Without question, the biggest free agency signing of the summer by our Sacramento Kings was the sign-and-trade that landed us DeMar DeRozan. As a six-time All-Star and three-time All-NBA selection, DeRozan will surely add a lot of value to us on the court.
However, DeRozan can bring a lot more than points on the scoreboard to the Kings. Just ask Nikola Vucevic – DeRozan's former collegiate and professional teammate. On Friday, NBA Insider Marc Stein released an interview with the Chicago Bulls big man that included this quote about his former teammate (by the way,if you aren't subscribed to Stein's substack, you definitely should).
"It'll definitely be a little bit of an adjustment just because obviously we all know what he brought to us on the court. But I think also just his presence in general," Vucevic told Stein. "DeMar was really liked and obviously very well respected in the locker room ... kind of the guy that everybody gravitated towards and was always the storyteller of all these veteran stories and all these things and the young guys really gravitated towards that."
Kings Building A Contender And A Winning Culture
I will be the first to tell you that the Kings, as currently constructed, are not an inner circle title contender. Although, being able to bring in DeRozan (without sacrificing any of their core pieces) does make them a team that could make a deep run in the West.
But more than increasing the Kings' title odds, DeRozan (as Vucevic alluded to) will help the team build on the winning culture they are trying to create.
The vibes have been sky-high in Sacramento over the last two years, even with them missing the playoffs last season. But before that, they were really, really down bad (just ask DeMarcus Cousins). As many of you are acutely aware, before 2023, the team went 16 years without making the playoffs (and they've gone even longer without boasting a top 10 defense).
Between head coach Mike Brown, De'Aaron Fox, and Domantas Sabonis, the Kings already have a strong foundation. But now, with a well-regarded veteran like DeRozan, they have a strong infrastructure in place to help players reach their full potential and have a good time while doing it. Vucevic is just one of many former DeRozan teammates who will offer a testimonial to further this point.
From here, the next step is to use the winning culture we're putting together to go from darkhorse to powerhouse.