The Sacramento Kings have acquired six-time NBA All-Star DeMar DeRozan in a sign-and-trade arrangement involving the Chicago Bulls and San Antonio Spurs, ironically two former employers of DeRozan himself.
At large the NBA community seem split on the acquisition, almost exclusively due to Sacramento’s lack of defense. DeRozan, who averaged 25.5 points over three seasons in Chicago, is primarily known for his scoring, and not his talent of stopping others from doing the same.
It’s an odd reaction given that the rest of the Kings roster is heavily screwing offense in the first place. The team’s starting center, Domantas Sabonis, is far from an effective rim protector, which is hands down the most crucial defensive position on the floor.
He is, however, a triple-double machine (26 last season), one the league’s best passers (8.2 assists), and puts up nearly 20 points per game on near 60% shooting.
Malik Monk, who recently struck a new deal to stay in Sacramento, is also not a strong defender, preferring instead to showcase his offensive chops, evident by his 15.4 points and 5.1 assists off the bench last season.
Keegan Murray and De’Aaron Fox are plus-defenders, Fox moreso than Murray, but if one were to evaluate which side of the ball they fared best, not many would point to their defense.
It’s thus fair to wonder what exactly people expected the Kings to do with their big final move of the summer. Even if they were to find a defensive-minded player, exactly how big of a dent would that have made on a roster that’s heavily tailored towards offense?
The addition of DeRozan might not help them in that particular department, but the soon-to-be 35-year-old does help them in other avenues.
For one, DeRozan is an extremely potent ball-handler. In 2,989 minutes last season, which included 1,355 shot attempts, 421 assists, and lord knows how many drives that led to 7.7 nightly free throws, DeRozan turned the ball over just 135 times.
The Kings, already a solid team when it comes to hanging onto the ball, might take a significant leap in that category, lowering turnovers, optimizing shot-making, and forcing teams to take the ball out of bounds after makes, thus providing them with more time to set their defense.
Also worth noting is that the Kings now have two of the league’s best clutch players in Fox and DeRozan, both of whom can take, and make, shots late in games, and have the offense run through them for long stretches.
Finally, DeRozan has always been a strong passer, and adding a fourth playmaker to the lineup should drastically help put Murray in a position to function almost exclusively as an off-ball scorer, who’ll rely on catch-and-shoots, and cuts, to get his point production. In theory, this should allow him to see an increase in efficiency.
DeRozan might seem like overkill for the Kings, but in a league that’s constantly setting new offensive records, it’s fair to ask if overkill is even a thing anymore.
Unless noted otherwise, all stats via NBA.com, PBPStats, Cleaning the Glass or Basketball-Reference. All salary information via Spotrac. All odds courtesy of FanDuel Sportsbook.
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