DeMar DeRozan joined the Sacramento Kings later in the 2024 NBA offseason, adding another dangerous scorer to one of the league's best offenses from the past two seasons. After being linked to a handful of playoff teams as his deal with the Chicago Bulls expired, he decided to join the Beam Team.
It seemed pretty clear that DeRozan's time with the Bulls was over after he reached free agency and Chicago went down a semi-rebuild path centered around younger players. But where he would go was unclear for a little while. His game doesn’t seem versatile enough to take on any role besides lead scorer/ball-handler but he's still very good. He hoped to join a team that could offer him a winning situation.
In an appearance on Podcast P presented by Wave Sports + Entertainment, DeRozan explained to Paul George why he wanted to join the Kings and disclosed some of the other destinations he was considering: the Philadelphia 76ers, Los Angeles Lakers, Los Angeles Clippers and Miami Heat.
DeMar DeRozan says he seriously considered the LA Clippers in free agency this summer.
“Philly definitely was an option. Lakers was an option always. Clippers was an option. And the Heat… Those teams, for sure, were real personal, legitimate options that I was considering.” pic.twitter.com/JGAYusWGM5— Tomer Azarly (@TomerAzarly) September 9, 2024
DeMar DeRozan says he seriously considered the LA Clippers in free agency this summer. “Philly definitely was an option. Lakers was an option always. Clippers was an option. And the Heat… Those teams, for sure, were real personal, legitimate options that I was considering.”
“Those teams for sure were real personal, legitimate options that I was considering,” DeRozan said of the four teams he named.
DeMar DeRozan considered 76ers, Lakers before joining Kings
The 76ers landed George in perhaps the biggest move of the offseason. DeRozan would have constituted an awkward fit with Joel Embiid, another player who operates in the mid-range often, though they do play different positions. George fits better with the Sixers and their vision of building around Embiid and Tyrese Maxey as the lead options.
The Lakers didn’t alter their roster in any major way this summer. Adding rookies Dalton Knecht and Bronny James and bringing in a new head coach, J.J. Redick, were the most significant moves they made. They seemed likely to strike a deal for DeRozan for a while but ended up letting him go to one of their rivals.
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The Clippers perhaps made the most sense for DeRozan initially; one star forward from LA leaves and another takes his place. But they ended up adding more role players around what is now a star duo of Kawhi Leonard and James Harden.
The Heat made the least amount of sense for DeRozan, an older player who doesn’t shoot threes or defend at a high level. He would have been way too big of a stylistic and positional clash with Jimmy Butler, whose disinterest in shooting threes makes it a requirement that the guys around him and Bam Adebayo can shoot.
In the end, the California kid went home and George left for another new team. DeRozan's fit with the Kings isn’t perfect but he should help them stress defenses further and perform better when De'Aaron Fox and/or Domantas Sabonis rest.
