By 1788 Hawks writer Noah Lourie (@1788Sports - @Noah_lourie )
The Hawks made some moves this past week, bringing Dewayne Dedmon to the team and re-signing Mike Muscala and Ersan Ilyasova.
Dewayne Dedmon is a hard working and athletic 27 year old big man. He averaged career highs in points, rebounds, and assists last season with the Spurs. He signed with the Hawks on a 2 year, $14 million deal. His numbers don’t jump off the page, as he scored just 5.1 points per game last season, but as a former member of the Spurs system, Dedmon will fit in great with coach Bud’s team. He will also play over John Collins for at least the first part of the season, giving him more time to develop.
The Hawks also re-signed Ersan Ilyasova to a bargain 1 year $6 million deal. The Hawks needed to get a power forward and, as their only other big men were Mike Muscala and Miles Plumlee, they needed one that could make an impact on both sides of the floor. Ilyasova is a very underrated player, one that has a great shot and can grab plenty of rebounds with his long arms. Ilyasova will probably join either Mike Muscala or Dewayne Dedmon in the starting lineup.
These signings were very helpful to a team that had absolutely no depth at the big man positions after the departures of Dwight Howard and Paul Millsap. Now the center position has the incredibly overplayed Miles Plumlee, Mike Muscala and Dewayne Dedmon. At the PF position the Hawks have Ersan Ilyasova and John Collins. At 28 years old, Miles Plumlee is the oldest of the group, the youngest being 19 year old Collins. Most of these guys will be playing more minutes than they have for most of their careers, so the players like Mike Muscala and Dewayne Dedmon will get a chance to showcase what they can do with a bigger role.
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