Dewayne Dedmon Won’t Fill the Void at 76ers’ Backup Center Spot

Dewayne Dedmon Won’t Fill the Void at 76ers’ Backup Center Spot

Time Stamp: February 14, 2023 8:29 AM
Source Node: 1957253

On Monday morning, the Philadelphia 76ers signed veteran center Dewayne Dedmon for the rest of the season to help fill their issues at center behind Joel Embiid.

Every year, the spot is an issue for the team. Since Embiid flourished into a star, there has been a theme of the Sixers’ bench unit struggling defensively when he’s not on the floor.

Teams like the Boston Celtics and Milwaukee Bucks have often had one thing the 76ers haven’t: depth on the bench.

While there has been a few decent options at center they’ve had over the past few years, they have failed to retain them.

Here is a look at why Dedmon is just the next in line to be a nonproductive 76ers backup center.

This Season’s Backups

While Philadelphia is 36-19 and is currently the third seed in the Eastern Conference, the backup center spot has been nothing short of atrocious this year.

The team signed Montrezl Harrell in the offseason, banking on him to return to his 2019-20 form, when he won the Sixth Man of the Year award with the Clippers.

It hasn’t worked out at all. While Harrell always brings intensity and some inside scoring, his defense is among the worst in the NBA for a big man.

When on the court with James Harden, Harrell is a fine fit offensively because he can play off of Harden’s passing ability. But when they’re not on the floor together, Harrell can’t score.

Harrell is also more of a power forward than a center. He provides no rim protection, rarely has a height advantage over other centers, and can’t defend a pick and roll.

The other part of the equation this season has been Paul Reed. Still just 23 years old, Reed is more talented and fits the center spot more than Harrell.

However, he has his flaws. Reed fouls a lot, which causes Doc Rivers to lose trust in him often. The head coach has always been known for prefering veterans to young players.

Reed, a DePaul product, averages 1.8 personal fouls in just 9.4 minutes per game.

Reed is athletic, plays solid defense and is a hard worker. But for a team who is looking to compete for a championship, he doesn’t seem quite ready to take on a bigger role.

Between Reed and Harrell, the 76ers have had no consistency at the backup five spot this year. PJ Tucker can play small-ball center sometimes, but not on a daily basis.

Rivers, Daryl Morey and company will have to hope Dedmon can at least bring solid rim protection without fouling, and can finish at the rim when needed.

Veteran Centers Haven’t Worked out in Philly

For some reason, the 76ers have been hesitant to not only draft young centers for the backup spot, but also develop and retain young big men.

Every season, they seem to bring in a veteran center, and it rarely works out.

After Andre Drummond departed last season in the Harden/Ben Simmons trade, Philadelphia relied on the following names to hold down the bench’s center spot: Paul Millsap, DeAndre Jordan, Willie Cauley-Stein and Charles Bassey.

The first three were aging veterans with not much left in the tank. Jordan was one of the league’s worst players last season, but somehow continued to find minutes.

Bassey displayed some potential with a long wingspan, and was a good shot-blocker, but the team let him go earlier this season.

They could certaintly use Bassey right now amid Harrell and Reed’s stuggles.

In the 2020-21 season, Dwight Howard and Tony Bradley were the backups.

Among the other names Philadelphia has employed for the backup five spot in the Embiid era: Kyle O’Quinn, Al Horford (who started at power forward most of the time), Greg Monroe, Amir Johnson, and Richaun Holmes.

If you’re not impressed by that list, you’re not alone.

Unless he is a surprising success, Dedmon looks to be just another name on that list. The unwillingness to sign, draft, develop or trade for a good backup center has repeatedly hurt the 76ers over recent seasons.

While Dedmon could be better than Harrell and Reed for now, bringing in another veteran center on a one-year deal is not the answer.

Drummond + Dwight Only Recent, Productive Backup Centers

Dewayne Dedmon 76ers
Andre Drummond was one of the few good fits for the Sixers at backup center. (Photo by Tim Nwachukwu/Getty Images)

There seems to only be two centers who have been solid in Philadelphia behind Embiid.

Drummond signed with the Sixers for the 2021-22 season on a one-year deal. His famous ability to crash the glass, along with his rim protection, was a major improvement over anything the team had seen from a backup center.

Unfortunately, he was traded to Brooklyn as part of the package for Harden last season. Many called for the front office to snag him from the Bulls at last Thursday’s NBA trade deadline, but the Sixers never bit.

Drummond’s rebounding ability, rim protection and height was a great fit before. It would have been a great fit this season.

The only other center that somewhat worked out in Philadelphia behind Embiid was Howard.

While he was on the tail end of his career, Howard was still a good contibutor because of his athleticism and height. He was still a capable finisher around the rim. On defense, he was a traffic cone on the perimeter, but provided strong rim protection.

Howard and Drummond are two examples of guys the Sixers’ front office should have been chasing at the trade deadline.

The team desperately needs commitment to a backup center who can do just two things at a great level: rebound and protect the rim.

For some reason, they continue to find stop-gap options that are either bad fits (Harrell), on the wrong side of 30 (Horford and Jordan) or too young to contribute to a playoff team (Reed and Bassey).

Dedmon is 33. He averaged 5.7 points, 3.6 rebounds and 0.5 blocks in 11.7 minutes per game with Miami this season before being traded.

There is a solid chance that he’s a better fit than Harrell or Reed. But at the end of the day, the 76ers have a real backup center problem that Dedmon won’t solve.

Featured Image Courtesy of Tim Nwachukwu/Getty Images

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