PHILADELPHIA — The Philadelphia 76ers signed veteran big man Dewayne Dedmon off the buyout market on Feb. 13 after they traded Matisse Thybulle to free cap space. They sought a veteran big man with size to give them a boost in that area.
However, Dedmon was hampered by a hip injury at the time of the signing, and he didn’t make his debut with the Sixers until Sunday’s 112-93 win over the Washington Wizards.
In 4:48 of playing time, Dedmon had four points, a rebound and an assist. Albeit in garbage time, he had some really nice moves on the floor. He had a sweeping hook shot in the lane, and he found an open spot on the floor to get an easy dunk as well.
“It just felt good to be back out there, man,” Dedmon said after the win. “Just play basketball and have fun.”
Before the game, coach Doc Rivers mentioned the Sixers wanted to get Dedmon healthy before throwing him out there.
“First of all, we just want to get him healthy,” Rivers said before the game on Sunday. “We think he’s pretty healthy right now, but we’re in a big stretch. We definitely are gonna play him at some point because we want him on the floor and see what he can do for us.”
Afterward, Dedmon confirmed he is healthy and ready to go.
“I feel good,” he smiled. “I feel fine. Did it look like I was hurting? I feel fine.”
Dedmon’s hook shot clearly got his teammates excited as they were happy to see him get out on the floor.
“He was great,” Georges Niang added. “Dewayne Abdul-Jabbar, right? That was awesome. Great for him to get his feet up under him, hit that running hook, I think he got another layup, and just get his feet up under him. I think that was huge.”
We were all here to witness DeWayne Dedmon’s first bucket as a Sixer pic.twitter.com/u49ACjVXBm
— John Clark (@JClarkNBCS) March 13, 2023
Being the elder statesman on the team at 33 years old, Dedmon also earned ribbing from De’Anthony Melton for the hook shot.
“That running hook, I haven’t seen that since the 80s,” Melton laughed. “It was slow, too. You can tell you he an old man. That’s my OG. That’s my Triple OG.”
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