Sacramento Kings double down with DeMar DeRozan

Some trades are made for a team to reinvent itself, or to complete itself, or to relieve itself of a burden. Others are simply made for a team More What is it already? The Sacramento Kings accomplished just that on Saturday by engineering a deal to bring DeMar DeRozan, one of the most prolific scorers in the league, over the top on offense and taking a step forward based on talent alone. None of Sacramento’s established weaknesses can be addressed or remedied by bringing in a player like DeRozan; He won’t do anything to change the fact that the Kings didn’t offer much resistance on defense last season, and he can’t fix any fundamental flaws in the team’s design. Yet DeRozan makes the Kings better by adding new layers to what they already do best, making an already great offense even more formidable.

And frankly, that’s more than enough. The move to land DeRozan for just $74 million over three years makes sense for any contending team, and especially for the Kings, who are competing for every inch of ground in a tough playoff race. (To complete the sign-and-trade, Sacramento sent Chris Duarte, two second-round picks and cash to Chicago, while sending Harrison Barnes and a future pick swap to San Antonio.) Competition in the Western Conference became even greater. Promises to happen. The next season will be brutal with more competitive teams and less margin for error. Upgrading from Barnes to DeRozan on the wing – a major change in shot creation and playmaking – may be necessary for a team like Sacramento to hold its own. The Kings were pretty good last season About Make the playoffs. Another win in the play-in tournament would have done, but another win in the regular season would have given them an easier start. Four more wins would have secured a place in the first round. Every game matters, and last season DeRozan helped the Bulls win more games than they should have by turning a second-rate team into a crunch-time juggernaut.

The Kings didn’t particularly need to clean up their play in the clutch, but this move wasn’t really about a need. It was about a good team reading the chessboard, making the best moves available, and getting better by trying even harder to succeed in the first place. Over the past six seasons, DeRozan has transformed himself into a player who can thrive in a dynamic offense like Mike Brown’s in Sacramento. He is now a better passer, not only at organizing plays but also at facilitating them. He cuts off the lead action well, which will allow him to play alongside De’Aaron Fox, another star creator, on the perimeter. Whatever DeMar is able to create out of the pick-and-roll (where he remains one of the best scorers in the league), he should easily adapt to dribble handoffs with Domantas Sabonis. Whatever you think of Sabonis and the limitations of his game, DeRozan has been in the league for 15 years and has rarely played with a player as skilled and capable as his new teammate.

Sacramento already had a dangerous two-man game, a fluid offense and an efficient closer. There is now a greater variety of options in all those activities. The most important thing DeRozan brings to the Kings is a functional option. When Sabonis gets stuck in a tough matchup, Sacramento can turn to DeRozan to spark a different type of offense. When Fox can’t keep his jumper from falling, DeRozan can draw fouls and get the Kings to the line – something they failed to do consistently last season. When a strong team defense focuses on all of the action behind the Kings’ favorite acts, DeRozan will give Sacramento the means to score outside of their normal rhythm. He can contribute to the flow of the offense but is not dependent on it for success.

This alone is a dramatic change from a pure role player like Barnes, who spent most of his minutes last season spacing the floor and staying out of the way. Conversely, the Kings will need to actively create space for DeRozan, who had the ball more last season than almost any other frontcourt player in the league. Their game demands a level of touch and application and involvement that is far above what the Kings are accustomed to. It will require some adjustment, and that adjustment may come at the expense of Malik Monk or Keegan Murray’s ability to create for themselves or even as a trade-off with Fox or Sabonis. That’s the cost of adding this type of talent – ​​especially a player who manages the ball in his hands quite well. The offense is safe with DeRozan; His game is dependable, difficult to contest and is fueled by how little he turns the ball over. He doesn’t have the creative flair of a superstar, but he makes sure to get a shot up and also manages to take advantage of his more difficult, unbalanced and heavily competitive look.

All of this makes DeRozan a luxury for a team that is still trying to figure out how to protect the rim and guard without fouling. The newest member of the Kings won’t be any help. but what derozan can do He’s doing the same things he’s been doing for years in Chicago: getting buckets, running the offense, and pulling weak lineups toward some sort of stability. The worst player in Sacramento’s most-used lineup last season demanded too much from Sabonis, leaving him with good players but little creative support. not anymore. Adding DeRozan certainly helps the best version of the Kings, but there’s probably a lot more to those smaller versions – allowing Sacramento to keep two stars on the floor at all times and, by doing so, helping themselves. Kind of play more consistently.