Late on Saturday night, the Sacramento Kings pulled off a major coup by consenting to a sign-and-trade that would send six-time All-Star and California native DeMar DeRozan to Sacramento. After playing for three seasons in Chicago, DeRozan will now sign a three-year, $74 million contract near to home.
Sacramento transferred former Dallas Maverick Harrison Barnes to the San Antonio Spurs as part of the sign-and-trade; Barnes should mesh well with the team’s rising young star, Victor Wembanyama. During his two and a half seasons in Dallas, Barnes played in 49 of Luka Doncic’s NBA games.
During the 2019 trade deadline, Barnes was traded from Dallas to Sacramento in exchange for Zach Randolph and Justin Jackson. Following the deal, Randolph would be released. Since the Mavs also planned to trade for Kristaps Porzingis and knew he would require a new contract, it was effectively a payroll dump to get off long-term money.
Barnes’ best years were spent in Dallas, when he played in 205 games and averaged 18.7 points per game. Since being traded away from the Mavs, he has never finished a season with more than 16.4 points per game. San Antonio is now hoping he can mesh nicely with their rebuild. To make the money work, they had to trade Devonte Graham to Charlotte. With Chris Paul, Devin Vassell, Harrison Barnes, Jeremy Sochan, and Victor Wembanyama set to start for the Spurs, as well as Stephon Castle and Keldon Johnson on the bench, they could surprise a few people this season and even challenge for a spot in the Play-In games.
Chicago obtained future second-round picks and Chris Duarte as part of the exchange. It remains to be seen if DeRozan can help the Kings become a serious contender in the Western Conference. DeRozan is a fantastic mid-range scorer, but he hinders team spacing, and he frequently lines up with Domantas Sabonis, another player who struggles to spread the floor.
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