Heat suspend Dewayne Dedmon one game for massage gun incident - NBC Sports

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A suspension was coming for Dewayne Dedmon. That much was obvious.

The Heat say they “consulted” with the NBA on the matter, when in reality Miami wanted the NBA league office to step in and suspend Dedmon — the team can argue it was a matter of player safety, launching a personal massage gun onto the court could hurt someone. Of course, if the league suspended Dedmon, the Heat saved his game pay against the cap, giving them a little more space below the luxury tax.

The league didn’t, so the Heat did — Miami suspended Dedmon one game for getting into an argument with coach Erik Spoelstra, then launching a massage gun onto the court while storming past Spoelstra toward the locker room. Dedmon had been ejected from the game.

Dedmon threw a massage gun on the court after some heated words with Spo pic.twitter.com/yjJYB599HY

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) January 11, 2023

The suspension will cost Dedmon $32,414, he is on a $4.7 million contract this season (with a non-guaranteed $4.3 million for next season that there is no chance the Heat pick up). Because the Heat suspended Dedmon internally, they do not save money against the salary cap/luxury tax (and the Heat are pushing the tax line).

For Dedmon, the result is the same, he sits out a game and loses money. Dedmon is a player to watch over the next month, Miami will keep him around on the chance they can use his salary in a trade at the deadline. However, if he’s around after Feb. 9, Dedmon is a potential buyout candidate. Especially after this incident.

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