Sacramento Kings: Dewayne Dedmon reportedly wants a trade
By Justin Fried
Sacramento Kings center Dewayne Dedmon has reportedly requested a trade after signing a three-year, $40 million contract in the offseason. What could the Kings get back in return?
It’s been a rough few weeks for the Sacramento Kings. And at a time where seemingly nothing is going right, they now have to deal with reports that prized free-agent addition Dewayne Dedmon is unhappy with his current role.
And really, who could blame him?
Dedmon was signed by the Kings to a three-year, $40 million deal in the offseason with the hope that he could step in and be an immediate upgrade at center after a few lackluster seasons of Willie Cauley-Stein.
The former Atlanta Hawks big man excelled as a three-point shooter and was an upgrade over Cauley-Stein defensively giving the Kings a reason to believe that the addition would work out.
However, the move has been an overwhelming disaster so far.
Dedmon started off slow and was benched in favor of the energetic Richaun Holmes after just five games. And instead of being allowed to figure things out while still remaining in the rotation, he’s fallen out of favor with head coach Luke Walton.
Walton has made Dedmon a healthy scratch in eight of the Kings’ last 10 games and at this point, he’s just a waste of cap space riding the bench.
Dedmon has played in 23 games this season averaging just 13.6 minutes, 4.8 points, and 3.8 rebounds per game. And his three-point percentage that reached near 40 percent last season has plummeted to a lowly 22.9 percent.
He hasn’t been as advertised, but it’s not as if he was given much of a chance to succeed regardless.
It’s easy to see why Dedmon wants out and it should come as no surprise to anyone that he feels his relationship with Walton “can’t be salvaged.”
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The issue, however, comes with the fact that the Kings likely aren’t going to get much for him. Even with his impressive season last year, his struggles this year are hard to ignore and his contract only makes matters worse.
So then, what could the Kings realistically expect to recoup in a possible trade?
Sacramento will, in all likelihood, be looking to acquire draft picks but even landing a second-round pick or two might prove difficult. Teams simply might not be willing to take on Dedmon’s contract that carries a $13.3 million cap hit over each of the next two seasons.
A best-case scenario for the Kings might be to part ways with Dedmon and take on a chunk of his salary in exchange for future draft picks. It isn’t an ideal scenario, but it’s the reality of the situation.
For whatever reason, Dedmon didn’t work out in Sacramento. That’s likely a product of his own inabilities as well as Walton’s unwillingness to allow him time to work through his issues.
But whatever the cause, he’s nothing more than a waste of money at this point. And it would be wise for the Kings to make the best of the situation provided they find a dance partner.
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Dewayne Dedmon’s time in Sacramento is likely nearing its end before it really was ever allowed to get started.