As we've discussed before on this website, the Sacramento Kings likely need to find an upgrade for Harrison Barnes at the power forward spot if they want to become serious title contenders. And one name that has been coming up in these conversations recently is DeMar DeRozan.
But what are the benefits of trading for DeRozan? What are the downsides? In this article, we avoid talking about the specifics of what a potential DeRozan sign-and-trade (that is what would need to happen since he is an unrestricted free agent) would look like, and instead, we will focus on the pros and cons of bringing DeRozan to Sacramento.
Reason #1 For Trading For DeRozan: Reliability
In the load management era, where players are consistently missing 20+ games per year, DeRozan is remarkably reliable. Last year, he played 79 games (and led the league in minutes played), and over the last nine years, DeRozan has had seven seasons where he's played at least 74 games.
This will give the Kings a huge boost during the regular season. Along with DeRozan, De'Aaron Fox and Domantas Sabonis have proven to be quite the iron men over the last two years. That means the Kings will have their top 3 players playing almost every night while other teams have their stars in and out of the lineup. In a conference that is as competitive as the Western Conference, that could make all the difference in the standings.