RealGM

Via Wiretap:

"Miami was disappointed in the summer league play of Dexter Pittman, who has one guaranteed year left on his contract.

Pittman has been assured nothing, in terms of playing time or even a roster spot, according to a team official."

Dexter Pittman aka the Pita-man has failed to impress throughout the time he's been with the Heat, though he's shown promise at times.

He's got a year left on his contract, what are your thoughts on him?

They could've used his roster spot for someone that can provide at least a few decent minutes with okay D, like Darko, doesn't seem like Pita is of any use to the Heat other than filling out roster space.

He's out of shape first of all and he doesn't have no passion for the game.

That hard foul he gave in the Pacers series was the highlight of his Heat career so far.

I am so surprised, considering I posted this just a few hours before the wiretap article:

truthiness wrote:

SmushedPennies wrote:Sounds like Pittman's shiddy role.

Pittman is hopeless. Got nothing against him, but dude gives stiffs a bad name. He'd make Greg Ostertag look like Hakeem.

Oh, wait, no, I am not surprised at all.
But I have been surprised at how many people thought he'd be the solution at C and then complained that he didn't get playing time.

Maybe the Heat should use their amnesty on him (if they can still use it and if he's eligible).

truthiness wrote:Maybe the Heat should use their amnesty on him (if they can still use it and if he's eligible).

Deadline already passed for the amnesty, but beyond that? Why amnesty him? Just waive him, he only makes like $800k and only has 1 year left on the deal. The amnesty needs to be saved for guys with longer, worse contracts like Joel or Mike Miller.

If the Heat wanted to cut him, they would have, without saying they're disappointed in him. An organization as like the Heat doesn't defame players or lower their value before letting them off, they would have kept it to themselves.

Instead, they let it loose among the beat writers that they're bringing in big guys to try out, and that they are disappointed. It's because they know his potential, know that he's guaranteed locked up money, and are trying to get him fired up and motivated to crash with the big boys this upcoming season. That's why they bring the outside big guys and sig them for camp. They want to motivate the big fella, who they feel could be progressing faster, but they don't want to let him go.

Seriously how long has this guy been out of shape? Its ridiculous screw him.

With Harrellson now signed, it opens the door for him to be cut. IMO, Harrellson is the better option anyway. His defense is underrated. He also can stretch the floor with his 3 point/long 2 point shooting. I am from Kentucky, so I watched him during his college years and loved his work ethic also.

Those familiar with my Pittman stance know I've been fairly hard on him (not nearly as hard as some, though), and have mentioned many times his weight has continued to fluctuate since we drafted him.

HOWEVER!

Ira Winderman

For all the talk of Dexter Pittman being in jeopardy, one Heat player told me Pittman looks as fit as he has been. The teammate said if Pittman doesn't stick, it won't be because of lack of effort with his conditioning.

I guess it finally hit him, or he realized that nothing is guaranteed after that 800k deal ends after this season, and where the hell is he going to get money for hamburgers?

Who knows how much this will help the issues in his game not related to his weight (slow hands, lack of awareness, fouling, etc.), but its a start,

Cloud765 wrote:It's because they know his potential

Could you expand on that ?
What do YOU think is his potential.

Cause I don't even see Aaron Gray potential there.
At most he'll be as useless as Didier Mbenga.
You probably went "WHO ??" twice, and that's how others will go if you mention Pittman in a few years.

Again, got nothing against him, I wish he'd become a decent C, but I just don't see it.
He'll be able to make some money in the NBDL, Europe or China, but I just don't think he's NBA material.

truthiness wrote:

Cloud765 wrote:It's because they know his potential

Could you expand on that ?
What do YOU think is his potential.

Cause I don't even see Aaron Gray potential there.
At most he'll be as useless as Didier Mbenga.
You probably went "WHO ??" twice, and that's how others will go if you mention Pittman in a few years.

Again, got nothing against him, I wish he'd become a decent C, but I just don't see it.
He'll be able to make some money in the NBDL, Europe or China, but I just don't think he's NBA material.

First off, it's condescending as hell that you think I don't know who Mbenga and Gray are, but that's probably because you had to google'em. I see flashes of a serviceable big man who is strong as hell, has huge hands, 2 years of practice time with the heat squad, and who can probably hold his own against Bynum 1 on 1 better than anyone else on the team. At most, he's a weapon, at the least, he's money that is locked up and would some sort of payout would need to be reached.

Is he a star? Probably not, but he's a true center and can give defenses a different look. I still see that, and apparently so does Riley.

Cloud765 wrote:

truthiness wrote:

Cloud765 wrote:It's because they know his potential

Could you expand on that ?
What do YOU think is his potential.

Cause I don't even see Aaron Gray potential there.
At most he'll be as useless as Didier Mbenga.
You probably went "WHO ??" twice, and that's how others will go if you mention Pittman in a few years.

Again, got nothing against him, I wish he'd become a decent C, but I just don't see it.
He'll be able to make some money in the NBDL, Europe or China, but I just don't think he's NBA material.

First off, it's condescending as hell that you think I don't know who Mbenga and Gray are, but that's probably because you had to google'em. I see flashes of a serviceable big man who is strong as hell, has huge hands, 2 years of practice time with the heat squad, and who can probably hold his own against Bynum 1 on 1 better than anyone else on the team. At most, he's a weapon, at the least, he's money that is locked up and would some sort of payout would need to be reached.

Is he a star? Probably not, but he's a true center and can give defenses a different look. I still see that, and apparently so does Riley.

+1

Dex it going to shut up the haters, just wait and watch. he'll be solid.

Dex looks slimmer and slimmer every year.

Harrelson signing kind of means something in regards to Pittman. Usually if we're content with one rookie we just to get some vets (Vet Centers), but that didn't work out this year. Thus, getting another young big.

Pitt knows the system and stuff.

Yeah his summer league play was average.

He is just a freakin' foul machine. I really think this year is his last shot to be an experiment. Isn't the end of his contract this year? Make to break for Pitt.

Dex's problem wasn't really conditioning. It was his incessant fouling, his inability to set a decent pick, and his relatively weak rebounding against NBA bigs. I have been all for the Pittman project up until Summer League, at which point I gave up. I don't see him fixing the fouling situation anytime this year, and that's a big problem IMO. Riding out your rookie contract in a suit isn't gonna build much confidence with your fans. Compare that to Cole who came in and instantly had an impact. PEACE.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vfvE6uexaMk[/youtube]

I think it's obvious the Heat are wanting to test him/motivated him this year. This is his last year pretty much to decide whether they want to keep developing him or not, so he has to show them something this year or they'll cut losses.

I don't think they'll hesitate to cut him this summer if one of these bigs they brought in outplays or even just outworks him. This is a big year for Dex in terms of his career as an NBA player. So it will be interesting to see how he responds. He'll either force his way into the outside of the rotation, or he'll be out of the NBA.

Camp will be interesting. He has length, at least a modicum of a post game, and an inch on Jorts, but other than that, it seems Harrellson might be better at everything else and render Pitt moot.

July 15th

I got bored...



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Today

and this is EXACTLY why I said the lockout screwed him over