Atlanta Hawks: 5 Most Interesting Big Men in 2018-19

#4 – Dewayne Dedmon

Next up is Dewayne Dedmon, who will likely begin the season as the starting center for the Atlanta Hawks after he picked up his player option worth $7.2 million.

Though he was always expected to opt out of the final year of his two-year pact with the Hawks, the market he faced this offseason would’ve been unnecessarily chilly. Instead, Dedmon opted to showcase his talents in Atlanta for one more year, hopefully leading to a solid payday in the 2019 offseason, when the league will be flush once again with that sweet, sweet TV-deal money.

Dedmon had his best season as a pro last year for the Hawks, as he flashed rock-solid three-point shooting ability – a rather shocking development after only attempting one three-pointer in his previous 4 seasons combined.

Since this is not a ranking of the best Atlanta Hawks big men, Dedmon comes in low on this list, since the team has far more mysterious, interesting and young big men on the roster that should make for more interesting viewing in the 2018-19 season.

At this point, we pretty much know what Dedmon is, so he lags in this list – even though he will be one of the more consistent Atlanta Hawks next season to be sure.

#3 – Alex Len

Now we get into some of the new names brought in this offseason.

Alex Len, previously of the Phoenix Suns, had been on our radar all offseason, and we were quite pleased when the Atlanta Hawks decided to sign him to a 2-year deal worth $8.5 million.

Len has shown plenty of flashes in his 5 years in the league, and he actually had his most efficient season last year as a pro, with career-highs in Player Efficiency Rating and win shares, despite starting only 13 games.

That bench role seemed to suit him, which is good since the Hawks are seemingly planning to have him come off the bench to spell Dewayne Dedmon as the team’s backup center – taking the reins from Mike Muscala, who was sadly traded in the Melo/Schröder deal.

Len immediately slots in as the largest big man on the roster (7’1”, 260 pounds), though that size has never really translated into a role as a rim protector – though he did rank in the Top 5 in block percentage in both the 2014-15 and 2016-17 seasons.

Len should make for fascinating viewing in 2018-19, as it will be interesting to see how new Hawks coach Lloyd Pierce employs his services. Len has always been willing to shoot jumpers from deep two-point range, so maybe a three-point shooting Len is not out of the question for next season.