DeMar DeRozan is indeed headed to his native California, but not his hometown of Los Angeles.
The Sacramento Kings agreed to terms with DeRozan on a three-year, $73.7 million sign-and-trade deal that will see Harrison Barnes sent to the San Antonio Spurs and Chris Duarte, two second-round picks and money sent for the Chicago Bulls, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. Per Wojnarowski, the third year of the agreement is partially guaranteed for US$10 million.
DeRozan himself provided some confirmation soon after, appearing in person at Sacramento’s Golden 1 Center with Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us” playing in the background. DeRozan is mentioned by name in the song and appeared in its recent music video.
DeRozan, who will turn 35 in August, averaged 24 points (on a 48/33/85 shooting split), 5.3 assists and 4.4 rebounds in a league-leading 37.8 minutes per game for the Bulls in the last season.
This combination of scoring and plays is an interesting fit in the Kings’ lineup alongside De’Aaron Fox, who reportedly played a major role in attracting DeRozanand Domantas Sabonis. The Kings have not been lacking on offense since becoming a playoff team two seasons ago, but they seem to be hoping that another All-Star like DeRozan can raise their ceiling in a competitive Western Conference.
DeMar DeRozan joins his 4th NBA team
DeRozan is a professional scorer, finishing in the top three in Clutch Player of the Year voting in each of the last two seasons. His mid-range game is lethal. His game has become an asset throughout his career, and his 1.7 turnovers per game last season were the fewest since his rookie year. He’s a sub-30% shooter from 3 in his career, though he’s been shooting them more willingly (and successfully) in recent seasons.
DeRozan signed a three-year, $81.9 million contract with the Bulls in 2021. In three seasons in Chicago, he played in a single playoff series, losing a five-game set to the Milwaukee Bucks in 2022. Bulls have qualified for the play-in tournament in each of the last two seasons and failed to make the playoffs both times.
Since making five consecutive playoff appearances with the Toronto Raptors in the 2010s, including a trip to the 2016 Eastern Conference Finals, DeRozan has played in a total of 12 playoff games across two playoff series over the past six seasons. Three seasons with the San Antonio Spurs also yielded a single appearance.
The Raptors traded DeRozan, Jakob Pöltl and a 2019 first-round draft pick (Keldon Johnson) to the Spurs for Kawhi Leonard and Danny Green in 2018. Leonard led Toronto to its first championship in 2019, and DeRozan is looking for relevance at a competitor since then. We hope he finds it.
As for Barnes, the move will send away one of the Kings’ longest-tenured players. The former seventh overall pick and Golden State Warriors champion has been a veteran presence on the perimeter of the Kings’ young core since 2019, and now he will join a Spurs team that is building something different around Victor Wembanyama.
