With former team in town, Delon Wright speaks about Heat transition: ‘I’m just trying to fit in’
Life moves fast in the NBA. Just ask guard Delon Wright.
Less than a month ago, Wright was playing for a Washington Wizards team at the bottom of the standings. The Wizards’ hopes of making the playoffs were essentially erased months ago after starting the season at 3-20.
But after agreeing to a buyout with the Wizards during the mid-February All-Star break, Wright joined a Heat team three weeks ago that’s in the middle of an ultra-competitive playoff race. So competitive that one result could push the the Heat up or down a few spots in the Eastern Conference standings.
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On Sunday, Wright’s former team will face his new team and their different situations are evident. The Wizards enter Sunday night’s matchup against the Heat at Kaseya Center tied for the NBA’s worst record this season at 10-53, while the Heat can still realistically finish anywhere from fourth to eighth place in the East with just five weeks left in the regular season.
“It is a different transition,” Wright, 31, said of moving from the Wizards to the Heat. “Guys over there are playing to develop. Most of the guys over there are trying to develop, see what kind of player they’re going to be and what type of team they’re going to be going forward. And over here, we’re fighting for a playoff spot. So it’s definitely a different transition. There was more of a learning curve over there. Over here, we don’t have much of a learning curve. I’m just trying to learn as much as I can as quickly as possible.”
Wright has spent his first few weeks with the Heat working on “learning the different terminology and learning where I should be when I don’t have the ball in my hands. The different spots I should be in.”
“This team has different terminology and they have different rules as far as where you should be on the floor at different times of the game,” said Wright, who signed a pro-rated minimum contract for the rest of the season to join the Heat last month.
But Wright hasn’t spent much time on the court during games in his first few weeks with the Heat.
Even with Heat guards Tyler Herro and Josh Richardson out because of injuries, Wright entered Sunday’s matchup against the Wizards with just three appearances in his first eight games with the team. He has logged double-digit minutes just twice and has received five DNP-CDs (did not play, coach’s decision) during that eight-game span.
In Friday’s loss to the Thunder in Oklahoma City, newly acquired Heat guard Patty Mills played ahead of Wright. Mills, who was signed by the Heat on Wednesday after being waived by the Atlanta Hawks, played 16 minutes off the bench and Wright did not get in the game.
“I’m just trying to stay as ready as I can,” Wright said when asked how h has approached the recent DNP-CDs. “I can’t complain too much because I’m coming into a different situation with a team that just went to the Finals. I’m just trying to fit in. I’m not in a position to be moping around. So I just have to stay ready whenever I’m called upon and do the best I can with whatever role they give me.”
Wright actually logged 35 minutes in his second game in a Heat uniform and produced encouraging results, recording 13 points, five assists, two steals and one block in a Feb. 26 road win over the Sacramento Kings. His point guard skills (he entered Saturday with 91 assists to just 11 turnovers this season) and disruptive defense (averaging a career-high 2.7 steals per 36 minutes this season) were on display.
There hasn’t been much playing time for Wright after that outing, though. He says he wasn’t promised a consistent role by the Heat before he signed, just an opportunity to earn minutes on a team that has dealt with season-long injury issues.
“I don’t think [Heat coach Erik] Spoelstra would promise me anything,” said Wright, whose older brother, Dorell Wright, was picked by the Heat in the first round of the 2004 draft and spent the first six seasons of his NBA career with the Heat. “But it was more about the opportunity, especially with a few guys who were injured. There was a possibility of me being a part of the rotation. So I felt more comfortable going into that situation than with another team of just being insurance if somebody went out. That was my approach on coming to the Heat.”
Wright was in the Wizards’ rotation for most of the season before agreeing to a buyout. Whether Wright gets an opportunity to play against his former team or not on Sunday, he hopes he can help the Heat regardless.
“For me, normal game,” Wright said of facing the Wizards for the first time since last month’s departure. “Obviously, I know some of the things they’re trying to do and what they’re trying to accomplish. So I’ll just try to relay that message to the coaches and the players.”
