Dewayne Dedmon (C, ORL) - NBA Waiver Wire Pickups

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ANALYSIS: With star player Nikola Vucevic hobbled with a groin injury, backup center Dewayne Dedmon has been filling in big time for the Orlando Magic. Dedmon has started the last 11 games for the Magic. Despite only averaging 18.6 minutes, the numbers have been extremely efficient and respectable per game: a .545 FG, .882 FT%, 6.8 points, 5.9 rebounds, 0.5 assists, 0.5 steals, 0.9 blocks, and 0.9 turnovers.  He's looked especially nice in his last three outings, scoring double-digit points in each game to average 14.3 points on percentages of .643 and .875, with a nice 7.7 rebounds and 1.0 blocks.

The status of Vucevic is still very much in the air, but the Magic have nothing to play for and no reason to push guys out there to win games. They will wait until Vucevic is feeling completely healthy before putting him out there again.  You run the risk of Dedmon doing very little if you pick him up and Vucevic returns, but it seems like a worthwhile gamble for this weekend in deeper leagues.  Orlando plays 3 games in the next 4 days (Thursday/Friday/Sunday). Dedmon will have a lot of potential minutes to contribute his brand of high efficiency percentages + boards.  Snag him in deep leagues or in H2H leagues where you're looking for high efficiency in both percentages.