Zeller making strong case to stick as Heat backup center. Also, Love and Yurtseven updates

The Miami Heat has cycled through different backup centers this season in search of a reliable option.

Veteran Dewayne Dedmon, who Miami dealt away ahead of the Feb. 9 trade deadline, spent the first two-plus months of the season as the Heat’s backup center but did not produce positive results.

Undrafted rookie Orlando Robinson, who is on a two-way contract, took over for Dedmon as the Heat’s backup center in early January and produced mixed results during his month-long stint in the role.

Still searching for stability from that spot in the rotation, the Heat signed veteran center Cody Zeller on Feb. 20.

Before joining the Heat, Zeller was out of the league and had not played in an NBA regular-season game since Jan. 10, 2022, after surgery on his right knee put his playing career on pause. But Miami signed Zeller during the All-Star break and immediately used him as its new backup center when the schedule resumed.

Zeller has impressed his new coaches and teammates immediately, entering Monday averaging 6.7 points, 2.5 rebounds (1.5 offensive rebounds) in 14.1 minutes per game in his first six games with the Heat. Those appearances marked his first regular-season game action in more than a year.

“My cardio feels good,” Zeller, 30, said ahead of Monday night’s game against the Atlanta Hawks at Miami-Dade Arena. “I’m still feeling a little rusty with some of my reads and stuff. But overall, I’ve been pretty pleased with where I’m at. I’m still only playing 15 minutes per game. It’s shorter minutes, so I should be able to play even harder. So yeah, it’s been good so far.”

Zeller’s numbers are far from gaudy and the Heat has actually been outscored by 13 points in his minutes during his first six games.

But Zeller has been one of the bright spots on a Heat bench unit that has struggled to generate positive results lately, making an impact with his activity on the offensive glass, screening ability and end-to-end energy when the pace picks up.

“It’s impressive, what Cody has done,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “You just already can see it, optically, and you can feel it. He fits. He complements our guys. He’s a hard-playing dude. He really competes. He lets it all out there and even just the diving, going after loose balls, the rebounding, the extra effort. It becomes inspiring. Offensively, he’s just really smart, so he can run our offense very well.”

Since the All-Star break, Zeller entered Monday averaging team highs in screen assists and offensive rebounds per 36 minutes with 5.1 3.8, respectively.

“He plays hard,” Heat starting center Bam Adebayo said. “That’s the one thing I’ve noticed about Cody, he plays hard and he plays to win. He’s one of those guys, he’s not really mad if he doesn’t get touches or not. The biggest thing for him is I feel like is he just wants wins.”

Zeller, who was drafted with the fourth overall pick in 2013, has spent a large chunk of his 10-year NBA career as a starter. But he also played as a reserve in 221 of his 494 regular-season appearances before joining the Heat last month.

“It’s a little different mind-set. I can’t leave anything in the tank,” Zeller said of playing off the bench. “... I’ve come off the bench plenty in my career, too, so it’s good for me right now.”

With second-year center Omer Yurtseven back in Miami after his G League assignment and available for the Heat on Monday for the first time this season following November surgery on his left ankle, the Heat has another backup center it can turn to.

“I just got back with the team this morning,” Yurtseven said following Monday’s morning shootaround session when asked if he’s been given clarity regarding his role with the Heat. “So there hasn’t been too much talk in terms of the rotation or the role. I think it will happen pretty soon.”

But Zeller, who agreed to a prorated minimum deal for the remainder of the season and will be an unrestricted free agent this upcoming summer, has made a strong case to stick as the Heat’s backup center for the remainder of the season.

“We’ve been a fan of his from the outside for a while,” Spoelstra said. “I think it’s just the battles that we’ve competed against him. He does a lot of the little things that we value. He’s been a starter on some really good defensive teams here and offensively we think that he can help some of our shooters and perimeter players with his dribble hand-off game and screening. Just in a short period of time, everybody has noticed it. It’s not going to take long before the guards really recognize that they want to play with him. He gets guys open.”

YURTSEVEN BACK, LOVE OUT

The Heat ruled out Nikola Jovic (G League, on assignment), Kevin Love (right rib contusion), and Kyle Lowry (left knee soreness) for Monday’s game against the Hawks.

Jovic is scheduled to soon begin his G League assignment with the Sioux Falls Skyforce, as he continues to work his way back from a back injury that has kept him sidelined since early January.

Love, who started in his first six appearances with Miami, will miss his first game since joining the Heat during the All-Star break last month.

Lowry will miss his 13th straight game because of a left knee issue.

But Yurtseven will be available for the Heat for the first time this season on Monday after an ankle injury derailed his year.

Yurtseven, 24, averaged 27.5 points, 13.5 rebounds and four assists per game while shooting 48.9 percent from the field and 3 of 12 (25 percent) on threes in two games with the Skyforce on Friday and Saturday during his G League assignment. It marked his first in-game five-on-five action since undergoing surgery on his ankle in November.

“It was really long and really grueling,” Yurtseven said of his rehab process. “It feels amazing playing those two games back-to-back. Playing 70 minutes total and afterwards feeling fine, feels amazing.”

Jamal Cain, who was in the G League as part of his two-way contract, will also be available for the Heat for Monday’s contest in Miami.