SACRAMENTO, Calif. _ Dewayne Dedmon will get a new start with his old team.
The Kings traded Dedmon back to the Atlanta Hawks on Wednesday in exchange for Jabari Parker and Alex Len, league sources told The Sacramento Bee. The Hawks will also receive second-round picks in 2020 and 2021 as part of the deal. 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. Parker is a six-year NBA veteran who was limited to 70 games over the past two seasons due to injuries. He has not played since Jan. 3 due to a shoulder injury, but he was cleared for noncontact workouts earlier this week.
Len, a 7-0 center, appeared in 40 games for the Hawks, averaging 8.7 points and 5.8 rebounds. Len is a seven-year veteran who spent his first five seasons with the Phoenix Suns.
Parker, 24, is in the first year of a two-year, $13 million contract. Len, 25, is in the final year of a two-year, $8.51 million deal.
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% from 3-point range for the Atlanta Hawks last season, he shot a woeful 19.7% 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.
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.
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.
