The one thing Dexter Pittman has never had problems with is making friends. To know the third-year Miami Heat center is to like him.
Making inroads in his pro career, or even gains with his skills? That's another issue.
That's why when Pittman recently arrived in Sioux Falls, S.D., for some schooling with the NBA Development League Skyforce, there was a waiting embrace for Skyforce coach Joel Abelson.
"I picked him up from the airport, he gave me a hug," Abelson said by phone. "The first day he walked into practice the next morning, he gave me a hug. He said on the phone to me, 'Hey, I just want to work on my defense and my rebounding and I'm so grateful you're going to let me be a part of your team.' When you hear things like that, he's just a great guy."
Whether he's an NBA-level talent, however, is another issue, considering the only thing he has leveled in his first three seasons is Indiana Pacers guard Lance Stephenson during a playoff payback last season that led to a suspension.
So far, at least statistically, the results have been encouraging. Entering the weekend, in four appearances with the Skyforce, Pittman was averaging 12 points on .472 shooting and 8.8 rebounds in an average of 22.8 minutes. And it's not as if he is playing with secondary talent, the Skyforce roster including the likes of former NBA players Hassan Whiteside, Andrew Goudelock, Demetris Nichols, Donald Sloan, Gabe Pruitt and Arnett Moultrie, the 2012 first-round pick on assignment from the Philadelphia 76ers.
There also has been quality competition early on, first with two games against Boston Celtics first-round pick Fab Melo, the former Syracuse star out of Weston's Sagemont Academy, and then against former Heat teammate Mickell Gladness, who now plays for the Santa Cruz Warriors, and Jerome Jordan.
"The message I got from the Heat is that they want him to work on certain things, just to have him fit in," Abelson said. "He will continue to play more as his understanding of what we're doing improves, as his physical conditioning improves."
Pittman previously played in the D-League as a rookie in 2010-11, at a time when competition for big men in the league was limited, emerging, in fact, as a D-League All-Star that season. But with the NBA's new collective-bargaining agreement allowing teams greater latitude in moving players into the D-League, Abelson said it now is a place where a true center truly can develop.
"The D-League typically has been a league of very limited bigs, especially as the season goes on," Abelson said. "Now, this season is different. With the unlimited-assignment rule, the 11-NBA owned teams are sending their big men down, one.
"Two, you had Fab Melo for two games, we got Gladness, we got Jeremy Tyler on assignment and then Chris Johnson out of LSU, who played with Portland last year. Then we go to Reno, with Jerome Jordan, Darnell Jackson. L.A., they could send Robert Sacre down. It's a never-ending list of NBA-caliber bigs, not stars, but borderline NBA bigs that he will be going up against."
With legitimate big men now in the D-League, it allows for legitimate post play, something Heat coach Erik Spoelstra needs to see from Pittman.
"We're going to throw it to him. I told Coach Spo we're going to throw it to him," Abelson said. "We have some plays where we throw it to the big, so we'll continue to run that more and more as he gets more comfortable and gets his legs under him.
"We're going to showcase Pitt as much as we can. And we want to do the best thing we can for the Heat, and in return he will be productive."
IN THE LANE
DEPARTING CAST: Former Heat center Dexter Pittman arrived to Sioux Falls shortly after the Skyforce lost power forward Jarvis Varnado, the former Heat second-round pick, to a call up by the Boston Celtics. Skyforce coach Joel Abelson made Varnado sound like a player the Heat might regret giving up on. Varnado was a rebounding and shot-blocking force during his time in Sioux Falls. "Jarvis just said, 'I just want to lead the league in blocked shots and I want to lead the league in rebounding,' " Abelson said. "He said, 'I don't care if you throw me the ball.' And he's more skilled offensively than anybody thinks he is, way more skilled. But he understands what's going to end up being his meal ticket. I can't say enough about that kid."
DEFENSIVE STOPPER: To a degree, Garrett Temple is proving to be for the Washington Wizards what the Heat wanted to him to be when they had him training camp. Added recently by the Wizards, Temple's defense has drawn praise from Washington coach Randy Wittman, who continually switched the journeyman point guard to the hot hand in a recent victory over the Orlando Magic. "I think I had him on three people at one time," Wittman told the Washington Post. "A guy got hot, I had the tendency to say, 'Go guard him.' " The Wizards visit AmericanAirlines Arena Sunday. "I have a lot of confidence in him," Wittman said. "He gives us the ability to defend multiple positions. Very high energy. Athletic. Long. Big size at that position." Temple said he thought he had the Heat roster made. "It was most surprising of the cuts I’ve had," he said, "because I thought I did do what I needed to do to make the team."
MOVING ON: Rare is the player who leaves a championship team for a better situation, but that is proving to be the case for Ronny Turiaf, who went from playoff afterthought with the Heat to rotation regular with the Los Angeles Clippers. Turiaf, who seemed to enjoy his time in South Florida, did, however, have an interesting comment to the Los Angeles Times about his free-agency recruitment by Vinny Del Negro. "In the back of my mind, my subconscious was telling me, 'I think you made the right choice to go to a place where the coach actually cares about his players,' " Turiaf said. "He just tells me to be me. It's been a while since I was told to just be me. It probably goes back to the Laker days when Phil [Jackson, his Los Angeles Lakers coach] just told me, 'Just go out there and just play. I trust your basketball IQ. I trust your basketball knowledge to make plays for us.' " Based on the Heat's rebounding lately, Turiaf may be the one who got away.
NEXT STEP: Three former Heat point guards have recently resurfaced, with Chris Quinn with Tulsa of the D-League and Mike James with Texas of the D-League. Also, Carlos Arroyo has returned to Turkey, where he finished last season.
NUMBER
2. Times that Dallas Mavericks forward Dirk Nowitzki has played as a reserve in his 21 career appearances in Miami: As a rookie in 1999 and Wednesday, amid his recovery from an offseason knee procedure.
iwinderman@tribune.com. Follow him at twitter.com/iraheatbeat.
