What Went Right: Dewayne Dedmon established his niche
The Orlando Magic interior defense suffered the majority of the 2014-15 season, but it took a tick upwards with the insertion of an undrafted, unsigned sophomore, and the exact guy Rob Hennigan had hoped would fall into his lap. Enter Dewayne Dedmon.
Dewayne Dedmon is a talent late to come to the game of basketball, but his learning curve has demonstrated the progression of a player of little regard that is now making a major impact.
Dedmon lacks polish. Offensively he is even lost at times. But there is an overwhelmingly positive warm current surrounding his future. Most notable, as cliche as it seems, is the fact he works so hard.
Dedmon has gone from a fringe roster talent to a major rotation player and a guy who started for a long stretch in his second season.
Dedmon really did a lot of the dirty work. And more than any other Magic big, he protected the rim.
He is hardly Dikembe Mutombo, but he made drives to the basket contested more often than even Kyle O’Quinn, whose blocks were largely a product of incessant reaching and good timing rather than athleticism.
Even so, Dedmon ended the season with an average of six fouls per-36, which fouls him out playing starters minutes on a nightly basis. That has to improve.
But there is this: Dedmon, along with center Nikola Vucevic, gave the Magic a rarity in the modern NBA: an effective twin towers lineup. Both essentially were centers, with Dedmon’s true position still very much a matter of debate. The Magic experimented with Marcin Gortat and Dwight Howard together, but it was infrequent, and Dedmon started 15 games this season. Then, of course, there was Dwight Howard’s initial pairing with Kelvin Cato when Howard was more of a power forward.
Whether Dedmon ultimately becomes a rangy power forward or bulks up for major minutes at the 5-spot, he will be spending time in the weight room.
Dedmon has seemingly developed very quickly physically, and that bodes well more than anything. It stands to reason with another 20 pounds of raw muscle on his upper body he will be able to stop the likes of Andre Drummond, who battered Dedmon and the Magic for 22 rebounds (nine offensive) in a game from Dec. 30.
Dedmon could not keep Drummond off the glass, but more run-of-the-mill 5s, he proved adequate. Dedmon at this point probably is best suited for the 4-spot, but with the proper seasoning he could be a 4/5 combo, which adds another value in being able to cover both spots in the frontcourt.
Dedmon’s future role with the team may or may not be as the starting power forward. It is clear what he brings to the table, and the fact he is rapidly improving with each passing week illustrates he may eventually rise to be the kind of talent that locks down a starting role for a long time.
It has not reached that level of confidence yet, but he is just in his second year.
Sometimes given Dedmon’s maturity and intensity, it becomes easy to forget his youth. Other times, he made silly mistakes and it had to be said, “Yeah, that happened because he’s still figuring his athleticism out.”
But more often than not with Dedmon, we were pleased to see the effort. It was good to see a player in this era that will still lie his soul down on the court even if the result is mostly losses. Kevin Garnett would approve of Dedmon, if he approved of people, in other words.
At this point it is relatively fruitless to speculate as to where Dedmon will be when he reaches his full potential. It is difficult to ever imagine him as a major scorer, but players have gone on to become quite proficient at scoring just on the basis of doing what they do well. DeAndre Jordan subsists on dunks, and Tyson Chandler does much the same. Jordan is due a max contract this offseason and Chandler has carved out a decade-long career in the NBA.
But it is not luck that enables both of them to do it, but rather great footwork combined with very good hands and knowledge of how to work a pick and roll. Dedmon is not yet a threat in pick and rolls, because he cannot ‘pop’ to take a jumper.
Then again, the Magic scored 1.22 points per possessions when involving Dedmon on the pick and roll as the roll man, according to NBA.com.
It is not that Jordan or Chandler do so well either — but Elfrid Payton and Victor Oladipo are less respected, so the defenders have a luxury against a Dedmon paired pick and roll. He does have the athleticism to finish the lob though, and that has to be the next thing to be incorporated even more so than it already has.
When he does roll to the basket, he is a solid threat to throw it down, but teams do not hesitate to foul him because he was 34 of 64 from the stripe.
A lot of that may just be needing a bigger sample size with increased comfort due to shooting more. Dedmon also only took 162 field goals all season, and it stands to reason his role in the offense increases as his skills and comfort do.
At this point, Payton knows only to deliver Dedmon the ball in scoring position, but as his range expands, Payton will find him in his to-be developed sweet spots. He is in a very favorable position playing with a superb point guard whose court vision will get him the looks he needs.
Dedmon ended up in Orlando, and whether Hennigan really knew he would be this good or not, is strictly a matter of guess work. What isn ot up to guesses though, is that Dedmon has a career in the NBA.
One of the pleasant surprises of a disappointing season.