Atlanta Hawks: Dewayne Dedmon Ranked as Free Agent Team Can’t Lose

With the 2019 offseason looming large, the Atlanta Hawks have a few decisions to make in free agency.

Atlanta Hawks General Manager Travis Schlenk has made some terrific, proactive moves in his tenure as GM, though none were splashier than the blockbuster trade of Luka Doncic for Trae Young and a future first round pick (which turned into the 10th overall selection in 2019).

Beyond that, in back-to-back offseasons, Schlenk signed two big men that had never shown any semblance of a three-point shot (Dewayne Dedmon and Alex Len), but the two suddenly became rock-solid perimeter shooting threats – seemingly out of nowhere.

Now, one of those players (Dedmon) is a free agent in a free agency market that will be absolutely flush with cash due to yet another salary cap spike. According to a recent story by Dan Favale of Bleacher Report, the Atlanta Hawks must prioritize re-signing Dedmon this offseason.

This might seem rather surprising, considering the Hawks will likely take a big man in the 2019 NBA Draft such as Jaxson Hayes, Brandon Clarke or (far later on in the proceedings) Tacko Fall. However, none of those players projects to have the same three-point stroke that Dedmon has discovered in recent years.

Per Cleaning the Glass, Dedmon had the third-highest net rating on the team at +4.5, behind only franchise cornerstones John Collins (+9.8) and Kevin Huerter (+6.6). Much of that impact came on the defensive end, where Dedmon was tops on the team in defensive box plus/minus per Basketball Reference with a +1.7.

Furthermore, Dedmon had the highest defensive player impact plus/minus per BBall Index on the entire Atlanta Hawks roster at 1.2, ahead of noted perimeter stoppers DeAndre’ Bembry (0.8), Kent Bazemore (0.5) and Justin Anderson (0.4).

Certainly, if the Atlanta Hawks can retain Dedmon at a reasonable price (such as his cap hold of $9.4 million), then the team should make sure he returns to provide some stability for the team’s young core – as well as the players that will likely come in via the 2019 NBA Draft.