NBA trade grades: How Kings did in Jabari Parker-Dewayne Dedmon deal

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The NBA trade deadline has come and gone and the Sacramento Kings shook things up, at least a little bit.

Dewayne Dedmon got his wish and is no longer in Sacramento. General manager Vlade Divac cleared the books of at least half of his salary for next season, with the potential for even more.

Here's a full breakdown of the deal:

What the Kings received: Jabari Parker, Alex Len

Parker is a raw scorer with a history of knee injuries and a questionable jumper. At 24, he still has time to improve, but he’s moving on to his fifth team in three years and he’s missed 20 of the Hawks previous 21 games with a right shoulder impingement. The Kings’ medical staff will know more about his potential return to the court after they get their hands on him over the next day.

There is a chance that Parker has an epiphany moment and becomes a major scoring option off the bench for Sacramento. He can play a few minutes at the three, but he’s more of a four/five at this point in his career. At 15 points and six rebounds in 26.2 minutes per game, Parker is a viable rotational player when healthy.

Last season, Len’s numbers looked very similar to what Dedmon posted. He’s having a down year, but he’s a big that can stretch the floor, rebounds a little bit and even block an occasional shot. Like Parker, he’s struggled to live up to his top 5 draft position and he’s currently nursing a hip issue, but he’s still a capable NBA player and his contract is expiring at the end of the season.

This could have been a lot worse for Sacramento. For the low low cost of two late second-round selections, they got out from underneath the $13.3 million owed to Dedmon next season and the $1 million buyout the season after that.

Dedmon didn’t want to be in Sacramento. More importantly, he played like he didn’t want to be in Sacramento. In moving him to Atlanta, the Kings acknowledged a mistake was made in free agency, but also that the team was willing to move away from the decision quickly.

Both Parker and Len can help the Kings this season. Parker has a player option for next season at $6.5 million, which if he exercises, would give the Kings a nice bench scorer at a budget price. If he opts out, Sacramento clears even more cash off the books.

This was the second move the Kings made in the last few weeks to trade away a big money 2019 free-agent acquisition. If anything, the team has to do a better job in their vetting process. Overpaying players is understandable, but overpaying the wrong ones, even if the team finds a way out of the deal, is not good business practice.

Kings Grade: B

What the Hawks Received: Dewayne Dedmon, 2020 Rockets second-round pick, 2021 Heat second-round pick

Dedmon spent two seasons with the Hawks before inking a three-year, $40 million deal with the Kings last summer. Whatever happened between the moment he stepped off the floor in Atlanta and when he stepped on the court in Sacramento is a complete mystery. Dedmon became a turnover machine that couldn’t shoot and lost his starting job in a matter of four games.

After demanding a trade in December, Dedmon found his way back into the rotation in Sacramento due to a series of injuries. He had a few moments where he played well, but overall, it wasn’t living up to the contract he signed during the off-season.

Dedmon never really had a chance to play alongside Marvin Bagley, which is the reason the Kings signed him in the first place. He also posted 5.1 points, 4.9 rebounds and shot 19.7 percent from 3-point range in 34 games for Sacramento. For a player that signed for big money, he sat out 15 games as a healthy scratch and three of those contests he was inactive altogether.

The Hawks know his game well and were willing to take on the $13.3 million owed next season. Maybe they have the key to invigorating the veteran center.

[RELATED: Kings won't trade Bogi, will try to re-sign him]

In addition, the Kings came into the day with seven second-round picks. The Hawks picked up two of those in the transaction, but as of now, they are the least valuable of the lot. Sacramento was able to retain its own second-rounders in each of the next two drafts, as well as the Pistons and Heat’s 2020 pick and Memphis’ 2021 selection.

Not only did Atlanta give up the best player in the deal, but they also took back a tremendous amount of salary and two late second-round picks.

Hawks Grade: D-

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