Center Dewayne Dedmon and swingman Justin Anderson will not be cleared for Hawks training camp, Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal Constitution tweets. Dedmon suffered an avulsion fracture in his left ankle earlier this month and shed his walking boot last week. Dedmon, who will be an unrestricted free agent next summer, will be reevaluated next week, Vivlamore continues. Anderson had surgery June 29th on his left leg due to recurring tibial stress syndrome. Anderson, who was acquired from the Sixers in a three-team deal in July, will be re-evaluated in two weeks, Vivlamore adds.
We have more from around the Southeast Division:
- The addition of Dwyane Wade complicates the Heat’s rotation, as Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel notes. With Tyler Johnson, Dion Waiters, Josh Richardson, Wayne Ellington, Rodney McGruder and Derrick Jones Jr. along with Wade, the Heat could field a lineup of shooting guards and still have a couple left over, Winderman points out. Even though Wade agreed to the $2.4MM veteran’s minimum, the Heat have major luxury tax concerns as well, Winderman writes in another piece. They’ll have to shed approximately $6.3MM in payroll to get below the tax, Winderman adds.
- The Magic have hired Bill Pope as director of pro personnel, Chris Mannix of Yahoo Sports tweets. Pope held a similar position with the Kings front office. Marc Stein of the New York Times reported last week that Orlando was closing to hiring Pope.
- Getting more out of second-year guard Malik Monk and dividing minutes at center among Cody Zeller, Willy Hernangomez, Bismack Biyombo and Frank Kaminsky are a couple of the storylines to watch with the Hornets this season. Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer breaks down the top 10 storylines for Charlotte.