Hawks center Dewayne Dedmon has exercised his contract option for next season, according to a person with knowledge of his decision. The option is worth about $7.2 million.
Dedmon signed with the Hawks as a free agent last summer after opting out of a contract with the Spurs that would have paid him $3 million in 2017-18. He had a $6 million base salary with the Hawks last season and earned another $900,000 in contract incentives.
Yahoo Sports first reported Dedmon’s decision to exercise his option. Dedmon had until June 29 to do so or become an unrestricted free agent.
Dedmon, 28, was a productive and efficient player for the Hawks last season. He posted career highs in games (62 with 46 starts), minutes (1,542), points (10 per game), rebounds (7.9) and assists (1.5). After attempting only one 3-pointer in his previous 224 NBA games, Dedmon made 35.5 percent of 141 tries in 2017-18.
But Dedmon faced a potentially tight free-agent market next month. Only a handful of teams are projected to have significant salary-cap space and others are looking to shed payroll to avoid the luxury tax.
Another Hawks veteran, Mike Muscala, has a player option worth $5 million for next season. He also can exercise the option by June 29.
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