to become reality, it would take the addition of a large amount of extra seating to set a new record. LoanDepot, home of the Miami Marlins, has a retractable roof but has a listed capacity of about 37,000.
Anthony Chiang: 305-376-4991, @Anthony_Chiang at 33.8 percent after closing last regular season as the NBA’s top threepoint shooting team at 37.9 percent.
Along with Vincent’s hot shooting night, Haywood Highsmith shot 2 of 2 on threes and Oladipo shot 2 of 4 on threes.
But it is a bit surprising that it took 44 games for the Heat to reach the 50 percent mark from threepoint range in a game this season. Miami shot 50 percent or better from deep in eight games last regular season.
Anthony Chiang: 305-376-4991, @Anthony_Chiang