One of the NBA’s biggest trade targets officially has a new home for 2024-25 as the Sacramento Kings have acquired guard DeMar DeRozan via a sign and trade deal with the Chicago Bulls and San Antonio Spurs.
DeRozan will join the Kings on a 3 year, $74M contract, while Chicago will receive Chris Duarte, two second-round picks and cash. To complete the deal, the San Antonio Spurs will receive Harrison Barnes and an unprotected 2031 pick swap.
DeRozan averaged 24pts/4.3reb/5.3ast per game for the Bulls last season, and will slot in alongside PG De’Aaron Fox and C Domantas Sabonis on the west coast. A native of Compton, CA, the 34 year old has made it known for some time that he was unhappy with the direction of the Bulls organization, and would welcome a trade back to one of the California based clubs.
The 6x NBA All-Star had been previously linked to both the Clippers and Lakers this offseason as a possible trade target.
Meanwhile in San Antonio, the Spurs add Barnes to the mix to provide some veteran leadership alongside unanimous Rookie of the Year award winner Victor Wembanyama. The 32 year old joins recent addition Chris Paul in Texas, as San Antonio hopes to insulate their star player with NBA ready talent on what remains an extremely young roster.
In Chicago, shooting guard Chris Duarte will join another new team after Sacramento traded 2 second round picks to acquire him from Indiana last offseason. The 27 year old averaged 3.9pts per game in limited action for Sacramento in 2023-24.
Photo: Erik Drost. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.