NBA: Ranking all 30 starting centers for 2017-18

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26. Dewayne Dedmon, Atlanta Hawks

Dewayne Dedmon had a quietly good season with the San Antonio Spurs last year, to the point it was almost baffling Gregg Popovich glued him to the bench during the team’s playoff run. Now on a talent-starved Atlanta Hawks team, he has the chance to build on that momentum with a career year.

Though he only averaged 5.1 points, 6.5 rebounds and 0.8 blocks per game last season, Dedmon has very little competition for the starting center job and has performed admirably well during preseason action.

Dedmon is a better defender than he’s given credit for, so even though his offensive game is limited, he’ll be a solid starter with improved numbers — even on a tanking Hawks team.