Kings send Dewayne Dedmon back to Atlanta Hawks on eve of NBA trade deadline
Dewayne Dedmon will get a new start with his old team following a failed experiment in Sacramento.
Kings general manager Vlade Divac traded Dedmon back to the Atlanta Hawks on Wednesday in exchange for Jabari Parker and Alex Len, league sources told The Sacramento Bee. The Kings will also send the Hawks two second-round draft picks as part of the deal, a 2020 pick from the Houston Rockets and a 2021 pick from the Miami Heat.
Terms of the agreement were first reported by ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski and Zach Lowe.
Parker, a 6-foot-8 power forward, averaged 15.0 points and 6.0 rebounds in 32 games for the Hawks this season, including 23 starts. He has not played since Jan. 3 due to a shoulder injury, but he was cleared for noncontact workouts earlier this week.
Parker, 24, is a six-year NBA veteran with a history of injuries. He tore his left ACL twice while playing for the Milwaukee Bucks early in his career, first as a rookie in 2014-15 and again in 2016-17.
Len, a 7-0 center, appeared in 40 games for the Hawks, averaging 8.7 points and 5.8 rebounds. He missed the past six games due to a right hip flexor strain.
Len 26, is a seven-year veteran who spent his first five seasons with the Phoenix Suns. He averaged 11.1 points and 5.5 rebounds while shooting a career-best 36.3 percent from 3-point range on 2.6 attempts per game for the Hawks last season.
Parker is in the first year of a two-year, $13 million contract with a player option for 2020-21. Len is in the final year of a two-year, $8.51 million deal.
The Kings were already confident they would be able to match offers for guard Bogdan Bogdanovic when he becomes a restricted free agent this summer, but getting out of Dedmon’s contract will allow them to do so without approaching the luxury tax.
Sacramento signed Dedmon to a three-year, $40 million deal in July, a move that has been described as one of the worst free-agent signings of the summer. The Kings coveted Dedmon as a stretch big who could protect the rim, excel in the pick-and-roll game with De’Aaron Fox and pair well with second-year forward Marvin Bagley III, but nothing went as planned.
Bagley broke his thumb in the season opener and Dedmon struggled to fit in. After shooting 38.2 percent from 3-point range for the Hawks last season, he shot a woeful 19.7 percent from beyond the arc in 34 games for the Kings.
The 7-foot center lost the starting job to Richaun Holmes after four games and later dropped out of coach Luke Walton’s rotation completely. The NBA fined Dedmon $50,000 after he publicly requested a trade in an interview with The Bee in late December. On the eve of Thursday’s trade deadline, Dedmon got his wish.
Dedmon returned to the rotation and even started several games recently due to injuries to Holmes and Bagley. Dedmon looked more energetic and engaged in recent weeks, posting three double-doubles in the past 11 games with 13 blocked shots in the last five contests. A league source told The Bee the Kings were open to reconciliation, but Dedmon’s desire to be traded did not change.
Dedmon reunites with Trae Young and John Collins in Atlanta. He is expected to play a backup role behind Clint Capela, who was acquired in a massive four-team trade involving the Houston Rockets, Denver Nuggets and Minnesota Timberwolves.
This is the second move the Kings have made leading up to Thursday’s trade deadline. On Jan. 18, they sent Trevor Ariza, Caleb Swanigan and Wenyen Gabriel to the Portland Trail Blazers in exchange for Kent Bazemore, Anthony Tolliver and second-round draft picks in 2024 and 2025.
Bazemore, a 6-foot-4 guard, has played a significant role already for the Kings, averaging 7.3 points and 3.7 rebounds in 18.6 minutes over his first seven games. Tolliver, a 6-8 forward, has logged 8.7 minutes per contest, averaging 1.0 points and 1.1 rebounds.
The Kings will have to free up a roster spot for Parker and Len, most likely by waiving center Eric Mika, who signed a 10-day contract last week.
This story was originally published February 5, 2020 at 7:21 PM.
