Kings mailbag: Will Dedmon be traded? What does future hold for Hield and Bogdanovic?
So much has happened since the Kings set out on this five-game road trip.
Kent Bazemore and Anthony Tolliver joined the team following a trade with the Portland Trail Blazers. Dewayne Dedmon moved back into the starting lineup due to the absences of Richaun Holmes and Marvin Bagley III. Buddy Hield moved into a backup role behind Bogdan Bogdanovic.
And after losing six in a row, the Kings won a game, beating the Chicago Bulls 98-81 on Friday night at the United Center. Then they won again, storming back from a 27-point deficit to beat the Minnesota Timberwolves 133-129 in overtime Monday in one of the most improbable comebacks in NBA history. They did it behind a career-high 42 points from Hield, who played in honor of Kobe Bryant, the player he idolized as a boy growing up in the Bahamas.
The lineup and the roster are in flux as the Feb. 6 NBA trade deadline approaches. Kings fans have questions. We have answers in this week’s mailbag.
@Taylorize19 asks: When is Dedmon gone and what’s the latest?
Dedmon requested a trade almost a month ago, but a league source told The Sacramento Bee on Monday the Kings are open to the idea of reconciliation with the 7-foot center. The Kings have been listening to offers for Dedmon, but they won’t agree to a deal unless it makes sense for the team.
Dedmon recently returned to the team’s rotation and started the past three games due to the absences of Holmes and Bagley. He has appeared in seven of the past eight games, averaging 5.5 points and 6.1 rebounds in 17.6 minutes per contest. He has made just 2 of 16 (.125) from 3-point range as his shooting woes continued over that stretch, but he has looked more active and engaged recently.
Dedmon recorded double-doubles in games against the Phoenix Suns and Detroit Pistons. He posted 12 points and 10 rebounds against the Suns. He had 13 points and 10 rebounds against the Pistons.
@adamkuphaldt asks: Is Buddy’s benching night-to-night? Any insight into how the Bogdan camp is feeling now that he’s starting? Feels like it significantly decreases his chance of being traded now that he’s starting and seen as a valuable asset to any further Kings success.
Kings coach Luke Walton said Hield’s move to the bench was not “permanent,” but it’s probably not a game-by-game situation either. Walton is searching for two things: 1) A little continuity given that De’Aaron Fox, Bagley, Bogdanovic and Holmes have combined to miss a total of 71 games this season; and 2) lineup combinations that work.
Hield is the team’s leading scorer at 20.0 points per game, but putting Bogdanovic in the starting lineup gives the first unit better ball handling, playmaking, decision making and defense. If this formula makes the Kings more successful, Walton will stick with it.
As for Bogdanovic and his future with the team, the Kings have always seen him as an important and valuable member of their team. The front office will listen to offers, but a league source told The Bee the Kings are unlikely to move him before the Feb. 6 trade deadline. They remain confident they will be able to match offers for him in restricted free agency this summer.
There were reports earlier this season that Bogdanovic was growing discontent with his backup role, but that seemed like speculation. I’ve posed this question to Bogdanovic a couple of times and he has yet to say he needs to start in order to remain happy with the organization.
@solid_robot asks: I have the feeling that Buddy will be traded by next season, then we’ll sign BB8 (Bogdanovic) to an extension and he’ll get the starting job. What do you see as the answer, looking to next season?
Let’s remember Hield is averaging a team-high 20.0 points, 5.1 rebounds and a career-high 3.2 assists per game, and that he is one of the game’s most elite shooters when his game is right. We also have to acknowledge his defensive deficiencies, ball-handling issues and mental lapses. Some of that is due to his limitations, but there are other factors, too.
Defenses have game planned to stop Hield like never before, particularly given the injury absences of Fox, Bogdanovic and Bagley. Hield is also being asked to become a better all-around player with additional playmaking duties and difficult defensive assignments.
“We are hard on him, but we need him to be — and we believe he will be — more than just a scorer,” Walton recently told The Bee. “That means if we’re going to eventually get to the playoffs and eventually win playoffs series and eventually try to win championships, we need him to be able to defend top-level (shooting) guards.”
That is the answer, in my mind, and it might be the key to Hield’s future with this organization.
@PlanetXNick asks: How long will Bagley be out? Want to see him as the ‘5’ with our new lineup.
Bagley missed his third game in a row with foot soreness Monday night against the Minnesota Timberwolves. According to the Kings, Bagley is dealing with residual soreness from the midfoot sprain that caused him to miss eight games in late December and early January.
Bagley was seen wearing a walking boot Friday in Chicago, but the Kings have given us no indication this is a new or worsening injury that would cause another prolonged absence.
@BULKBIN asks: When are we going to have a 6-game winning streak?
According to tankathon.com, the Kings currently have the ninth-toughest remaining schedule. Going into Monday’s game against the Minnesota Timberwolves, Sacramento’s remaining opponents had a combined winning percentage of .516.
The second-half schedule includes three games against the Los Angeles Lakers, two against the Los Angeles Clippers and Dallas Mavericks, and one against the Milwaukee Bucks, Miami Heat, Toronto Raptors, Houston Rockets and Denver Nuggets. A six-game winning streak looks unlikely given the way the Kings have played up to this point, but they might have a chance if they can pull off a couple of upsets from Feb. 25-March 5. Their opponents during that stretch: the Golden State Warriors, Oklahoma City Thunder, Memphis Grizzlies, Detroit Pistons, Washington Wizards and Philadelphia 76ers.
