Even with a fully healthy team, for the fourth time in five years, the Houston Rockets’ season came to an end in the NBA playoffs thanks to the Golden State Warriors.
Heading into the offseason, the Rockets have no NBA draft picks to offer, no cap space to work with and two very heavy contracts belonging to James Harden and Chris Paul.
Yet, there is still the possibility the front office can make some moves, make some trades and snag some worthwhile free agents this summer.
RocketsWire is exploring and breaking down those free agents, and what they can offer to the team.
Dewayne Dedmon
Dedmon put together a pair of quality seasons with the Atlanta Hawks, serving as both a starter and a bench player. A major factor in his success was his evolution as a three-point shooter. Before signing with Atlanta in 2017, he’d taken one three in his four seasons in the NBA. While with the Hawks, Dedmon took 358 threes and made 37.2 percent of his attempts. So now he has a long game to go with his efficient shooting inside (55.9 percent or better from two since 2014-15).
While Dedmon has developed as a scorer since he broke into the league in 2013-14, he’s still not taking 10 shots a game (career-high 8.2 in 2018-19). He will work within the flow of the offense.
After knocking down a three, the seven-footer will take care of his defensive responsibilities as a rim protector, too. He had a career-high 1.1 blocks per game last season, while setting a new personal best with 1.1 steals per game, too. Dedmon can also help Clint Capella on the glass on a nightly basis (7.7 rebounds per game over the last two seasons).
Demon’s last contract was worth $14 million, plus incentives, over two years. He may require more money, but it likely won’t be a huge increase.
Dedmon provides some help on the defensive end in the paint and provides another option for Harden or Paul to kick to off the drive. Do you want to see the Rockets make him an offer?
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