The Philadelphia 76ers have agreed to swap Samuel Dalembert to the Sacramento Kings for Andres Nocioni and Spencer Hawes, two league sources told ESPN.com. The deal was agreed to on Tuesday night and the two teams have been working out details Thursday morning. Barring some last-minute hitch the trade should be completed as early as Thursday afternoon, according to the sources. The deal will give the Kings a player they've long coveted in Dalembert. The Kings tried to make several deals with the Sixers last year for Dalembert but couldn't make it happen. Sacramento has been unhappy with its rebounding and shotblocking in the post. Dalembert makes a lot of money ($12.9 million next year) but he's in the last year of his deal. The trade gives the Sixers a physical combo forward in Nocioni and an up-and-coming big man in Hawes. But the real ramifications may come during the draft. The Sixers have been deciding between Evan Turner and Derrick Favors with the No. 2 pick. While Sixers general manager Ed Stefanski is a Turner fan, new coach Doug Collins is high on Favors. With Dalembert gone and Nocioni in, it could push them in the direction of Favors. For the Kings, this could also change their draft equation. The team has been looking at drafting DeMarcus Cousins and Greg Monroe, both centers. With this deal, it could allow them to address another need at the three. The Kings have been high on both Al-Farouq Aminu and Gordon Hayward. Source
Nice salary dump by the Kings, and I believe this shows their hand for the draft. Greg Monroe should all but be the draft pick here now that they added a top notch defensive big. They just couldn't add Monroe to the soft top line of Hawes and Thompson before, so this only makes sense.
