Kings’ Dewayne Dedmon fined $50,000 for trade comments

(FILES) Sacramento Kings center Dewayne Dedmon was fined $50,000 by the NBA on January 2, 2020 after admitting in a newspaper interview that he wants to be traded to another club. (Photo by PUNIT PARANJPE / AFP)

NEW YORK — Sacramento Kings center Dewayne Dedmon has been fined $50,000 by the NBA for public comments about wanting a trade.

The league made the announcement on Thursday, calling the comments detrimental to the NBA and its teams. He made the request in a recent interview with The Sacramento Bee.

Before the Kings played the Denver Nuggets on Sunday, he talked about wanting a trade, saying “I would like to be traded. I haven’t been playing, so I would like to go somewhere where my talents are appreciated.”

Under the NBA’s collective bargaining agreement, players cannot make public demands for a trade. The 30-year-old Dedmon signed a three-year, $40 million deal with the Kings in the offseason.

Last season, the league fined then-New Orleans Pelicans star Anthony Davis $50,000 after his agent made a public trade request.