There were a lot of players on the move during the 2024 NBA offseason. One of the bigger transactions involved the Sacramento Kings and Chicago Bulls executing a sign-and-trade centered around DeMar DeRozan.
DeMar DeRozan agreed to a three-year, $74 million deal with the Kings after long-term talks with the Bulls crumbled. Unhappy with the direction things looked to be going in with Chicago, DeRozan wanted to play elsewhere.
He got his wish, landing with Sacramento. The Kings have turned things around considerably under head coach Mike Brown in recent seasons. They snapped their NBA record playoff drought in 2023 and look like a mainstay in the postseason picture for years to come.
However, there weren’t many NBA personnel who liked this swap. Over at ESPN, coaches, scouts and executives voted on several different questions in a survey.
One of the questions was what the worst move of the 2024 NBA offseason was. Six total votes were placed on the DeMar DeRozan trade; three people picked the Bulls part in the deal, while another three selected the Kings part.
“The opportunity cost of not giving runway to Keegan [Murray],” said an East executive, explaining why they picked that deal, “and a bad bet on the fit.”
Making sense of this deal from the Sacramento point of view is difficult. DeMar DeRozan has shown he plenty left in the tank to offer a team, but his fit on the Kings’ roster is hard to envision.
He is another player who has to have the ball in his hands to succeed. The veteran isn’t a prolific 3-point shooter, making him an odd fit alongside De’Aaron Fox and Domantas Sabonis.
From Chicago’s perspective, voters didn’t like how long they waited to embark on this rebuild. Value was high for several of their players in recent years but they didn’t maximize those opportunities.
All the Bulls got in this deal were two future second-round picks and Chris Duarte. It was the San Antonio Spurs, who helped facilitate this deal to work under the salary cap rules, who came away with the best return.
They took on the contract of Harrison Barnes, who should be of great benefit to a young team on the rise. They also acquired a 2031 first-round pick, which is the most valuable asset in this deal.
This was a huge miss by Chicago waiting so long to unload their veterans. Sacramento got a very good player, but DeMar DeRozan’s fit as the roster is currently constructed could be seen as clunk.
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