top of page

2022 Free Agents - DeWayne Dedmon

Summary
Dedmon had some solid years in Atlanta from 2017-2019, but after signing with Sacramento in 2019 he really struggled, and ended up being waived by Detroit in 2020 after being traded around. It was unclear whether Dedmon not signing with a team after being waived was due to his lack of interest or the league's lack of interest, but Dedmon eventually signed with the Heat mid-way through the '20-'21 season.

After shooting 38% from three in the '18-'19 season with the Hawks, Dedmon was seen as one of the rare bigs that could stretch the floor on offense while also providing rim protection on defense. However, his shot fell off a cliff, and he hasn't shown that he can get it back. He shot 45% from three in '21-'22, but the sample size was really small at only 42 attempts. That being said, he's just enough of a threat out there to be at least be a credible threat when he stretches out to the corners. 

Dedmon rebounds well on both ends of the court, and is serviceable on defense, at least during the regular season. He struggled in the playoffs defensively, as he doesn't move well laterally anymore, and wasn't able to make up for it on the offensive end.

Dedmon has played decently for the Heat, but he will be nearing 33 years old when he hits free agency this summer, and is starting to show some aging. He was never the most explosive athlete, but now doesn't look like much of a lob threat on offense at all. He signed a one-year minimum contract in 2021, which is the type of contract I expect Dedmon to be signing for the remainder of his NBA career.
 
Cap Considerations
Dedmon will be an unrestricted free agent with a $1.8 million cap hold and Early Bird rights. Since the Heat will be operating over the salary cap, they will retain Dedmon's Early Bird rights until he is re-signed or signs elsewhere. The Heat could offer Dedmon a starting salary of up to 5% more than the average salary (likely around $10.9 million) using the Early Bird exception, which will be more than enough should they wish to bring him back.

Other teams will have multiple ways to sign Dedmon as even teams without cap space could possibly use any of the Non-Taxpayer MLE, Taxpayer MLE, or possibly even the Room MLE or Bi-Annual Exception to sign him. Since he signed a minimum contract in 2021, teams will hope to get him at the minimum in 2022 too.

Potential Teams: Nuggets, Heat, Raptors, Hornets, Nets

Predicted Contract: 1-year, $2.6 million ($1.8 million cap hit) with the Nuggets

Actual Contract: 2-year, $9 million (2nd year non-guaranteed) with the Heat

I was surprised to see Dedmon get more than the minimum, as I don't think he's anything more than just a backup center. But if the Heat can stay below the luxury tax, the opportunity cost of re-signing him is low.

Last updated: 7/10/2022

bottom of page