As a major rebuild of the Sacramento Kings hopefully gets closer, the time has come to end their attempt to run back the DeMar DeRozan and Zach LaVine era on the Chicago Bulls. This All-Star combination didn't lead to championships in the Windy City, and it certainly hasn't in Sactown.
DeMar DeRozan, who is currently in his17th NBA season, was drafted ninth by the Raptors in 2009. He arguably played his best basketball in Toronto before moving on to San Antonio in 2018. Then spent three seasons in Chicago before heading out to Sacramento in 2024.
On the other hand, Zach LaVine had a much longer tenure with the Bulls. He was drafted by the Minnesota Timberwolves in 2014, then moved to Chicago where he stayed for 7.5 seasons. Then he was part of a three team trade that sent him to Sacramento and De'Aaron Fox to San Antonio.
Despite the fact both DeRozan and LaVine are high caliber players with impressive offensive capabilities, the duo didn't lead to much success for the Bulls. There were no division titles, conference titles, or championships during their tenure, combined or separate.
It was never going to work on the Kings, either
Despite that lack of success, the Kings chose to reunite DeRozan and LaVine. DeRozan arrived first in the 2024 offseason with LaVine following in early 2025. Again, these are two excellent shooters who are generally reliable threats on offense, which they have continued to do in Sacramento to an extent.
The problem is that the Kings didn't really need more shooters. And neither player solves any of Sacramento's real problems, such as a lack of defensive identity, no playmaking, abysmal three-point shooting, a generally smaller lineup, and...well, frankly pretty much anything you can think of.
It's hard to understand why anyone in the Kings organization thought a duo who didn't achieve much in Chicago would work out any better in Sacramento. Honestly, it would be in the best interests of both LaVine and DeRozan to go their separate ways and play for other teams. They can do better.
For the Kings, their experiment of running back what the Bulls tried for three seasons has ended in failure. But if the Sacramento front office can learn anything from this situation, it's how good the Bulls are looking these days after sending LaVine and DeRozan to the West Coast.
Time to set up some trades with teams on the East Coast.