When the Philadelphia 76ers added big man Dewayne Dedmon in the buyout market, there were some immediate questions.
After playing in 30 games with the Miami Heat and not being able to produce as he once could, he was moved to the San Antonio Spurs before being waived.
Dedmon brings the size the Sixers need, but at 33 years old, how much does the veteran out of USC have left in the tank. His net rating on the season is a minus-12.5 and the Heat averaged 13.8 points fewer per 100 possessions when he was on the floor on offense.
However, he was dealing with a pretty bad plantar fasciitis issue to begin the season and one has to wonder if that was the cause of the early season struggles.
Team president Daryl Morey hopped on the “Rights to Ricky Sanchez” podcast and explained the addition of Dedmon:
Dedmon, I know a lot of people were like scratching their head on that one. He’s someone we’ve liked for quite a while. A lot of our players have played with him in the past. This season, people are pointing to a lot of issues, but he did have a fairly significant plantar fascia issue that is resolved. Look, proof is in the pudding, right? I mean, at the end of the day, we’re trying to win the title. So let’s see what happens. … To your point, the initial question we did prioritize Jalen (McDaniels) there more than the center. I mean, you saw what centers were going for. I can’t say the player’s names, but some of them were going for like five second-round picks. Who I would say are non differential to the one that we just picked up.
Morey is right when it comes to the moves that were being made at the deadline. He could have stepped up and brought in another center, but instead, he waited and grabbed Dedmon. Time will tell if the move works, but the reasoning makes sense.
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