Dewayne Dedmon

Kings’ Dewayne Dedmon Confirms Trade Request

11:40am: The NBA will investigate Dedmon’s comments to determine whether he’ll be fined, according to Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports. As noted below, the league’s CBA prohibits players from publicly requesting a trade.

8:55am: Shams Charania of The Athletic reported on Friday that Kings center Dewayne Dedmon, who has fallen out of the team’s rotation after signing a three-year, $41MM contract in the summer, wants to be dealt. Speaking on Sunday to Jason Anderson of The Sacramento Bee, Dedmon made no effort to deny Charania’s report or downplay his desire to be moved.

“I would like to be traded,” Dedmon confirmed. “I haven’t been playing, so I would like to go somewhere where my talents are appreciated.”

Dedmon, 30, was coming off two solid seasons in Atlanta when he reached unrestricted free agency this past offseason. In 2018/19, he averaged a career-best 10.8 PPG to go along with 7.5 RPG, 1.1 SPG, 1.1 BPG, and a .382 3PT%. That performance made him a popular target on the open market and resulted in a lucrative contract offer from Sacramento.

However, Dedmon was outplayed by bigs like Richaun Holmes and Nemanja Bjelica in the early going this season. With Marvin Bagley III and Harrison Barnes also in the frontcourt mix, head coach Luke Walton hasn’t found minutes for the former Hawk as of late — Dedmon, who is making just 41.9% of his shots from the field this season, has only played seven total minutes since December 6, and is frustrated that he hasn’t gotten more of a chance to reverse his slow start.

“I’m not the only person struggling with my shot, so if that’s a factor then it’s kind of crazy,” Dedmon told Anderson. “If you’re not allowed to shoot through your slumps, I don’t know how you’re supposed to make shots.”

Dedmon is earning $13MM+ this season and has another fully guaranteed year left on his deal, so the Kings may still want to get him back into the rotation at some point to rebuild his value and salvage their investment. However, the veteran big man sounds skeptical that things will turn around for him in Sacramento.

“I definitely appreciate (the Kings’ investment), but I want to be somewhere where I get to play,” Dedmon said. “That’s my biggest thing. I’m trying to play and I’ve been told I’m no longer in the rotation here, so there’s really nothing to wait on.”

According to Anderson, the Kings are listening to offers for Dedmon and there may be a market for his services, but the front office will insist that any deal must make sense for the team’s future. Sam Quinn of CBS Sports recently speculated that teams like the Clippers, Celtics, Timberwolves, Trail Blazers, and Hawks could be fits for Dedmon. Anderson adds the Mavericks and Magic to that list of hypothetical suitors.

The NBA’s Collective Bargaining Agreement prohibits players from making public trade demands, so we’ll see if the league responds to Dedmon’s comments. Anthony Davis was fined $50K last winter when agent Rich Paul publicly requested a trade.

Dewayne Dedmon Wants Out Of Sacramento

When Dewayne Dedmon signed his three-year, $41MM contract with Sacramento this offseason, the plan was for him to play a major role as a floor stretching big. However, Richaun Holmes has severely outplayed Dedmon, forcing coach Luke Walton to sour on the 30-year-old big man.

Now, Shams Charania of The Athletic hears that Dedmon wants out of Sacramento and multiple teams are speaking with the Kings about acquiring him prior to this year’s trade deadline.

The center has not played in eight of the last 10 games for the Kings. Neither the franchise nor Dedmon believes that they can work things out and move forward past the trade deadline.

Dedmon’s $41MM deal may make it a challenge for Sacramento to find a taker, but it’s not as onerous as other contracts that have been moved in recent years. His third-year salary is only partially guaranteed for $1MM, so teams aiming to open up cap room for 2021 may still kick the tires on the veteran big man.

Harry Giles: Lack Of Role Is “Tough”

The Kings used a first-round pick on Harry Giles in 2017 and seemed to view him as a franchise cornerstone during his de facto rookie season in 2018/19. However, Sacramento turned down its fourth-year option for 2020/21 on Giles this fall and the big man has only appeared in seven games so far this season, logging 52 total minutes.

Giles, whose rookie season was wiped out due to knee problems, is healthy now after battling injuries in recent years. Still, he hasn’t seen the court since November 27 and admits to Jason Anderson of The Sacramento Bee that falling out of the rotation this season has been difficult.

