Kings sign Dedmon 3 years 40 million
- Thread starter AleksandarN
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Ben Simmons is a very unique talent who is getting a mostly deserved max deal and yet seems to be a questionable fit with the other max talent on his roster.
Not to stir that hornets nest again but I just love how all our pieces appear to be fitting together. That Dedmon is straight from the horse's mouth the guy we wanted Willie to be is great. Hopefully it unlocks Bags in his Sophomore year.
Not to stir that hornets nest again but I just love how all our pieces appear to be fitting together. That Dedmon is straight from the horse's mouth the guy we wanted Willie to be is great. Hopefully it unlocks Bags in his Sophomore year.
Willie isn't wrong. Dedmon does fit better for what the Kings want.
The shotblocking is part of it but the outside shooting is the more important piece.
I was actually in favor of bringing Willie back on a reasonable contract but the reality is that if the Kings want to start Bagley they either had to start him at center or start him at power forward next to a center who could space the floor.
The shotblocking is part of it but the outside shooting is the more important piece.
I was actually in favor of bringing Willie back on a reasonable contract but the reality is that if the Kings want to start Bagley they either had to start him at center or start him at power forward next to a center who could space the floor.
Well, the Warriors got a very reasonable contract imo - a bargain really, For that amount (reported 2yr/4.4MM) they could've brought back Stein and still sign Dedmon. Excellent depth and injury insurance. They could've put him in say a Koufas role or made him a pick-and-role defender specialist. Stein did not want to be with the Kings at some point, and the Kings obviously didn't want him. even at total bargain value. Opportunity missed I think. Will be mildly interested in seeing what Stein does with the Warriors as a "what if" scenario.
There was no opportunity missed. There just wasn't.
Willie heard from the Warriors front office and coach. He immediately envisioned his fantasy coming true of playing with Curry and scoring 20+ points per game. Even when they told him he wasn't their number one option (they had just signed Looney), he was still determined to be Curry's sidekick. At that point, he may have been willing to pay the Warriors to sign him.
There was no way that Willie was going to sign with the Kings for that amount, or anything close to it.
Therefore, there was no opportunity missed as you are imagining.
Willie heard from the Warriors front office and coach. He immediately envisioned his fantasy coming true of playing with Curry and scoring 20+ points per game. Even when they told him he wasn't their number one option (they had just signed Looney), he was still determined to be Curry's sidekick. At that point, he may have been willing to pay the Warriors to sign him.
There was no way that Willie was going to sign with the Kings for that amount, or anything close to it.
Therefore, there was no opportunity missed as you are imagining.
There totally was an opportunity, and it was seized. We had the opportunity to not resign WCS and we took it. It was an excellent decision. I'm still in shock that there are still people around here that think WCS was a positive contributor to 1. team culture and 2. floor dynamics. I don't think people understand this game is not won and teammate trust is not established by coolness and cool personalities. On court chemistry comes from not making repeated boneheaded mistakes and not having rocks for hands. Also I'm sorry but if you're shooting 50% from the line you need to be shooting 200+ fts a day until it's fixed. Never heard him putting in extra time on that.
But his biggest liability was not understanding game flow. His mistakes were BY FAR the biggest momentum killers all season last year. You'd notice that, the worse his mistakes got, the nicer he became in the media, so that he could be harder to criticize. When he had a good stretch, he'd get cocky and demand a huge payday, etc. That's the exact wrong way to be.
I think you're going to realize what dead weight WCS was when we have someone like Dedmond and Homes manning the position. They will be MILES better... and imo the primary reasons we make the playoffs next year. WCS was a terrible interior defender, especially on spacing/switching/weak side, etc. And a very undisciplined and bad rebounder.
But his biggest liability was not understanding game flow. His mistakes were BY FAR the biggest momentum killers all season last year. You'd notice that, the worse his mistakes got, the nicer he became in the media, so that he could be harder to criticize. When he had a good stretch, he'd get cocky and demand a huge payday, etc. That's the exact wrong way to be.
I think you're going to realize what dead weight WCS was when we have someone like Dedmond and Homes manning the position. They will be MILES better... and imo the primary reasons we make the playoffs next year. WCS was a terrible interior defender, especially on spacing/switching/weak side, etc. And a very undisciplined and bad rebounder.
I wanted the WCS that we saw glimpses of in his first summer league. That energy machine that chased down guards to block shots and gave 100%. Yeah he needed grooming like every rookie but most of us Thought he would turn out ok.
Then he thinks he was held back by playing behind one of the best centers in the league at the time.
Well if he always thought that the Kings coaches were holding him back that excuse gets old after awhile.
