DeRozan gives a revealing one-word answer when asked why he chose Kings originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
DeMar DeRozan’s criteria for his free agent target last summer seems to have been pretty simple.
In fact, the six-time NBA All-Star had only a one-word answer when he asked why he chose the Kings after he first landed in Sacramento.
“Winning.”
That was DeRozan’s immediate response to Kings vice president of player development Paul Johnson’s question about Season 3. premiere episode of “The Run”, released on the team’s YouTube channel.
That’s saying something for Sacramento, considering the plethora of options DeRozan had during NBA free agency.
In the end, the Kings — who ended a nearly two-year playoff drought in 2023 — won for DeRozan’s services. The 15-year NBA veteran joined Sacramento in July through a sign-and-trade agreement from the Chicago Bulls, and received a three-year, $76 million contract.
“The Run” also showed DeRozan training with new Kings teammate Domantas Sabonis at USC shortly after he signed.
“Sabonis, he wanted to come out to LA to work with me,” DeRozan said. “We spent a whole week together.
“Just the dialogue, the work we put in — you’d think we’d been playing together for two years after just a week of working.”
So, it seems a partnership with Sabonis also helped lure DeRozan to Sacramento.
However, as DeRozan revealed last month, he had to wait for Paul George decide their own player fate before making a decision. George, of course, went to the Philadelphia 76ers. That paved the way for DeRozan to choose the Kings over other contenders, including the 76ers, Miami Heat and both Los Angeles squads.
With the 2024-25 NBA season about to begin, DeRozan’s dream of lighting the beam is about to come true.
