Dexter Pittman making his bid for spot in Miami Heat rotation

Last season Miami Heat center Dexter Pittman spent most of his playing time in the D-League for the Heat's affiliate, the Sioux Falls Sky Force, so when he found out that he would be on Miami's roster this season, I'm sure it was a special moment. However, now we're a couple months past that time, and I'm sure Pittman has grown anxious to contribute on the court.

Until recently his playing time was sporadic at best, most playing at the end of games in what is known as ‘garbage time'. In the last two games however, Pittman has seen his role change, and one has to wonder if this is a sign of things to come. He went from playing just 3 minutes in the previous two weeks, to playing 11 minutes in back to back games, and his time on the court was nowhere near ‘garbage time'.

In his last two games he has scored 2 points, grabbed 4 rebounds and turned the ball over just once in each, while racking up a total of 9 personal fouls. It seems for at least the time being, Pittman is filling the role that the Heat have been grooming Eddy Curry for. Until Curry has reached that point, Pittman will happily join the rotation.

Big Dex is also happy to remind you that since the beginning of training camp, he has dropped 35 pounds. With all the attention paid to Curry's weight loss, Pittman's efforts may go by the way side. Curry lost a ton of weight during the offseason, but since the start of camp he has dropped 33 points, two less then Pittman in that same time frame. Dex has slimmed down to weighing 285 points with a body fax index of 14%. His goal is to get that number down to 11 or 12 percent, and I'm sure his new role in the rotation, if it sticks, will help him reach his goals.