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Monday, May 20, 2013
Kings trade Nocioni, Hawes for Sixers' Dalembert
by Rob Small, published on June 17, 2010 at 2:14 PM
Storyline: Sacramento Kings
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The Sacramento Kings have traded disgruntled forward Andres Nocioni and third-year center Spencer Hawes to the Philadelphia 76ers for center Samuel Dalembert.
Dalembert, an athletic center known for his rebounding and shot blocking, made NBA headlines this season after his native country of Haiti was struck by a catastrophic 7.0 magnitude earthquake in January.
He briefly left the Sixers to visit the country and donated $100,000 to UNICEF to aid relief efforts but he played all 82 games of the season as well as the previous three seasons
There were only two games he didn't start in over 328 games the past four seasons. Those games were the 2009-10 season.
Dalembert averaged 8.1 points, 9.6 rebounds and 1.8 blocks per game this season. His best year came during the 2007-08 season, when he averaged 10.5 points, 10.4 rebounds and 2.3 blocks per game. He is one of the league's best rebounders, finishing 12th in the league in rebounds.
He was set to make $12.9 million but will make $14.8 million because of a 15 percent trade kicker in the final year of his contract. He is currently the only Haitian-born player in the NBA.
Nocioni said recently that he won't return to the Kings on the Spanish language website Ole. He had the worst season of his career averaging 8.3 points on 39.9 percent field-goal shooting and three rebounds per game last season and expressed his desire to play for a contending team.
Nocioni was acquired from the Chicago Bulls along with Cedric Simmons in 2008 for Brad Miller and John Salmons. He is slated to make $13.4 million the next two years with a $7.5 million team option the Sixers can pick up in 2012, which is unlikely.
Hawes was drafted by the Kings in 2007 with the 10th pick in the draft at 19-years-old. His play regressed last season after showing promise the season before. He averaged 10 points and 6.1 rebounds per game compared to 11.4 points and 7.1 rebounds per game the season before.
He will make nearly $3 million next season. He will also be a restricted free agent after next season and will have a qualifying offer of $4 million.
The Kings have lacked rebounding and shot blocking from their center and power forward position and fortunately, Dalembert can provide both. He has a nose for the ball when rebounding his own team's missed shots.
He finished 10th in the league in offensive rebounding with 2.9 offensive rebounds per game, three spots behind the Kings' Jason Thompson, who averaged 3 offensive rebounds per game.
The trade will instantly improve the Kings' defense in the aspects of rebounding and shot blocking. Dalembert may not score much but the Kings' undersized, yet efficient power forward Carl Landry can provide points for the frontline. He averaged 18 points per game in 28 games with the Kings.
Landry doesn't particularly rebound well for his position with 6.5 rebounds per game with the Kings but that's where Dalembert helps. Dalembert and Landry could very well complement each other.
Overall, the Kings got the better part of the deal in terms of immediate help. Hopefully, like Cornstein said, Dalembert will be a "perfect fit" for the Kings.
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He's has very advanced post moves and I hope he pans out in the league.
The Kings basically traded for a year long workout of Dalembert. He will have a year to try out for a contract next season. He's a defensive presence down low that the Kings definitely needed. Originally I thought the trade meant the Kings didn't like any of the big man enough to take them with the fifth pick, but the Kings now have a chance to secure some guys down low. Landry, Thompson, Dalembert and Cousins aren't a bad group of big man to build around.