“It’s tough,” Giles said. “I’m a competitor, so it’s hard, but it is what it is. It’s not my decision. All I can do is work hard every day, control what I can control, and stay as ready as I can. What else can I do?”

As Anderson notes, Giles was expected to vie with Richaun Holmes for backup center minutes behind Dewayne Dedmon this season, but the Kings’ frontcourt rotation has been upended as a result of impressive performances from Holmes and Nemanja Bjelica. Neither Dedmon nor Giles has played as of late, though head coach Luke Walton suggests both big men should get another chance at some point.

“He’s going to get an opportunity and it’s his job to be ready and take full advantage of that,” Walton said of Giles. “Right now, we feel like our best group is tightening the rotation and keeping as much shooting and spacing out there as we can. With Marvin [Bagley] coming back, we wanted to get him in that rotation, but we’re playing eight or nine guys right now, so it’s more of a numbers thing. We want to play everyone, but we can’t.”

While the Kings say Giles will get another chance and insist he hasn’t been ruled out as a long-term piece, it seems unlikely at this point that his time in Sacramento will extend beyond this season — especially with Bagley, Holmes, Dedmon, and Bjelica all on multiyear deals. Giles, who will be an unrestricted free agent at season’s end, will be just 22 years old at that time, so I’d expect another NBA team to roll the dice on his upside if Sacramento doesn’t retain him.

Kings Notes: Ariza, Centers, Dedmon

Trevor Ariza, who joined the Kings this summer on a two-year, $25MM contract, understands he might not get a chance to see the type of minutes he’s accustomed to while in Sacramento, given the club’s crowded frontcourt.

“As a player, as a competitor, you always believe you can compete at any level, against anybody and I’m one of those players that feels that way,” Ariza told James Ham of NBC Sports. “But I also understand that this is a team sport and a team game and whatever works best for the team is the road that you have to play.”

Here’s more from Sacramento:

  • In the same piece, Ariza spoke about why he choose the Kings in free agency. “The main reason I chose Sacramento is because it’s closer to home for me, I’m familiar with the coaching staff and I believe in what [head coach] Luke [Walton] has to offer and what he’s doing,” said Ariza, who was raised in Los Angeles.
  • In a separate piece, Ham writes that the Kings’ center position will have its share of healthy competition. “We can go with [Dewayne Dedmon] who can space the floor for us, which can allow [De’Aaron Fox] to have that funnel right to the paint as often as we need him to,” Walton said. “We’ve got [Richaun Holmes], who is one of the most dynamic rollers in-game to play at the five. We have Harry [Giles], who is one of the best playmakers on our team from what I can tell from last year.”
  • Dedmon signed a three-year, $40MM contract with the Kings and the big man believes Sacramento’s offensive approach fits his game well. “This definitely fits my style of play,” Dedmon said. “Fast, get up and down, run, it’s going to be fun.”

Pacific Notes: Oubre, Dedmon, Lydon, Kawhi

As the last restricted free agent on the market this summer, Kelly Oubre may have preferred to resolve his free agency situation a little sooner. However, as Gina Mizell of The Athletic relays, Oubre – who didn’t have to wait until the fall to get a new deal like other RFAs have in recent years – had no complaints about the process after signing a new two-year, $30MM contract with the Suns.

“It was a little prolonged due to the things of the business,” Oubre said. “I was blessed enough to be able to watch it happen. Everything works out for people who put the right energy into the world. So I can’t really complain. It’s been a great two weeks.”

The Suns, meanwhile, made Oubre a priority this offseason due to the way he approaches the game, as general manager James Jones told reporters, including Mizell, this week.

“When you watch the games, you watch effort,” Jones said. “You watch the competitiveness. You watch the passion. That’s who you are. (Oubre) was consistent every game, every day. … Those are the foundational characteristics and traits that you look for in players when you talk about building a core, building a foundation.”

