Dewayne Dedmon is a perfect fit for the Sacramento Kings

The Sacramento Kings made a great addition this offseason signing Dewayne Dedmon to a three-year, $41 million contract to assume the starting center position.

The Sacramento Kings were a team looking to makes the moves necessary this offseason in order to take the next step towards playoff contention next season. They will be hoping that former Atlanta Hawks center Dewayne Dedmon could help them achieve that goal.

The Kings over-achieved by pretty much all accounts this past season finishing with 39 wins — their most since the 2005-06 season. They saw the rise and development of some of their young players who seem on the verge of truly breaking out in the near future.

The backcourt duo of De’Aaron Fox and Buddy Hield is one of the most talented pairings in the league while 2018 first-rounder Marvin Bagley should step into a full-time starting role next season. Add the newly re-signed Harrison Barnes and the Kings have a very solid starting lineup.

But they still lacked a dependable center option.

It was far from a secret that the Kings were looking to add a center this offseason following Willie Cauley-Stein‘s disappointing four-year tenure in Sacramento. And the acquisition of Dedmon might just be the best possible scenario for the team.

No, he may not be Nikola Vucevic. He’s not even Al Horford. But Dedmon could be the smarter, cheaper, more effective option that the Kings were looking for.

Stylistically, Dedmon is a perfect fit for what the Kings are looking for from a center.

The 29-year-old is accustomed to a fast-paced offense having played in Atlanta’s offense last season that ranked No. 1 in pace of play.

Dedmon has the athletic profile and rim-runner ability that Cauley-Stein brought to the Kings offense while also serving as a much better overall defender. Last season, Dedmon ranked 28th out of 67 big men in defensive real plus-minus, per ESPN.

On top of that, Dedmon projects as a much more effective rebounder than Cauley-Stein was. Dedmon hosts a very solid career defensive rebound rate of 26.9% while Cauley-Stein’s is just 21.2%. Dedmon’s offensive rebound rate of 9.6% is also significantly higher than Cauley-Stein’s 8.0%.

But perhaps the most intriguing element to Dedmon’s game is his mid-range and three-point propensities. The biggest issue hurting the Kings offense last season came with their lackluster spacing ability.

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Simply put, neither Cauley-Stein nor veteran Kosta Koufos provided much as a shooter allowing defenses to zone them out unless they were within a few feet of the basket. Having a player like Dedmon allows the Kings to stretch the floor opening up lanes for their guards to move through.

Imagine the speedy Fox with more open space to work with. That should allow the Kings to find more open looks on the perimeter — something that could be deadly given the sheer quantity of shooters now on the team.

Dedmon’s floor-stretching ability should also allow Bagley to work more from the post, an area of strength in his game. Ultimately, spacing is key in the NBA, especially for a young, up-tempo team like Sacramento.

And in that department, Dedmon is a vast improvement over anything the team had on the roster.

Financially and logistically, this moves makes a ton of sense as well. Dedmon is 29-years-old and isn’t getting any younger. It’s that very reason that the rebuilding Hawks decided to let him walk in free agency.

But the Kings only signed him to a three-year deal meaning that the most effective years he still has left should be spent here in Sacramento. In fact, his third year is only partially guaranteed meaning that the Kings could opt to move on after two seasons with a limited cap hit.

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This is especially important given the presence of the young Harry Giles on the team. For the time being, Giles should serve as the primary big man coming off the bench as he continues to develop his game.

But if Giles starts to impress, the Kings aren’t locked into a center that they’re paying a max contract to. Nor are they stuck paying a player on a long-term deal.

This signing gives the team future flexibility, allowing them to save money to re-sign the younger players on their roster down the line. On top of that, Dedmon’s style of play is a perfect fit for what the Kings are looking for — both offensively and defensively.

At the end of the day, there may not have been a better fit for the Kings in free agency than Dedmon.

He may not be as highly-touted as Vucevic or Horford, but Dewayne Dedmon could be exactly what the Sacramento Kings needed to finally get over the hump and into the postseason.