DeMar DeRozan stated at the end of his 2023-24 season with the Bulls that he still has a desire to win at this stage of his career. Now, as the Sacramento Kings' offseason comes to a close, it's clear that his team didn't do a lot to help him live out that wish.
Throughout his career, DeRozan has played on several high-level rosters. But he's never really come close to winning a championship. The furthest he's gone in the playoffs was when he reached the conference finals back in the 2015-16 season with the Toronto Raptors.
As of right now, it doesn't look like he's going to get the kind of opportunity to go deep into the playoffs that he wants with this Sacramento team. At this point, DeMar's dreams of winning a title may be most realistic if the Kings decide to trade him away. And it's certainly something this front office has considered doing.
Let's just be up front about it: Sacramento hasn't made nearly the kind of moves they would need to this summer in order to get back into a position where they could be a legitimate postseason contender once again. Playing at the highest level and winning is what DeRozan wants, but this team is unfortunately just a long way away from getting there.
The Kings likely won't make a deep playoff run with DeRozan
Given that he just turned 36 years old last month, DeMar is well aware of the fact that he's on the proverbial back nine of his professional basketball career at this point. He's somebody who undoubtedly wants to be remembered as a player who finished his career strong.
Combine the Kings' lack of forward-thinking roster moves with the fact that he's already been mentioned in trade rumors, and it's reasonable to think that DeRozan's production or effort levels could suffer in this upcoming season. It can be hard to give your all when you feel like your talents are ultimately being hindered by underdeveloped roster construction.
And to be fair, DeMar isn't necessarily the easiest player in the association to build around. He's really more of a complimentary piece than a primary one, but that also doesn't mean you still can't go out and get players that play off of his game well if you see him as a long-term fixture. The harshest critics of DeRozan would argue that he's a liability due to his lack of ability to stretch the floor, and that this limitation sets a certain ceiling for the teams he's on.
Regardless, Sacramento made a statement by not building around him this summer. It feels very likely that they don't see him as a functional building block for the next few years as his career winds down, and instead they will probably look to trade him should an opportunity present itself.