Here’s more from around the Pacific:

  • Dewayne Dedmon‘s ability to shoot three-pointers and run the floor could help maximize the Kings‘ run-and-gun offense in 2019/20, writes Jason Anderson of The Sacramento Bee. For his part, Dedmon is looking forward to fitting into Sacramento’s system. “I had my free agency meeting with my agent and he broke everything down, talked about the teams and whatever, and Sac came with the best offer,” Dedmon said. “Best fit, best offer, everything was good, and it’s somewhere I can call home for the next three years, hopefully.”
  • Tyler Lydon‘s new two-year, minimum-salary contract with the Kings is only partially guaranteed for $50K in year one, tweets Jeff Siegel of Early Bird Rights. Given how little salary protection he has, the former first-round pick isn’t necessarily a lock to earn a regular season roster spot for Sacramento in 2019/10.
  • Nearly two weeks after Kawhi Leonard announced that he’d be joining the Clippers, Michael Lee of The Athletic looks back at the way Leonard wielded his power during the free agent process and the ripple effect the decision had on the Raptors, Lakers, and Thunder, among other teams.

Contract Details: Porter, Rozier, Spurs, Kings, Raptors

For the first time in several years, a first-round pick has accepted below the standard maximum of 120% of his rookie scale amount, tweets Jeff Siegel of Early Bird Rights. According to Siegel, No. 30 overall pick Kevin Porter Jr. will only earn 80% of his rookie scale amount during his first season and will continue to get less than 120% of the rookie scale amount in years two through four.

The rookie scale amount this year for the No. 30 pick is $1,613,700, so Porter’s expected salary for his rookie season would have been $1,936,440. Instead, he’ll get just $1,290,960, according to Siegel.

[RELATED: Rookie Scale Salaries For 2019 First-Round Picks]

While this is just my speculation, it seems likely that the Cavaliers would have checked in with Porter and his agent before drafting him to see if he’d be okay with that reduced first-year salary, given how rare it is. Porter, the final pick in the first round, will still earn significantly more than the rookie minimum of $898K that many early second-rounder selections will receive, while the Cavs, who are up against the luxury-tax line, will put themselves in better position to avoid potential repeater penalties.

Here are more contract details from around the NBA, all courtesy of Siegel unless otherwise indicated:

  • Terry Rozier‘s three-year, $56.7MM contract with the Hornets has a declining structure (Twitter link). It starts at $19.9MM in 2019/20 before eventually dipping to $17.9MM by 2021/22.
  • The base value of Rudy Gay‘s two-year deal with the Spurs is $28MM, with $2MM in annual bonuses to bring the potential total value up to $32MM (Twitter link). DeMarre Carroll‘s deal, meanwhile, only has a partial guarantee of $1.35MM in the third year (Twitter link). The Spurs tacked on that third season when they pivoted to acquiring Carroll via sign-and-trade rather than signing him outright.
  • Trevor Ariza‘s two-year, $25MM contract with the Kings only has a $1.8MM partial guarantee in year two (Twitter link). Meanwhile, Sacramento’s deal with Dewayne Dedmon has a base value of $40MM over three years, with $300K in annual incentives (Twitter link).
  • Blake Murphy of The Athletic provides details on a pair of Raptors contracts, tweeting that Patrick McCaw‘s new two-year deal is worth $8MM, while Matt Thomas‘ three-year, minimum-salary contract is non-guaranteed in year three. Both of those deals will come out of Toronto’s mid-level exception — Stanley Johnson‘s might too, though if the team has plans in mind for the rest of the $4.36MM on its MLE, Johnson could be signed using the bi-annual exception instead, notes Murphy.

Kings Sign Dewayne Dedmon

JULY 8, 1:30pm: The Kings have officially signed Dedmon, the team announced today in a press release.

JUNE 30, 5:03pm: The Kings have agreed to terms on a three-year, $41MM deal with Dedmon, his agents tells Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).

JUNE 30, 4:12pm: The Kings are expected to agree to terms quickly with center Dewayne Dedmon when free agency opens, according to Sam Amick of The Athletic, who reports (via Twitter) that the two sides will finalize a three-year, $40MM agreement. The third year will be partially guaranteed, Amick adds.

[RELATED: Kings to finalize four-year deal with Harrison Barnes]

The team issued a qualifying offer to Willie Cauley-Stein, who is on the market as a restricted free agent. Perhaps the team brings WCS back in addition to Dedmon, but I’d speculate that we’ve seen the last of Cauley-Stein in Sacramento.

The Kings were eyeing an upgrade at the center spot. They reportedly had interest in Al Horford, though the organization feared that he would end up signing elsewhere. Sacramento was also in the mix for Clint Capela had the Rockets opted to trade him either by himself or via a sign-and-trade that involved Jimmy Butler. There’s no word yet on whether the Kings are done shopping at the center spot.

