Sacramento and Atlanta are swapping centers.
Dewayne Dedmon wanted out of Sacramento so badly he took a $50,000 fine to make sure his wishes were public. He got his wish and is now headed back to Atlanta — where he played last season — in a trade for Jabari Parker and Alex Len, reports Adrian Wojnarowski.
Sacrameto is trading Dewayne Dedmon to Atlanta for Jabari Parker and Alex Len, sources tell @ZachLowe_NBA and me. Atlanta also gets two second round picks.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) February 6, 2020
Sacramento is sending Atlanta a 2020 and a 2021 second round pick in deal, sources tell @ZachLowe_NBA and me. https://t.co/RC7KZ4Nd7y
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) February 6, 2020
What Atlanta gets is another quality center. Dedmon will back up the just acquired Clint Capela but should get plenty of run. Dedmon had fallen out of Luke Walton’s rotation because he struggled with his shot in Sacramento, hitting just 19.7 percent from three, with a 47.7 true shooting percentage. That was a far cry from the season before in Atlanta, when Dedmon was an above-average center scoring 10.8 points and grabbing 7.5 rebounds a game, plus shooting 38.2 percent from three. Atlanta believes it can resurrect that Dedmon, plus they add a couple of second-round picks.
What the Kings get is financial flexibility. Len is in the last year of his deal, while Parker has a player option for $6.5 million next season (which he will pick up). That’s less than half of the $13.3 million Dedmon is set to make, and the Kings want that money so they can match any offer for Bogdan Bogdanovic this summer.
A major motivation for the Kings' trade with Atlanta is re-signing Bogdan Bogdanovic ... and league sources say Sacramento is indeed optimistic it has established the needed financial flexibility to match any offer sheet for the RFA-to-be and keep Bogdanovic in Sactown
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) February 6, 2020
