Ah – the smell of blocked shots in the morning. Fantastic.
With the 2011 NBA trade deadline rapidly approaching, the Sacramento Kings find themselves in a bind – or do they? Coming into the season, Dalembert was desired as much for his large expiring contract as he was for his on court game – hell, maybe even more so. And while he struggled early in the year and found difficulty getting off the pine during Westphal’s musical chair rotation phase, Dally’s season has went from a bust to a boom with increased floor time.
Dalembert’s strong play might not get the love it deserves without the wow-factor stats, but even Philadelphians are clearly regretting the Hawes/Dalembert deal and now the Kings find themselves in a similar situation. Do they move Dalembert? Hang onto him?
With Dalembert having a large expiring contract, in most years, he’d be a hot commodity but with the CBA set to expire, it’s a poor year to have a large expiring deal (if there is ever a poor year to have one). And that brings me to the new CBA. Nobody knows what it will entail though it’s expected that salaries will be lower and more team friendly, so that’s a plus for the Kings to bring back Dalembert, though it’s difficult to actually project how team friendly the deals and cap situation will be. But let’s assume that if brought back, it would be on a respectable deal…
As for the trade market, if Dalembert’s salary is needed in a blockbuster deal you have no qualms about including it – but the chances of that happening are extremely slim – so you look at the realistic returns and see very little. Dalembert’s salary, big as it is, creates somewhat of a road block as most teams aren’t in a position to take on a salary that large without sending a return of the same monetary value. From a pure player value perspective, Dalembert isn’t going to bring back the level of talent the Kings need at one of their glaring holes and in addition to that, moving Dalembert creates a hole for the Kings at the center position.
So where does that leave the black and purple? If I’m rocking my Geoff Petrie comb-over, Dalembert’s staying in Sacramento past the trade deadline and assuming the price is right, he’s staying in Sacramento for the foreseeable future.
How say you?