Dedmon, who is entering his age-30 season, spent his last two seasons in Atlanta. In 2018/19, he averaged 10.8 PPG, 7.5 RPG, 1.3 BPG, and 1.1 SPG with a .492/.382/.814 shooting line in 64 games (25.1 MPG) for the Hawks.

In a recent podcast, ESPN’s Zach Lowe identified Dedmon as “sneakily the most coveted under-the-radar free agent in the league,” suggesting that teams would be thrilled to land him at the mid-level. Sacramento had to go higher than that to secure a commitment, but will still have cap room left over after adding Dedmon and Harrison Barnes.

Chris Crouse contributed to this post. Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Kings Plan To Make Offer To Al Horford

12:18pm: Horford has “very real interest” in joining the Sixers if they can make it possible, Amick tweets. Philadelphia is reportedly willing to facilitate a sign-and-trade for Jimmy Butler, but has Tobias Harris and J.J. Redick to address as well. The Kings have a better chance at signing Hawks center Dewayne Dedmon, Amick adds, and are among the teams willing to take on Clint Capela if the Rockets trade for Butler (Twitter link). Houston has found multiple teams interested in Capela and will send him to the highest bidder.

11:58pm: The Kings are ready to pounce on Al Horford with a significant offer once free agency begins, tweets Marc Stein of The New York Times. Sacramento has the cap room to offer the rumored four-year deal in excess of $100MM, and a source tells Stein that the organization “definitely” has strong interest in Horford.

That report is confirmed by James Ham of NBC Sports Bay Area (Twitter link), who adds that the Kings consider Horford a “major target.” However, a source tells Sam Amick of The Athletic that team officials expect him to sign with someone else (Twitter link).

Sacramento is looking for an upgrade at center over Willie Cauley-Stein, and Horford definitely qualifies. He has put up solid numbers for more than a decade in both Atlanta and Boston, earning five All-Star appearances, and is the mobile, floor-stretching style of big man that the Kings want to add.

Horford had been considered likely to stay with the Celtics, either by opting into a $30.1MM salary for next season or negotiating a longer deal with the team. However, he surprised the league two weeks ago by opting out and indicating that another team waiting with a massive contract.

Dewayne Dedmon Drawing Interest From Kings

The Kings are interested in free agent center Dewayne Dedmon, a source tells James Ham of NBC Sports Bay Area (Twitter link).

Sacramento is looking for an upgrade from Willie Cauley-Stein, who is on the market as a restricted free agent. The Kings issued a qualifying offer to Cauley-Stein on Friday, but that can be withdrawn if they find a better option.

Dedmon, who will turn 30 in August, has spent the past two seasons in Atlanta and is coming off a career-best year. He averaged 10.8 points and 7.5 rebounds in 64 games.

A report earlier this week indicated that several teams are considering mid-level offers for Dedmon.

Free Agent Rumors: Dedmon, Birch, Beverley, Brogdon

Over the weekend, we passed along comments from ESPN’s Zach Lowe, who said during a podcast with colleagues Bobby Marks and Jonathan Givony that the Timberwolves have legit interest in D’Angelo Russell. Besides outlining Minnesota’s apparent plan for making a run at Russell, Lowe – and Marks – also shared a few more interesting tidbits on free agency, so let’s dive in and round up the highlights…

  • Hawks center Dewayne Dedmon has been receiving plenty of interest from teams as a mid-level target, according to Lowe, who refers to Dedmon as “sneakily the most coveted under-the-radar free agent in the league.”
  • Marks adds that Magic big man Khem Birch has also generated substantial interest, though he cautions that teams may not want to tie up cap room in an offer sheet for the RFA-to-be.
  • Lowe and Marks both believe Clippers point guard Patrick Beverley will do very well in free agency. After initially viewing Beverley as a mid-level type player, Marks now believes that the veteran could get an offer closer to $14-15MM per year.
  • Despite a history of foot issues that could limit his value to some extent, the Bucks are “bracing” for a big offer sheet for Malcolm Brogdon, per Lowe. If Brogdon gets a deal in the range of $20MM+ per year, Milwaukee may have to decide between becoming a taxpaying team or letting him go.
  • According to Lowe, the Bucks and Pacers have “walk-away” numbers for Brogdon and Bojan Bogdanovic, respectively, if the bidding gets too high, though he’s not sure what those specific numbers are.