NBA coaches and scouts criticize Kings acquisition of DeMar DeRozan

In an offseason filled with eventful transactions, the most significant of them all was the three-team sign-and-trade with the Chicago Bulls and San Antonio Spurs that netted the Sacramento Kings six-time All-Star DeMar DeRozan.

Adding DeRozan was a big day for fans of the Kings, especially since it seems like DeRozan chose us over the two Los Angeles teams (remember, for a sign-and-trade to be executed, the unrestricted free agent needs to agree to the team he's being traded to and the terms of the deal).

However, it seems like other coaches and scouts around the league don't like our front office's decision-making process. On Tuesday, ESPN ran a segment where they polled a number of anonymous coaches and scouts around the league on what they thought the worst 2024 offseason moves were up to this point.

Interestingly enough, the voting body said two of the three worst moves involved DeRozan. They said that both the Bulls losing DeRozan and the Kings gaining DeRozan were two of the three worst moves of the 2024 offseason. The third move on that list was the Los Angeles Clippers losing Paul George for nothing (obviously some gross malpractice from their front office).

What Are They Thinking?

I understand the Bulls' admission on this list, especially since they could have traded DeRozan a year ago and gotten more value for him then. But from the Kings' perspective, I thought this was a nice, low-risk, medium-sized reward move.

My guess is that the coaches/scouts who didn't like this move had one of three problems with it. First, they figured that DeRozan (who will be 35 at the start of the season) was on the downslope and that he wasn't worth a multi-year deal. Second, they don't think that adding DeRozan does much for this team's ceiling and that doubling down on this core will push them into basketball purgatory. Or third, they are worried about how useful that 2031 unprotected pick swap they traded away may be to the Spurs.

To the first concern, I say that DeRozan was still very productive last year despite leading the entire NBA in minutes played (2,989). Plus, his game – one predicated on guile and craft – should age pretty gracefully. And yes, DeRozan may only make this team marginally better from a ceiling perspective, but he significantly raises their floor while also maintaining their flexibility to make other moves.

As for the Spurs pick swap, that probably won't age great. But when you've been as bad as the Kings have been for as long as they have been, you have to take some chances when you have a strong roster like they do.