Sixers Center Dewayne Dedmon Will Miss Bout vs. Miami Heat

Dewayne Dedmon is out against the Miami Heat already.

The Philadelphia 76ers’ newly-acquired center Dewayne Dedmon won’t be facing his former team, the Miami Heat, for the first time since leaving on Monday night.

According to the Sixers’ injury report, Dedmon is once again ruled out in advance of the matchup as he continues to deal with hip soreness. 

The big man’s recent setback started midway through last week. As the Sixers participated in a post-All-Star break practice on Wednesday, Dedmon participated in his first full practice with the 76ers. Unfortunately, it seems things did not go right for the veteran big man.

As the Sixers geared up for their matchup against the Memphis Grizzlies last Thursday, Dedmon was on the injury report listed as questionable. Hours before the two teams tipped off, Dedmon was ruled out. At the time, Doc Rivers mentioned that the center’s injury wasn’t too serious.

Two nights later, Dedmon was ruled out against the Boston Celtics. Once again, there wasn’t any indication that Dedmon is dealing with a critical setback, but it’s clearly severe enough to keep him off the floor and prevent him from making his Sixers debut.

Monday night will mark the third-straight game Dedmon will be inactive for the Sixers. It will be the fourth matchup he won’t play since signing with the Sixers ahead of their February 15 matchup against the Cleveland Cavaliers.

The last time Dedmon appeared on the court was the Miami Heat’s February 4 matchup against the Milwaukee Bucks. In that game, he spent 12 minutes on the court. Before that, Dedmon didn’t play for 11 straight games.

There isn’t much time left in the season for the Sixers to test out Dedmon behind Joel Embiid in an attempt to figure out how they will approach the playoffs with the backup center position. There is hope that Dedmon will be healthy and ready to debut sooner than later, but the Sixers have to remain patient for the time being.  

Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for All76ers, a Sports Illustrated channel. You can follow him for live updates on Twitter: @JGrasso_.