With so much smoke pointing to an upcoming transaction, DeMar DeRozan landing with a new team is only a matter of time. The six-time All-Star is said to have ruled out a return for a fourth season with the Chicago Bulls. But since he’s a free agent, that shouldn’t be an issue as the 34-year-old eyes a spot with a contender.
While several teams have pursued a trade for the three-time All-NBA swingman, there’s only one team still in the race. Multiple reporters have confirmed the Sacramento Kings are not only frontrunners, they appear to be on the verge of executing a trade for DeRozan.
According to Shams Charania and Chris Haynes, DeRozan is traveling to Sacramento to meet with the Kings this weekend. He has even already been communicating directly with various members of the Kings.
Friday’s reports suggested a DeRozan sign-and-trade to Sacramento was imminent, possibly within the next 24-48 hours. Yet, one of the expected hurdles at the time was finding a third team to help facilitate the trade. Sacramento has salaries they can ship out to match amounts in a sign-and-trade, but the Bulls were reportedly uninterested in taking sizable contracts back either.
Since then, we’ve seen the Spurs emerge as a third team willing to participate in the Kings/Bulls trade involving DeRozan. The Spurs have also just agreed to send Devonte Graham to the Hornets in another cap-clearing move, possibly as a precursor to taking on contracts in the sign-and-trade.
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