Spurs use cap space to acquire 2nd-round pick in Miami Heat trade

According to Shams Charania, the spurs traded cap space to the heat for a second-round pick and Dewayne Dedmon. What are the Heat trying to do with this move?

According to Shams Charania, the Heat are trading Dewayne Dedmon and a second-round pick to the Spurs in a deal that will net cash considerations and nothing else in return back to the Heat. While the return hasn’t been announced for the Heat, it will not be a big return (one of the Spurs vet) or Shams would have led with that in his report.

Dedmon has been on out his way this season as he and Heat management have been at odds, evidenced by his flame-out during a game. Dedmon’s $4 million contract is non-guaranteed past this season which is why the Heat only had to give a second-round pick in this deal.

Why did the Heat trade Dewayne Dedmon to the Spurs?

The Heat are making this deal to clear a roster spot and lower their overall cap hit and stay under the tax if they make a move via trade or buyout signing. The Heat are reportedly interested in signing Russell Westbrook if he becomes available via the buy-out market. This trade at least signals that the Heat will look to upgrade their team via the buyout market, if not make a smaller move to improve the bench.

Prior to this trade, the Heat were very close to being in the luxury tax and this trade allows the team to move very swiftly below the tax. This is a very good move for the Spurs, as while this isn’t a major move; it does make use of their cap space of which they had around $28 million for this season. Dedmon salary is around $4 million for the rest of the year, so this will take down the Spurs’ cap space to around $24 million to use in basically the next two days.

The Spurs will have trouble making use of those 24 million dollars in the next 48 hours, as Spurs’ Josh Richardson, Doug McDermott, and Jakob Poetl will all be available for teams to trade in the next coming days. Teams will be sending salary back that is more than those players but in all reality, the Spurs are not accepting a deal where they have to take more than $10 million salary for a player who has a long-term deal without taking additional compensation for taking that salary.

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