Dwight Howard and Paul Millsap are out in Atlanta, and that left a huge defensive gap along the front line.
Enter Dewayne Dedmon.
The man who played some quality defense off the bench for the Spurs last season is taking his talents to Atlanta, a story broken by Shams Charania of The Vertical at Yahoo Sports and confirmed by Sam Amick of the USA Today.
Spurs free agent Dewayne Dedmon has agreed to a deal with the Atlanta Hawks, league sources tell The Vertical.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) July 12, 2017
DeWayne Dedmon two years, $14 million to Atlanta, I'm told. Player option 2nd season.
— Sam Amick (@sam_amick) July 12, 2017
With a front line that includes Miles Plumlee, Mike Muscala, and John Collins, Dedmon could get serious run. If he does well and that and wants to test the market next summer and get paid, he can do that (although it’s going to be a tight market).
Statistically, Dedmon was one of the best defensive centers in the NBA last season — for example, he was second in ESPN’s defensive real plus/minus among centers behind Rudy Gobert last season (yes that is a flawed statistic, we’re using it here just as a snapshot). He is athletic and bouncy, he can block shots and is in the right position.
The challenge for Dedmon is to provide something on offense and make teams guard him and not just help off him. He’ll get his chance next season with a rebuilding Hawks team.