Atlanta Hawks: Dewayne Dedmon Suffers Fractured Left Ankle

Atlanta Hawks center Dewayne Dedmon has suffered a left ankle injury during a workout on August 27.

Despite the offseason entering its quietest stretch, the Atlanta Hawks received some troubling news with only a few weeks left until training camp.

Dewayne Dedmon, who had what was easily the best season of his career in 2017-18, has suffered a left ankle avulsion fracture. The injury was sustained during a workout in late August.

Dedmon is currently in a walking boot, and he will be reevaluated in one week.

This is troubling news for the Atlanta Hawks, who were expected to pencil Dedmon is as the team’s starting center in the 2018-19 season. After a breakout campaign last year, Dedmon is in the final year of his contract and would’ve probably been looking to make even more strides this season.

Of course, Dedmon did miss 20 games last year with various ailments, but when he did play, he was one of the most impactful players on the entire Atlanta Hawks roster – serving as a consistent and driven veteran presence.

Dedmon was one of the team’s best rebounders, and was the only true seven-footer on the entire roster last year. Now, of course, the Hawks have Alex Len to fill that role, but still, Len has never shown the same consistent motor that Dedmon put forth last season.

Len is also lacking in the “stretch five” department, which is a role that Dedmon shockingly explored to great effect last season – shooting a solid 35 percent from deep last year on 2.3 attempts per game. Not bad for a rim-running seven-footer who had never shown any inkling of long-range shooting ability during the first four years of his career.

Let’s hope DD’s reevaluation goes well, as these young Atlanta Hawks could do with a effortful veteran presence to go alongside the leadership of Kent Bazemore and the grizzled, twenty-year career of the ageless Vince Carter.

Either way, we can’t wait for the season to start. Keep it locked to Soaring Down South for all your latest Hawks news and predictions.