Report: Former Miami Heat champion signs with team in Mexico
Former Miami Heat center Dexter Pittman has a new house. Pittman, who won a championship with the Heat in 2012, has signed with Mexican team Halcones de Xalapa for the 2023-24 season, according to HoopsHype.
After playing collegiate basketball at the University of Texas, Pittman was taken by the Heat in the second round (32nd overall pick) of the 2010 NBA Draft. He hung around with Miami into the 2012-13 campaign, and he was part of the 2011-12 club that ultimately bested the Oklahoma City Thunder in five games in the NBA Finals to capture the league title.
In addition to playing with the Heat, Pittman also spent time as a member of the Memphis Grizzlies and Atlanta Hawks. He last appeared in an NBA game in 2014 with Atlanta. Nearly a decade later, he’s still playing professionally.
Meanwhile, the Heat are hoping to recapture the success they enjoyed during the 2011-12 season. Nearly two months into its current campaign, Miami is sixth in the Eastern Conference rankings with a record of 15-11. Considering the litany of injury issues they’ve had to deal with, the Heat have actually enjoyed a pretty impressive start to the season.
Tyler Herro has featured in just eight games for the Heat so far this season due to an ankle ailment, and other key contributors like Bam Adebayo have also been forced to miss time. It has been more tough for the Heat to create rhythm and consistency as a result of the absences, but they still have a winning record and are right in the middle of the postseason race in the East.
Moving forward, the Heat just have to hope that they can overcome their injury issues and get their guys back out on the floor in order to build some consistency. They received some favorable news on Sunday in that regard.
Miami has six games remaining until the calendar changes from 2023 to 2024. Those matchups will come against the Minnesota Timberwolves, Orlando Magic, Atlanta Hawks, Philadelphia 76ers, Golden State Warriors and Utah Jazz.
It’s not the easiest stretch of games, but the Heat will want to close the year by stringing together some wins in order to build some momentum to bring into 2024.
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