Spoelstra stays coy on Oladipo injury status
There is currently no definitive timetable for the return of Heat guard Victor Oladipo.
Oladipo, who started in each of his four games with the Heat since his recent trade to Miami, missed Sunday night’s game against the Portland Trail Blazers at Moda Center. He’s out indefinitely.
The Heat is listing Oladipo’s injury as “right knee soreness.” He did not travel with the team to Portland, Oregon, with the Heat’s next game coming Tuesday against the Suns in Phoenix.
Asked directly on Saturday night if Oladipo will play again this season, coach Erik Spoelstra
declined to say.
Spoelstra, following the team’s Saturday practice in Portland, said he had no update on Oladipo and that the Heat is still in the “information gathering stage right now. I don’t have a new update. He’s not with us on this trip and he won’t be with us [Sunday]. I don’t have any new information.”
Oladipo sustained the injury after a dunk late in Thursday’s win over the Los Angeles Lakers. TNT’s Kenny Smith said Oladipo told him afterward that he was doing fine.
Oladipo had an MRI on
Friday, but the Heat and Oladipo have declined to release the results. X-rays taken after Thursday’s game were negative.
DEDMON ON JOINING HEAT
Dewayne Dedmon has started a total of 116 games during the previous three seasons, but his role with the Heat will be to provide frontcourt depth off the bench.
The veteran center is fine with that.
“I’ve come off the bench, I’ve started, I’ve not played,” said Dedmon, who signed with the Heat on Thursday as a free agent. “I’ve done it all. So I’m here, I’m prepared, I’m ready. Whatever coach needs me to do, I’m ready for it, whether it be five minutes, 12 minutes, 50 minutes, whatever.”
Dedmon, 31, did not play in Thursday’s win over the Lakers just hours after signing with the
Heat for the remainder of the season on a veteran minimum contract. But he practiced Saturday after the team arrived in Portland in preparation for Sunday’s game against the Trail Blazers
Dedmon has been out of the NBA since he was waived by the Detroit Pistons in November. He revealed Sunday that he has spent the past few months “rehabbing my knee” because of “a little bone edema” he experienced,
but said he reached 100 percent health a few weeks ago.
“I was just working out,” Dedmon said of his road to the Heat. “I was available for any team that was going to call. Miami called and I kind of looked into it. There was a need for a big and a rim protector, so I kind of felt like that one fit, this opportunity fit right for me. So just coming in here, trying to protect the rim, protect the paint and score and rebound.”
Spoelstra said, despite the layoff, Dedmon joined the Heat “in great physical condition and “it’s just a matter of getting in basketball shape.”
“I’m not sure exactly where he’ll fit in in the immediate future,” Spoelstra said. “I just know that he fills an important position of need for our roster. As he gets more comfortable and gets more reps and a better feel for how we do things, then we’ll take the next step.”
Dedmon (7-0, 245 pounds) helps add muchneeded size in the Heat’s frontcourt after Miami dealt away centers Kelly Olynyk, Chris Silva and injured Meyers Leonard in different trades recently. Newly acquired veteran Nemanja Bjelica and
rookie Precious Achiuwa have split the back-up center minutes recently behind starter Bam Adebayo.
Bjelica is more of a stretch big man and Achiuwa gives the Heat a more physical presence. Dedmon can do a little of both, as he has the skill set of a traditional center but has also incorporated three-point shooting into his game in recent seasons.
“I feel like I fit on the defensive end, helping with the rim protection, helping rebound, getting more opportunities for these shooters we’ve got here,” Dedmon said of his fit with the Heat. “So I come in, block a couple of shots, get a couple more offensive boards, provide a little more offense for the guards. I feel like that will help a lot.
“I’m not Bam. I’m not looking to come in here and do what Bam does. I come in here and try to fill a defensive void that I feel like they need.”
Dedmon, who will wear No. 21 with the Heat, has averaged 6.4 points, six rebounds and 0.9 blocks in seven NBA seasons. He has appeared in 394 games and started 194 games in his career.