{"id":87834,"date":"2024-07-29T13:52:27","date_gmt":"2024-07-29T17:52:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=87834"},"modified":"2024-07-29T13:53:04","modified_gmt":"2024-07-29T17:53:04","slug":"nba-insiders-reveal-true-thoughts-demar-derozan-trade","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/07\/29\/nba-insiders-reveal-true-thoughts-demar-derozan-trade\/","title":{"rendered":"NBA Insiders Reveal True Thoughts About DeMar DeRozan Trade"},"content":{"rendered":"

Although DeMar DeRozan<\/a> is among the most popular players in the NBA, a few league insiders believe<\/a> that the Chicago Bulls and Sacramento Kings both erred in their respective roles when the 34-year-old was sent from Chicago to Sacramento in a three-team sign-and-trade<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Bulls moved DeRozan and watched the (San Antonio) Spurs come away with the only significant asset in the trade,\u201d writes ESPN insider Tim Bontemps. \u201cAs for Sacramento, those who cited that deal didn’t like the fit of DeRozan with the Kings.\u201d<\/p>\n

NBA Insiders Reveal True Thoughts About DeMar DeRozan Trade<\/h2>\n

Interestingly, despite the amount of interest DeRozan generated in free agency, the Bulls didn\u2019t push for teams to include at least one first-round pick to acquire him in a sign-and-trade.<\/p>\n

Of course, this may have elongated the process of moving him; teams are reluctant to part ways with draft assets. Furthermore, Chicago\u2019s cupboard isn\u2019t empty. Indeed, they hold a first round pick in every draft through at least 2031. Nonetheless, the 2025 first-round pick that the Bulls own isn\u2019t their own, coming via the Portland Trail Blazers. It\u2019s also lottery-protected, making it unlikely to convey to Chicago.<\/p>\n

With the 2025 NBA Draft<\/a> considered to be one of the best in years though, trading a six-time All-Star for two second-round picks (and a trade exception) is negligent roster-building. Especially with DeRozan coming off of two of his most memorable seasons.<\/p>\n

Ironically, if the Bulls wanted to get their own 2025 first round pick back, they\u2019d have had to get their legacy out of the Spurs\u2019 house. In 2021, Chicago traded a first-rounder to San Antonio for<\/em> DeRozan. Yet, they allowed the Kings to send the Spurs both Harrison Barnes<\/a> and a 2031 first-round pick. Even worse, San Antonio didn\u2019t give up any assets or players for this package; they just fleeced them.<\/p>\n

The Bulls may be able to move Josh Giddey<\/a>, Coby White<\/a>, or Ayo Dosunmu<\/a> for a first-rounder. Yet, this is largely due to their relatively youth and potential. To cement their trade value, they all would need to step up their game up, being more assertive and consistent offensively.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately for Chicago, they\u2019re in a pickle as far as playing time. Because they didn\u2019t move Zach LaVine<\/a> or Lonzo Ball<\/a>, there are five starting-caliber players vying for minutes in the backcourt. It\u2019ll be hard for any of them to stand out without sacrifice.<\/p>\n

The King\u2019s Clunky Court<\/h3>\n

Speaking of missed (or a lack of) opportunities, DeRozan\u2019s impact on Keegan Murray<\/a> is also considered problematic.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe opportunity cost of not giving runway to Keegan [Murray]\u2026 and a bad bet on the fit,\u201d has caused at least one Eastern Conference to turn his nose up at the DeRozan deal.<\/p>\n

Murray, now heading into his third season, has been Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde so far in his career. As a rookie, the former fourth overall pick dazzled with 12.2 points per game on 41.1 percent shooting from 3. An exceptional defender as well, he appeared primed to replace Barnes. However, while raising his scoring average in 2023-24, he was much more unreliable. In 77 games, Murray averaged 15.2 points per contest but on 35.8 percent shooting from deep.<\/p>\n

With Barnes now playing for the Spurs, Murray could be to team\u2019s go-to off-ball threat. However, DeRozan is more of a forward than backcourt player at this point of his career. With Malik Monk<\/a> vying for a starting spot and Kevin Huerter<\/a> starting 141 of the 146 games he\u2019s played with the Kings (playoffs included), there\u2019s even more reason to believe DeRozan will start at a forward spot.<\/p>\n

In either scenario, DeRozan\u2019s a forced fit.<\/p>\n

If he starts in the backcourt, his need to have the ball in his hands will decrease De\u2019Aaron Fox<\/a>\u2019s on-ball opportunities. Because he takes a heavy diet of midrange attempts, he\u2019ll also shrink the floor. Defensively, his lack of lateral agility could leave him vulnerable to shifty ball-handlers. His lack of consistent effort makes the idea of him guarding players who heavily rely on screens especially concerning.<\/p>\n

If he starts in the frontcourt, he lacks the ideal length to guard power forwards at 6-foot-6. Yet, if he\u2019s at small forward, opposing teams may look to attack from the wings. With Domantas Sabonis<\/a>\u2019 uninspiring interior defense, this could handicap them from outset.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Although DeMar DeRozan is among the most popular players in the NBA, a few league insiders believe that the Chicago Bulls and Sacramento Kings both erred in their respective roles when the 34-year-old was sent from Chicago to Sacramento in a three-team sign-and-trade. \u201cThe Bulls moved DeRozan and watched the (San Antonio) Spurs come away […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5008,"featured_media":87848,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[29,1608,8,62,556,3,34],"tags":[350,4606,98,1382],"class_list":["post-87834","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-kings","category-basketball","category-bulls","category-nba","category-nba-draft","category-news","category-spurs","tag-demar-derozan","tag-keegan-murray","tag-nba-draft","tag-nba-trade"],"modified_by":"Quenton S Albertie","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87834","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5008"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=87834"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87834\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/87848"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=87834"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=87834"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=87834"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}