Atlanta Hawks Team Awards at the All-Star Break
By Chris Guest
Most Improved Player: Dewayne Dedmon
Our original winner of this award at the quarter-season mark returns for a reprise, as his continued impressive play has varied between impressive and revelatory.
Dewayne Dedmon is putting up career numbers in almost every fathomable category, and his leadership and boundless energy as an intermittent starter have been perhaps the most important elements of his season.
Per game, Dedmon has career-high averages of 10.1 points, 7.5 rebounds, and 1.4 assists. Those 7.5 rebounds per game are first on the Hawks and he is second only to John Collins with 301 total rebounds.
Perhaps the most striking aspect of Dedmon’s game is his shooting beyond the three-point line. Coming into this season, Dedmon had only attempted one (count it, one) three-pointer in his 4 years in the NBA.
This season he has made 30 of 78 attempts, good for a staggering 38.5% clip from downtown, which happens to be 3rd on the team behind only Mike Muscala and Kent Bazemore – players with a far more entrenched pedigree of shooting the three-ball.
Dedmon has been far better than advertised with the Hawks this season, and though he signed a two-year deal with Atlanta in the offseason, he will almost certainly opt out of his player option this offseason in order to test the waters of free agency.
He is definitely the Hawks’ Most Improved Player, and hopefully, he gets rewarded for his work this offseason with a big payday from a team that want an energetic and active seven-footer with a rock-solid shooting stroke.