Dave Litman
It’s a move that had been expected for a few days. Now, the Sacramento Kings have made it official. They are waiving DeMar DeRozan after being unable to trade the six-time All-Star. He immediately vaults to near the top of the available free agents list. He’d likely also come at minimal cost.
DeRozan had only $10 million guaranteed on his $25.7 million contract for next season. Shams Charania reports that he and Sacramento worked on his release (i.e. buyout) on Monday, in order to allow him to find a new home. Charania adds that “multiple contenders are expected to have interest.”
The Kings are fully into a rebuild now, and having aging veterans with big contracts around like DeRozan wasn’t in their plans. It’s expected that they’ll try to find new homes for Zach LaVine and Domantas Sabonis as well, via the trade route.
What contenders could have interest in adding new free agent DeMar DeRozan?
As for DeRozan, it’s thought that his original team, the Toronto Raptors, might have some interest in him. Other teams who should be all over this include the Miami Heat, Los Angeles Lakers and Detroit Pistons. All of these hopeful contenders are looking for another legitimate scorer to take the pressure off their main man.
DeRozan has averaged over 21 points in his 17-year NBA career, though he dipped a bit to 18.4 ppg in his age-36 season this past year. He’ll be 37 next month. He can also distribute the ball, becoming very adept in this part of his game over the second half of his career. He averages 4.1 assists throughout his time in the NBA.
But for teams looking for a floor-spacer or a strong defender, DeRozan would not be a viable option.
