Every morning, we compile the links of the day and dump them here… highlighting the big storyline. Because there’s nothing quite as satisfying as a good morning dump.
“I would like to be traded,” Dedmon told The Bee, speaking publicly about his trade request for the first time. “I haven’t been playing, so I would like to go somewhere where my talents are appreciated.”
The Kings are listening to offers and there appears to be a market for Dedmon’s services, but a league source told The Bee any deal would have to make sense for the team and its future.
Kings general manager Vlade Divac and coach Luke Walton expected Dedmon to stretch defenses with his perimeter shooting while Bagley and Fox exploited increased floor spacing to punish opponents inside. It seemed like a good idea at the time, but Fox and Bagley have been hurt and Dedmon hasn’t held up his end of the bargain.
Dedmon is shooting just 22.9 percent from 3-point range after hitting 38.2 percent last season with the Atlanta Hawks. Opponents don’t even bother guarding him anymore. Instead, they sag off of him, packing the paint to stop penetration and rebound Dedmon’s misses.
Trade rumors about a big man will likely persist until the deadline and will come to a boil just about every time the Cs get their asses kicked in the paint (like against Toronto on Sat. night).
The 7-foot Dedmon is a versatile defensive player with decent shooting touch. He fits the Celtics’ preferred mold for a big. But is he worth the money and assets required for a trade?
Dedmon signed a 3-year, $40 million with Sacramento over the summer. He’s guaranteed $13 million next year with only a fraction guaranteed ($1 million) in year 3.
A Celtics offer would start with Enes Kanter and … what exactly? Forget about Romeo Langford or the Memphis pick. Dedmon is not that good. You can add a young player (Carsen Edwards?) and the Bucks 1st round pick. Still not enough to meet the salary requirements. I also don’t think Sacramento has the roster flexibility to handle a 3-for-1 deal. Cory Joseph is guaranteed $25 million over the next two seasons???
It’s hard for me to gauge a proposed deal because Dedmon doesn’t move the needle for me. And for all of Kanter’s defensive warts, I value the offense he brings to the 2nd unit.
On Page 2, Brad hints at lineup changes.
“We’ve got to get back to being a better defensive team,” Stevens said. “And we’ve got to find … we’ve got to find the right mix of guys that will defend well together and that complement our best players to defend well. And just get back to that.”
Indeed, there were many things that went wrong for Boston, but nothing stood out more than their shoddy defense — especially in transition — that was lit up by Toronto for most of Saturday’s game.
“We haven’t been very good at it recently,” Stevens said, referring specifically to the team’s transition defense. “But we’ve been winning, so we’re not talking about it a lot. The bottom line is, is that we have to … we have to be better on that end of the floor generally.”
Brad might be talking tough here to inspire the troops. I think the return of Marcus Smart should be enough to jolt the defensive inspiration.
The rest of the links
Herald – Celtics return to shop for defensive tune-up
Globe – 8 things we’ve learned about the Celtics
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