Sixers to sign 7-footer Dedmon for rest of season originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
The Sixers have decided to fill their open roster spot by adding size behind Joel Embiid.
The team will sign Dewayne Dedmon to a contract for the rest of the season, a source confirmed Monday morning to NBC Sports Philadelphia. He’s expected to sign within the next 24 hours. ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski first reported the news.
The Heat traded Dedmon to the Spurs before the trade deadline and San Antonio waived him.
Dedmon, 33, has experience as a Sixer from nearly a decade ago. After going undrafted out of USC, he appeared in 11 games during his rookie season for the 2013-14 Sixers squad that finished 19-63.
This year’s team has nearly twice that many wins with two games left before the All-Star break. However, as president of basketball Daryl Morey acknowledged in a post-trade deadline press conference Friday, the Sixers’ play with Embiid out has remained concerning.
“I think we have a lot of versatility with the lineup,” Morey said of the backup center spot. “(Head coach Doc Rivers) does a very good figuring it out. Just to be fair, I think what most people worry about is when Joel is off (the court). How are we going to play when Joel is off? I think we’re going to improve that. That hasn’t been as good as we want it to be.”
Through 55 games, the Sixers’ net rating has been 12.6 points higher with Embiid on the court compared to when he’s off it, per Cleaning the Glass. Neither Montrezl Harrell nor Paul Reed has solidified the position, though Reed has gotten the nod the last two games. PJ Tucker is a small-ball option the Sixers have turned to on occasion.
While Rivers was expectedly optimistic about backup center at the Sixers’ media day in September, he did note the obvious: the roster lacked size at the position.
“Well, this is the first year we don’t have a 7-footer as a backup,” Rivers said. “We had (Dwight Howard) and (Andre Drummond). But we have a collection of guys with P.J., Paul Reed, Trez. We feel very comfortable in that role. … With the collection, we feel very comfortable in what we have.”
For the Sixers, an excellent outcome here would be Dedmon improving the team’s rim protection when Embiid sits and providing greater deterrence to potential drivers. He’s also willing to put up three-pointers, in contrast to Reed and Harrell, although he’s made only 11 of his 37 long-range attempts (29.7 percent) this season and is at 33.5 percent for his career. In 11.7 minutes per game this year with the Heat, Dedmon averaged 5.7 points, 3.6 rebounds and 0.5 blocks.
Of course, it’s possible that the best-case scenario does not come to be. The Sixers also signed a 33-year-old center in the buyout market last year and generally did not fare well with DeAndre Jordan. We’ll soon see exactly what Dedmon brings to the table.
