DeWayne Dedmon signed with the Kings likely expecting to start. After all, teams rarely sign veterans to deals worth over $13 million per year expecting to bring them off of the bench. But that is what has happened for Dedmon in Sacramento. After spending two years in Atlanta as a full-time starter, Dedmon is playing less than 14 minutes per game with the Kings, and has been benched as a coach’s decision in eight of their past 10 games. He is averaging only 4.8 points per game on miserable shooting numbers, either as a result of his reduced role or as the inspiration for it, and now, he is apparently tired of it. 

Dedmon wants to be traded by the Kings, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic, and at least theoretically, he is a fit with virtually every team in basketball. He held opponents to only 56.7 percent shooting at the rim last season despite playing on a generally abhorrent defensive team, making him a fairly strong rim protector, but he is at least athletic enough to hang on the perimeter defensively even if it isn’t a strength of his. 

In two years with the Hawks, he shot over 37 percent from behind the arc on almost three attempts per game. The Hawks scored 1.28 points per possession on pick-and-rolls he finished last season, putting him in the 81st percentile league-wide. That combination of skills makes him a perfect fit for offenses that want to run more double-drag pick-and-rolls, as he is capable as both a roller and shooter, a rare combination that keeps defenses off balance and allows him to play with practically any other big man. 

Yes, his decline has been steep this season and yes, his contract is onerous with two years and $26.7 million remaining beyond this season, but if the player he has been for the last several years is still in there, he is a fit on virtually any roster. He is a unicorn, the rare big man who can both shoot and protect the rim, and there are plenty of teams that could really use such a player down the stretch. Here are just a few of them. 

Los Angeles Clippers

The Clippers should probably aim a bit higher in the trade market simply because they can. If they really wanted to put up the necessary assets to chase a bigger name like Steven Adams or Derrick Favors to fill their non-Montrezl Harrell center minutes, they probably could. But Dedmon would give them a different look. The Clippers had success with JaMychal Green at center in the playoffs last season, but have avoided such lineups so far. Dedmon isn’t as switchable, but he would give the Clippers enough shooting to run real five-out lineups if they so chose. 

Luke Walton coached Ivica Zubac with the Lakers, and the Kings would likely be happy with him as a centerpiece in such a deal. The question at play here is whether or not the Clippers would view Dedmon as an upgrade over him. The answer is stylistic more than anything. Zubac has better touch at the basket, and he’s a bit sturdier against stronger centers, but Harrell does everything that Zubac does offensively at a higher level. If the Clippers are comfortable giving Green the stretch-center minutes in the playoffs, then this trade is unnecessary. If they aren’t, and feel the need to add that sort of player elsewhere without making major defensive concessions, then sacrificing Zubac makes some sense. 

Portland Trail Blazers

Defenses have been trapping Damian Lillard for years. It is one of the lone weaknesses in his game even as he has compensated by pulling up from longer and longer distances to shoot. Shooting big men are one of the simplest antidotes to trapping defenses. If opponents tried to double Lillard off of a screen, he could simply flick the ball to Dedmon for an open look. 

Constructing the trade here is a bit more difficult than it would be for the Clippers, as Portland lacks mid-sized cap filler. They do, however, have Hassan Whiteside’s enormous expiring contract. A solution could be for the Blazers to send Whiteside to Sacramento for Dedmon and the struggling Trevor Ariza, who would actually fill a need insomuch as having another small forward-sized human being might finally knock Mario Hezonja out of the rotation. 

Boston Celtics

The Celtics are positioned somewhat similarly to the Clippers. They can go big-game hunting if they really want, but doing so would likely require trading Marcus Smart simply for salary purposes. For now, the Celtics wouldn’t entertain that notion. Instead, someone like Dedmon would fill a need for them at center without costing an arm and a leg. Dedmon could slide rather comfortably into the same general role that Aron Baynes once occupied. 

Boston’s lack of mid-sized salaries makes this difficult, though. Enes Kanter would have to be involved, but the Celtics would shed no tears for his loss. The real question is whether or not they would be willing to give up on Romeo Langford. His inclusion is necessary from a salary standpoint and would, at the very least, warrant another asset back from the Kings, but Boston typically holds onto young players until the bitter end. With Smart and Kemba Walker entrenched in the backcourt, though, Langford may be more valuable to Boston as a trade asset than a real player. 

Minnesota Timberwolves

Yes, Karl-Anthony Towns is ideally a full-time center, but the manner in which the Timberwolves use him is completely unsustainable. On a per-game basis, Towns is responsible for nearly 22 percent of Minnesota’s 3-point attempts and just under 29 percent of their made 3-pointers. Towns is not Davis Bertans. He has value all over the floor, and limiting him to spot-up duty as much as the Timberwolves have is counterproductive. Minnesota has to space the floor around him so that he can be as valuable near the basket as he is far away from it. 

Dedmon fits the bill, and he serves another valuable function as defensive help for Towns (provided Minnesota is comfortable playing Towns at power forward, which Ryan Saunders has avoided like the plague). Forming a trade shouldn’t be too difficult. Like the Kings, the Timberwolves have an overpaid center that they would probably prefer to move. Gorgui Dieng makes more than Dedmon, but his deal expires a year earlier. The Timberwolves would take on a year of extra money to get meaningful production, while the Kings dump a player who doesn’t want to be there in exchange for some cap flexibility. It’s a win-win deal, though the Kings would likely insist on at least some sort of draft asset. 

Atlanta Hawks

We know that Dedmon can help the Hawks because he literally did help the Hawks for two years. The track record is there, and given the frustration bubbling in Atlanta, the Hawks might be more willing to commit long-term money to Dedmon than they were during the offseason. 

The Hawks have been open about their lack of leadership this season. Dedmon was their vocal leader last season, and he has been missed in the locker room this season, as Chris Kirschner of The Athletic noted. Constructing a deal around Evan Turner’s expiring contract would be manageable, and would ideally allow the Hawks to reseize the organizational momentum that they seemingly had a year ago.