Player:  Dewayne Dedmon

Position: C

Team: Atlanta Hawks

Analysis: The Atlanta Hawks cleaned the cupboards this summer with the loss of Paul Millsap, Dwight Howard, and Tim Hardaway Jr.  Because of that the team needed to retool their front line. That group will be anchored, especially on defense, by Dewayne Dedmon.  The former Spur comes over to the Hawks with a chance to be a sneaky late round pick in fantasy drafts.

In four years as a pro, Dedmon has never played over 18 minutes a game, but that should take a big jump to at least 26 minutes per game this year. If he sees that boost in minutes it is not out of the question that he averages a double-double.  His per 36 minute numbers last year were a stellar 10.5 points, 13.4 rebounds, 1.7 blocks. Along with those numbers, Dedmon is not a typical low post man that will hurt you at the free throw line as he shot a respectable 70% from the charity stripe last year.

The biggest thing for Dedmon's high fantasy floor is the lack of other big men on the Hawks roster. The only other true center on the roster is Miles Plumlee who will miss the start of the season due to injury.  Mike Muscala has the size but is not known for his rebounding or defense which is emphasized by Mike Budenholzer. This has been shown in the preseason with Dedmon playing nearly all the minutes with the starting lineup and getting 19 minutes per game despite the starters being held back.  In each of those games Dedmon has at least one block and perhaps more importantly has rebounding rates of 20% and 16.3% in the last two preseason games, which is right in line with his career numbers.

If you are searching for center in the last few rounds of your drafts you can certainly do worse than Dedmon, who has the potential for 10 points, 10 rebounds and two blocks a game.  Those are numbers that would put him ahead of players such as Robin Lopez and Steven Adams, who are going well in front of him in fantasy drafts.

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