Ranking all 14 Sacramento Kings players by trade value
By Mat Issa
Tier #5: Two First Rounders
Kings Players In This Category: DeMar DeRozan
This category is for the starters who are a step below star-caliber players but a step above your average starter. For the Kings, that is a great way to describe our biggest offseason addition, DeMar DeRozan.
DeRozan is no longer the top 25 player he was at his peak. But he's still a top 50-60 player in the association (in 2022-23, DeRozan finished 40th in the NBA in EPM). On top of that, he has one of the best contracts on the team. According to the formula I mentioned earlier, DeRozan makes six million dollars per year on his new deal (24.6 million) than his production value (30.6 million in 2024-25) suggests he should.
Back when Ben Simmons was traded to the Brooklyn Nets in 2022, he was still viewed as this caliber of player (man, it is sad what has happened to him), and he was someone people believed was worth more like two first round picks than just one. That is basically where DeRozan's value is at this point in time.