Hawks get: Dewayne Dedmon, second-round picks in 2020 and 2021
Kings get: Jabari Parker, Alex Len
Get more trade grades for every deal here
Sacramento Kings: B
When the Kings signed Dedmon last summer, it seemed reasonable. Dedmon's ability to shoot the 3 and protect the rim figured to make him a solid partner for Marvin Bagley III in the frontcourt, and while $13.3 million was a bit rich for the well-traveled center, Sacramento protected itself by guaranteeing just $1 million of his 2021-22 season.
A variety of factors conspired to ruin the Kings' best-laid plans. First, Dedmon struggled, particularly from 3-point range. After hitting 37% of his 3s on decent volume in two seasons with the Hawks, he has made just 20% of his long-distance tries in Sacramento. Dedmon also has struggled with the ball in his hands. And after posting more assists than turnovers each of the past two seasons, Dedmon has a preposterous 47 turnovers to just 15 assists in 2019-20, the worst assist-to-turnover ratio of any player with at least 10 assists.
Second, Bagley went down with a thumb fracture on opening night. When he returned in December, new Kings coach Luke Walton decided to play him almost exclusively at center, a double whammy for Dedmon. Not only did it render his fit with Bagley at power forward meaningless, it also put him in competition with Bagley and Harry Giles III for minutes behind Richaun Holmes after Holmes' strong start. Frustrated when he fell out of the rotation, Dedmon requested a trade.
Besides removing an unhappy player from the locker room, dealing Dedmon now was important for Sacramento to manage next season's payroll. The Kings previously had about $111 committed to 10 players for 2020-21, including their first-round pick, which meant the luxury-tax line (projected at $139 million) could have squeezed them a bit on a new contract for restricted free agent Bogdan Bogdanovic.
At a minimum, swapping Dedmon's $13.3 million salary for Parker's $6.5 million player option will save Sacramento nearly $7 million. If Parker were to decline his option, that would essentially mean clearing Dedmon's entire salary off the 2020-21 books. So although the Kings still have to worry about future seasons, with De'Aaron Fox eligible for an extension this summer, this trade seems to make it more likely they will retain Bogdanovic rather than trade him by Thursday's deadline.
Given how quickly it went bad, the Dedmon contract deserves a failing grade. But at least the price to get out of it wasn't awful for the Kings, who came into Wednesday with seven second-round picks over the next two drafts. They could afford to sacrifice a couple of them.
By bringing in two players for one, however, this trade doesn't do anything to clear up Sacramento's frontcourt logjam, at least once Bagley (out through at least the All-Star break), Holmes (who could return later this week) and Parker (who's played just one game since Christmas due to a shoulder impingement) get back on the court. It will be interesting to see how the Kings' front office and coaching staff resolve that issue.
Atlanta Hawks: A-
Dedmon's return to the Hawks looked like a reasonable possibility with Sacramento desperately seeking a taker, although it's a little surprising that Atlanta would deal for a second center in the past 24 hours after landing Clint Capela as part of the four-team deal agreed to Tuesday night.
With that in mind, this looks more like an asset grab by the Hawks to help replenish a depleted store of second-round picks. Atlanta didn't previously have a second-rounder this year or in 2021. It also could be an indication that Capela might miss an extended period due to the plantar fasciitis that sidelined him with the Houston Rockets prior to the trade.
Dedmon is drastically overpaid for a backup center but certainly useful nonetheless. As poorly as things worked out for Dedmon in Sacramento, I'm not sure it changes my projection for him going forward much. His dreadful 3-point shooting (20%) has come on just 71 attempts, and Dedmon has been good as ever at the line (82%). He probably does project more as a 35% shooter going forward than the 37% one he was during his first two-year stint with the Hawks.
Additionally, it looks like Dedmon's skyrocketing turnover rate can partly be attributed to him building chemistry on the timing of screens with his new teammates, something that shouldn't be an issue now. Per Basketball-Reference.com, he has been called for 14 offensive fouls in 541 minutes, a rate more than twice as high as last season (19 offensive fouls in 1,609 minutes). Beyond those areas, Dedmon's rate stats have largely been the same. He has been solid as ever on the glass and continues to block shots at a rate slightly worse than an average center. So although Dedmon is older than you might think (30) because he didn't make his NBA debut until age 24, I don't think aging is a likely explanation for his disappointing stint with the Kings.
Between Capela and Dedmon, the Hawks have taken on a lot of 2020-21 salary this week. Yet they still project with almost $50 million in cap space depending where their pick lands in the lottery, so Atlanta will have plenty of spending power in free agency or to take on more bad contracts in trades.