Free Agent Dewayne Dedmon Gets Interest From Warriors, Rockets

Former USC and Orlando Magic center Dewayne Dedmon hit the NBA free agency market on Monday, and already has drawn significant interest from teams.

Last season, Dedmon played just over 12 minutes per night, appearing in 58 games for the Magic. He averaged 4.4 points per game, to go with 3.9 total rebounds.

It wasn’t enough to return to Orlando, as the Magic rescinded their qualifying offer for the 7-footer, making him an unrestricted free agent.

Lo and behold, in a free agency frenzy that has seen the league spend money like there’s no tomorrow, Dedmon is becoming a commodity.

According to USA Today reporter Sam Amick, he’s drawn interest from the Golden State Warriors, Toronto Raptors and Houston Rockets. As of Tuesday morning, only the Warriors had reportedly made an offer, though Amick doesn’t see Dedmon joining Kevin Durant on Golden State’s import list.

Pachulia agreed to terms on a one-year, $2.9 million deal with the Warriors on Monday. Dedmon’s likely to find himself looking for a similar deal with the Raptors or Rockets, as a role player looking to expand his game.

Should he land in Toronto, the opportunity could be there. The Raptors need to replace big man Bismack Biyombo, who oddly enough, agreed to a four-year, $72 million deal with the Magic as a precursor to Dedmon becoming an unrestricted free agent.

FanSided’s Milwaukee Bucks site Behind the Buck Pass profiled Dedmon in June, and highlighted his prowess as a defender.

“The ability to hold opponents to only 46 percent shooting at the rim, as he did last season, may be even more important [than his athleticism],” Adam McGee argued.

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There’s a lot of truth to that. Dedmon isn’t a player who has shown that he is going to bring a lot to the table offensively, which makes his defensive game that much more important.

For a team like the Golden State Warriors, who arguably have assembled the greatest comibination of pure scorers the NBA has ever seen, offense is a bonus. Signing Dedmon would strictly be taking a flier an upside guy as a way to strength the front court defense.

Can the Raptors or Rockets follow through and ink the former Trojan?

Dedmon played two seasons at USC, appearing in 51 games before deciding to turn pro after the 2013 season. He averaged 6.7 points per game for the Trojans on a team led by interim head coach Bob Cantu.