The Kings' trade of Spencer Hawes and Andres Nocioni to Philadelphia for Samuel Dalembert has been made official.
Here's what Kings President of Basketball Operations Geoff Petrie said about the trade in a statement:
"We're excited about the acquisition of Samuel Dalembert," Petrie said. "He will certainly bring a defensive presence and increase our ability to defend around the basket with his rebounding, shot-blocking and athleticism. I think he'll add a very different look to our team defensively and we're really excited about having him. I also want to thank Spencer and Andres for their contributions here and wish them well with Philadelphia. It's been an enjoyable time with both of them."
The deal clears the $13.5 million owed to Nocioni over the next two seasons. He'd made it known he didn't want to return to Sacramento. His presence only made it tougher to give minutes to Omri Casspi and Donte' Greene.
Hawes is just 22, but had a third season he'd like to forget.
It began last summer when he decided not to play in the NBA Summer League, much to the chagrin of Paul Westphal and the new coaching staff.
Then there was Hawes beginning the season as a reserve, even though he was the only true center on the roster. Hawes would be benched again later in the season.
Then there were the comments in a story in The Bee that Westphal's inconsistent rotations were the reason for his inconsistent play.
Westphal made Hawes inactive for a game after that.
Hawes' season ended in March with a knee injury. In spite of all that, Westphal said Hawes made the most improvement of any player during the season, when he was asked to get out of his comfort zone and become a more defensive-minded player.
Dalembert gives the Kings the defensive-minded center they wanted Hawes to be. He's in the last year of his contract that pays him $12.2 million. He also has a 15 percent trade kicker so that goes up to about $14 million.
At the very least, the Kings have guaranteed they can make another big move next summer while also maintaining their financial flexibility for this summer.
I like the deal for the Kings. They weren't going to re-sign Hawes after this season. Nocioni had to go. And they get a season to look at Dalembert, who is only 29.
There's a press conference scheduled for 2:30 p.m.
--Jason Jones
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