Center Dewayne Dedmon is, most likely, a stopgap player for the Hawks. He’s signed to a one-year contract with a player option. Of course, the Hawks always could give him another deal but, at 28-years old, Dedmon probably isn’t a candidate to be part of the core for a long rebuild. Plus Dedmon would be wise to test the market again if he has a good season.
Anyway, that's all for later. As of now, the Hawks have a season to play and Dedmon showed in his debut last night against the Miami Heat that he can help them offensively as on pick-and-rolls. From the opening tip Dedmon was always looking to take advantage by aggressively going to the basket ready to receive the ball.
Those plays are not flukes. Dedmon has been one of the best roll men in the league.
Dewayne Dedmon play type: Pick-and-roll, roll man
Against the Heat, Dedmon especially had good chemistry with Bazemore, who twice fed him going to the basket for scores.
“I love it, man,” Bazemore said. “He’s got a great feel on the pick-and-roll. He plays extremely hard, which is what we need on this team.”
Said Dedmon: “We had a nice little connection. It was good.”
Dedmon also had a couple of nice scores in transition against the Heat, including this impressive alley-oop:
Those plays also aren’t unusual for Dedmon, who was efficient in transition with the Magic and Spurs. The Hawks want to play faster this season and Dedmon can help with that.
Well, at least Dedmon can help if he can stay on the court. He was called for three personal foul in less than six minutes against the Heat and got his fourth less than five minutes after halftime.
Fouling also is par for the course with Dedmon. He's averaged 5.5 fouls per 36 minutes over his six-year career.
“We work on it in practice,” Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer said. “We will watch film on it. We will talk about it. I think he understands that we are going to need him to be on the court and playing without fouling is going to be important, not just for him but for everybody.”
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