Sources – Kings sign DeMar DeRozan to 3 years, $74 million in return

The Sacramento Kings have acquired free agent guard DeMar DeRozan on a three-year, $74 million contract, sources told ESPN Saturday night.

The Kings are trading forward Harrison Barnes and an unprotected 2031 draft pick to the San Antonio Spurs and guard Chris Duarte, two second-round draft picks and cash to the Chicago Bulls, sources said.

The Kings wanted DeRozan to team up with All-Star guard De’Aaron Fox, All-Star center Domantas Sabonis and promising young forward Keegan Murray to create a more explosive offensive team in the Western Conference.

DeRozan — a six-time All-Star who turns 35 next month — is coming off an impressive three-year scoring run with the Bulls, making the All-Star team in each of his first two campaigns before averaging 24 points, 4.3 rebounds and 5.3 assists this season. He also finished second to Stephen Curry in voting for the NBA’s Clutch Player of the Year Award.

DeRozan traveled to Sacramento on Saturday to meet with team officials and Kings coach Mike Brown, who signed an offseason contract extension. Brown led the franchise to back-to-back winning seasons for the first time since 2006.

DeRozan, a three-time All-NBA selection, was the ninth overall pick in the 2009 NBA draft by the Toronto Raptors, and has played for the Raptors, Spurs and Bulls in his 15 NBA seasons. He has averaged 21.2 points, 4.4 rebounds and 4.1 assists in his 1,110 career NBA games.

The Spurs land the 32-year-old Barnes, who joins new free agent Chris Paul and unanimous Rookie of the Year Victor Wembanyama.

Barnes, who played 82 games over the past two seasons with Sacramento, averaged 12.2 points and three rebounds for the Kings while shooting 47.4 percent overall and 38.7 percent from his three-pointers on 4.7 attempts per game.

Barnes, who won an NBA title with the Golden State Warriors in 2015, spent the past 5½ seasons with Sacramento after coming from the Dallas Mavericks in a trade-deadline deal. He has career averages of 14 points and 4.9 rebounds since being selected by the Warriors with the seventh pick in the 2012 draft.

The Spurs will include Barnes in their remaining salary cap space to make the deal happen.

Duarte, 27, averaged 3.9 points in 59 games for the Kings last season. The Kings acquired him from the Indiana Pacers last summer after trading two second-round picks.

Leave a Comment