Dewayne Dedmon sidelined for remainder of season with ankle injury

Dewayne Dedmon has enjoyed arguably the best performance of his NBA career during the 2018-19 season but the veteran center will not return to the floor until the 2019-20 campaign begins. The Atlanta Hawks announced on Sunday morning that Dedmon “will undergo a non-surgical procedure later this week to address ongoing left ankle soreness” and, as a result, he will miss the team’s final six games.

In addition, Dedmon will “begin a short period of unloading and rehabilitation” before returning to normal workouts some time in the near future. Given his status as a pending unrestricted free agent, it is possible that the 29-year-old has played his last basketball as a member of the Hawks.

In 64 games this season, Dedmon averaged 10.5 points, 7.5 rebounds and 1.1 blocks per game this season and he continued his maturation as a shooter, connecting on 38.2 percent of his three-point attempts. In his stead, the Hawks will likely turn to Alex Len (and John Collins) for the majority of minutes at the center position but, with Omari Spellman, Alex Poythress and Miles Plumlee on the shelf with injury, Lloyd Pierce will have a shortage of options in the frontcourt.

Dedmon’s future is unclear but, at the very least, he established himself as a starting-caliber NBA center and it will be interesting to see what the market dictates when July arrives. Stay tuned.