The Kings have not gotten off to a good start this season. Sacramento is 5-13 after the first month and change of the new campaign; already, trade rumors are starting to swirl.
Over this past weekend, NBA insider Jake Fischer reported GM Scott Perry “realistically understands that he has to undertake a multiyear rebuild” in order to get the Kings back to contention. Furthermore, Fischer reported Sacramento will be “willing to listen to offers for players up and down their roster” with the only exceptions being Keegan Murray and rookie Nique Clifford.
Looking at the team, the most likely trade candidates are obvious: veterans Zach LaVine, Domantas Sabonis, and DeMar DeRozan. Of that trio, DeRozan is the easiest to move, which makes him the most likely candidate to be traded midseason. The veteran forward has about a season and a half remaining on his three-year, $73 million extension, but next season is only partially guaranteed at $10 million. He is still proving effective at age 36, averaging 18.7 points per game and shooting an even 50% from the floor. Given Sabonis is sidelined with a knee injury and LaVine is saddled with a huge contract, DeRozan is both the most tradable of the three and the one with the most value relative to his cost as things stand.
The book is out on DeRozan at this stage in his career. He is a dangerous, clutch midrange scorer who rarely ventures outside the arc and gives plenty of points back defensively. But his steady production could be valuable in the right circumstances. More valuable than he is to the Kings, anyway. DeRozan’s veteran presence is surely appreciated in Sacramento, but for a team that seems lottery-bound it doesn’t make a lot of sense to keep him around if another team is willing to give up an asset for his services, even if the return isn’t all that large.
Here are four sensible DeRozan trades the Kings should consider amid a rocky start to their season and swirling trade rumors (all trades via Fanspo).
Los Angeles Clippers
The Clippers are not having a much better season than the Kings, sitting at 5-12 entering Tuesday. Yet they are reportedly looking into DeRozan. Sam Amick of reported this week that Los Angeles has “some interest” in the veteran wing. Why? Your guess is as good as ours.
The Clips have basically no choice but to go all-in this season since they owe their first-round pick to the Thunder no matter where they finish in the standings. So, through that lens, they have nothing to lose by acquiring DeRozan. He could help win games right now and since his salary drops from $24 million to roughly $10 million next season, the franchise wouldn’t be tied to a bad contract. On the other hand, Los Angeles already boasts one of the oldest rosters in the league and adding another mid-30s player won’t do anything to cure the problems the current construction of the team represents.
But a trade partner is a trade partner. In this case the Kings would get Bogdanović back and potentially flip him for further assets; the veteran shooting guard has struggled this season, but in the past earned a reputation as a useful bench scorer. The same goes for Jones Jr. as a rotational wing who can play decent defense and brings a springy athleticism to the floor. Sacramento would undoubtedly prefer a draft pick for DeRozan, but the Clippers have none of those to offer and every other player who could fit into a possible trade for DeRozan is too valuable to Los Angeles right now. So this is the best the Kings could get out of the Clippers.
A bit underwhelming for both sides but that’s the reality for a DeRozan trade. The one kicker with this specific trade is that it would have to wait until both Jones and Bogdanović are fully healthy; both players are dealing with injuries right now.
Golden State Warriors
There were plenty of rumors over the offseason that the Kings were interested in acquiring Kuminga throughout his contract standoff with the Warriors. Which makes sense. Kuminga is 22 years old and hungry to prove he can play a big role on the court. Sacramento would be an ideal place for him to do so given the lack of championship expectations and a desperate need for any kind of young on-ball playmaker to develop. Golden State denied their approaches, however, as the franchise re-signed Kuminga in hopes he’d contribute to a championship run this season.
That’s already looking a bit shaky. Kuminga got off to a great start, then got benched again and was reportedly left feeling like a “scapegoat.” He’s currently dealing with a knee injury. The Warriors know this is one of their last, best shots at a title with Steph Curry in his prime. They may not want to waste time trying to get something out of Kuminga when they can trade him for win-now assets once his trade restriction is lifted in January.
Which brings us to this trade. DeRozan is not a great fit for the Warriors’ movement offense and likes to occupy the same area of the court as Jimmy Butler. But he knows and accepts his role. Plus his ability to create in the midrange would prove helpful over the course of a long season where Butler, Curry, and other veteran members of the team will be pacing themselves for the playoffs.
Really, though, Golden State does this to get Ellis. The 25-year-old guard has proven to be an impactful two-way perimeter player, a quality defender and 42% three-point shooter. He hasn’t been able to carve out a spot in Doug Christie’s rotation (to the great puzzlement of everybody watching) but Fischer reported “more than half the league” has inquired after Ellis so his skills are in demand. The Warriors undoubtedly hope for a greater return for Kuminga if they do have to trade the former lottery pick but getting two decent rotation players, one of whom could be quite useful in the playoffs, might be as good as it gets.
Also per Fischer the Kings are hoping to get a first-rounder for Ellis, so they may want to see if someone will fork that over. But they’d get their man in Kuminga and that makes it worth considering, even if it must wait until January 15, when Kuminga is trade-eligible.
Boston Celtics
After the above two options, it gets tricky to find logical DeRozan trades around the league. This one makes sense purely through the dollars and cents lens.
The Celtics are a hair over the first apron and about $12 million above the tax line. They’re likely to try and get below both numbers in something of a transition year with Jayson Tatum sidelined rehabbing his torn Achilles. Trading Simons is by far the easiest way to do that. The 26-year-old guard is on an expiring $27 million deal and is already a proven scorer at the NBA level. Swapping him for DeRozan’s $24 million salary moves Boston slightly closer to the objective of getting under the first apron and the tax. Plus, the partially guaranteed salary DeRozan has for next season could be wielded over the offseason to trade for a center or another rotation-caliber player as the Celtics reload for another title run with Tatum and Jaylen Brown.
On the Kings’ end, Simons would make for another asset to be flipped, either this season or in a sign-and-trade over the offseason (depending on their apron status). They could try to squeeze Celtics president Brad Stevens for a second-round pick to sweeten the deal but unless Boston really thinks DeRozan’s steady production will make for a significant improvement over Simons’s hot-and-cold scoring any draft assets are probably a pipe dream.
This is not the most likely trade, to be clear. Simons’s ceiling as a scorer is more valuable to the Celtics than DeRozan’s skillset, even though he’s been streaky to begin his career in New England. Anything can happen in this year’s Eastern Conference and Boston may not be a favorite, but it isn’t a bad team, either. And if they’re looking to move Simons, they would want a return more in line with their current, pressing roster needs. But if the C’s are just looking to lower the tax bill and open the runway to getting underneath that line as well as the first apron, this is a pretty good option.