Could the Kings accomplish a DeMar DeRozan trade this offseason?

Could the Kings accomplish a DeMar DeRozan trade this offseason?

While first-year Sacramento Kings general manager Scott Perry is not expected to tear down the roster limb from limb, he wants to build a path toward sustainable success–a goal that each general manager in today’s NBA should have.

With a mediocre roster in a loaded Western Conference, personnel changes are going to need to be made. One of them could be DeMar DeRozan, according to NBA insider Jake Fischer of The Stein Line.

“There has been no shortage of rumbles, since the hiring of Scott Perry as general manager, that Sacramento is expected to gauge the trade market for veteran swingman DeMar DeRozan,” Fischer wrote earlier this week.

Obviously, picking up the phone and exploring the market for every player on the roster would make sense–to a certain extent. Every player has a price, and Perry’s vision may not be the one that Monte McNair had with the current roster construction.

However, DeRozan, who averaged 22.2 points on 56.9 percent true shooting last season, does feel like the odd man out.

He will be entering his age-36 season in 2025-26 with a $24.8 million cap hit, according to Spotrac. It’s not an attractive contract, but the Kings could have difficulty finding another suitor for Zach LaVine‘s remaining $97 million (two years) and Domantas Sabonis‘ $140 million remaining (three years). DeRozan will only allocate for 16 percent of the cap next season relative to LaVine’s 30.7 percent and Sabonis’ 28.2 percent.

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We saw the ceiling of the LaVine-DeRozan backcourt in Chicago; hello, mediocrity. The Kings don’t have many quality assets–Keon Ellis ($2.3M team option), Keegan Murray ($11.1M, extension eligible) and veteran big man Jonas Valanciunas ($10.4M) being a few.

I’d argue that interest for DeRozan may not be particularly high–I’m not picking up the phone–but if Perry does not want to move off of LaVine or Sabonis, DeRozan may be the best bet to get more athletic–a goal of his.

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