Some centers just take longer to figure out where they fit in this league and when he comes down to earth I hope for his sake he figures it out.
Then he thinks he was held back by playing behind one of the best centers in the league at the time.
Well if he always thought that the Kings coaches were holding him back that excuse gets old after awhile.
Some centers just take longer to figure out where they fit in this league and when he comes down to earth I hope for his sake he figures it out.
How would you know what Stein was willing to sign for or not with the Kings? You can speculate as you have. Even at triple the reported salary of the Warriors for the Kings, he would still be a decent value BACKUP signing with today's absurd salaries. He wanted out earlier, but I have no idea what the details of the negotiations were - only the results. And the communication was likely not there from the Kings to a degree I speculate.
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Miles better? that's exaggeration.....Dedmond and Homes are not all-stars and never have been. I agree that Stein had his problems and was in many games infuriating, but even that considered, he could be a good BACKUP option....8th/9th/10th....something like that. He decided to take that same role with the Warriors. My guess though for Dedmon and Homes, you might see some small or possibly moderate incremental gain,, but nothing needle-moving. You could also see a scenario like Bjelica last year with the new players where they perform great in some games and look horrific in others. I could be pleasantly wrong, and its awhile to the season, so will leave at that.
If he signed for a dollar it would have been too much. Sometimes players just don't fit. Addition by subtraction is what happened here. He got some cool buckets but he did not help the team win. Many players can do alley oops these days. Extreme liability on the floor late in games due to FT issue. The communication was deliberately not there from the Kings. It's time to let go.
While this seems harsh on the surface, it's clear from Willie's latest batch of interviews that he had no interest in doing the things that the Kings asked of him. I liked Willie but he was also the only remaining link to the pre-rebuild Kings. I don't think there is anyone on this team who is going to be content under .500 next season.
Of course we’re all speculating. But in the same way that you said the Kings “missed an opportunity,” I say with the same conviction that no opportunity was missed because Willie was willing to sign with the Warriors for a lot less than he would have signed with the Kings. Exactly how much we’ll never know. Willie may never know! And beyond that, there’s the whole problem with having him be a bench guy for us who’s “not getting a fair chance” and becomes a complainer and a distraction. If he’s not happy as a King, then who’s opportunity is (was) it?
I don't really know a lot about Dedmon aside from a few highlight clips, the fact that many on this board were hype on him mid-way through last season as a target and that Willie has said he is the exact type of player they wanted him to be. So that's gotten me pretty excited although I try not to get super excited with our FA signings until I see them in the Kings uni.
The other good thing about Dedmon is that despite being 30ish he's got really low miles (350 games in 6 seasons @18mins per) on the body due to taking so long to develop and not playing much/playing limited minutes until very recent so he's really in his prime he's a fresh as your going to get for a 30+ year old vet. Most guys in his career situation are normally completely out of the league before they develop (e.g like Thomas Robinson and guys like that) or never get a chance and if they do rarely stick for a significant amount of time.
The energy between him/Holmes (really hope he plays) and Bagley is going to be insane.
The energy between him/Holmes (really hope he plays) and Bagley is going to be insane.
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Dedmon did not play organized basketball until he was 18 years old. His Mom's religious views did not allow it:
Click here to read about it--> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dewayne_Dedmon
Click here to read about it--> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dewayne_Dedmon
And his first 5 seasons in the league were pretty much spent in the worst situations possible (Mark Jackson Warriors, Sixers at their peak tankiest, the Orlando Magic for three seasons. The Spurs, being the model franchise they are, pretty much built him into the plus player he is know right when he was probably on his way out of the league. Bud, the Pop disciple he is, only furthered that development in the Bud-iest way possible (MORE THREE POINTERS!) and fellow product of the Pop coaching tree Lloyd Pierce helped him along the road. This season we don't have any coaches from the Pop coaching tree but Vlade views the great one as a mentor so fingers crossed the magic continues.
“He's really excited about joining the Warriors, so much that he said in the AMA that he agreed to play for the team before he even heard how much they were going to pay him.”
https://m.chron.com/warriors/article/Willie-Cauley-Stein-reddit-AMA-steph-curry-kerr-14271888.php
https://m.chron.com/warriors/article/Willie-Cauley-Stein-reddit-AMA-steph-curry-kerr-14271888.php
Dedmon played poorly against Portland, but his energy level and effort was good. It looked like he may have been pressing and trying to do too much to prove himself. (That bounce pass, yeesh) His fit next to Bagley won't get to show for a while either, which doesn't help right now.
If he settles down and plays how he did last year, he will be solid but unspectacular.
If he settles down and plays how he did last year, he will be solid but unspectacular.
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