Atlanta Hawks: The Reasons Four Highly Coveted Players Were Retained

Dewayne Dedmon

Dewayne Dedmon was the Atlanta Hawks player that I thought was most likely to be traded by general manager Travis Schlenk. He’s averaging a career high 10.4 points per game. His 7.2 rebounds per game are just one half of a rebound short of tying a career high, set last season by Dedmon.

Dewayne Dedmon is proving that he is more than just a system guy, while smoothly making the transition from the San Antonio Spurs system, to the high paced offense of rookie head coach Lloyd Pierce. He’s also thriving on the defensive end, averaging a career high one block and one steal per game.

Dedmon continues to shoot the ball well, making 48.8 percent of his shots. He’s nailing a career best 38.9 percent of his three-point shots, while attempting 3.3 per game, the most of his career. He’s also making 84.3 percent of his free throws, again a career best.

It’s difficult to understand why a team did not make an acceptable offer for a legitimate seven-foot center who shoots the three ball at a high clip. In fact Dedmon joins Robert Covington, and Marc Gasol as the only players in the NBA that average one point, one block, and one steal per game.

The only real weakness in the game of Dewayne Dedmon, is the fact that he sometimes launches ill-timed, contested three-point shots.

However for the second consecutive season, Atlanta Hawks General Manager Travis Schlenk insinuated that there was no major deal on the table that would not require the Atlanta Hawks to take back salary. Apparently there were no significant draft assets attached to taking back long-term salary, likely only a late first round pick.

Being they there were no deals in which the Atlanta Hawks could add draft picks without taking on longer salaries, Travis Schlenk was correct to not make a major deal at the trade deadline. Michael Cunningham confirmed that a good deal wasn’t available on his AJC Mike Check blog in this article.

Travis Schlenk also is happy with the progress of his young Hawks as well as the team chemistry that has developed recently. He stated such in the following quote:

"“Couple that with the fact we are very pleased with the direction of the team over the last 24 games, the way the group has come together, the vibe we have in the locker room,” Schlenk said. “That’s special. It’s hard to get in professional sports, especially when you go through a rocky path and get that positive momentum.”"

Dewayne Dedmon’s Stats

Provided by Basketball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 2/12/2019.