DeMar DeRozan is headed to his native California, but not his hometown of Los Angeles.
The Sacramento Kings have agreed to terms with DeRozan on a three-year, $74 million deal that will include Harrison Barnes being sent to the San Antonio Spurs and Chris Duarte, two second-round picks and cash being sent to the Chicago Bulls. According to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.
DeRozan himself gave some confirmation shortly 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 turns 35 in August, averaged 24 points (on 48/33/85 shooting), 5.3 assists and 4.4 rebounds in a league-high 37.8 minutes per game for the Bulls last season.
That combination of scoring and playmaking figures to be 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 lacked offense since becoming a playoff team two seasons ago, but they appear to be hoping another All-Star like DeRozan can raise their ceiling in a competitive Western Conference.
DeMar DeRozan joins his fourth NBA team
DeRozan is a career scorer who finished in the top three in crunch-time Player of the Year voting in each of the past two seasons. His midrange game is lethal. His playmaking ability has become an asset throughout his career, and his 1.7 turnovers per game last season were the lowest since his rookie year. He’s a sub-30% shooter for his career, though he’s shot with more will (and success) 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 just one playoff series, losing a five-game series to the Milwaukee Bucks in 2022. The Bulls have qualified for the play-in tournament in each of the past two seasons and failed to make the playoffs either time.
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 a total of 12 playoff games across two playoff series over the past six seasons. Three seasons with the San Antonio Spurs also resulted in just one 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 has been searching for relevance on a contending team ever since. Let’s 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 champion with the Golden State Warriors has been a veteran presence on the perimeter for the Kings’ young core since 2019, and he’ll now be heading to a Spurs team that’s building something different around Victor Wembanyama.