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The newly acquired Sacramento Kings swingman DeMar DeRozan has played for four teams in his 15-year NBA career. However, he might be the first one to say that each trade to a new team in a new city doesn't get easier, even though his latest trade brought DeRozan home to California. In a recent appearance on Paul George's “Podcast P” show, the six-time All-Star explained what makes getting trade hard on NBA players.
“For me, being away from my kids is the toughest,” he said in the interview. “Since I left Toronto, for the most part, my kids have been in LA, so being away from them, missing a lot of… if it's the daddy-daughter dance or my son got an appointment or something that you miss. You miss certain things that kind of sting in the moment. It kind of puts you in a funk when you can't be there.”
The Kings forward speaks
DeRozan continued, “Especially my oldest. My oldest kid asks questions like, ‘Why were you not there?' or ‘Are you gonna be there for this?' Even the other day, one of my daughters asked me, ‘Are you gonna be home for Halloween?' And it's like, ‘Ugh, s**t, I gotta check the schedule,' so for me, that's the toughest part out of everything.”
Before arriving at the Kings, DeRozan played for the Chicago Bulls, which saw the postseason in 2022 but lost in the play-in tournament for two straight years.
In 2022, the Bulls also had a healthy Lonzo Ball, who helped them grab the best record in the Eastern Conference at one point. As the primary scorer on the Bulls, DeRozan averaged 25.5 points, 5.1 assists, and 4.7 rebounds.
He had also played for the San Antonio Spurs, after a trade sent Kawhi Leonard to the Toronto Raptors.
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This trade for the disgruntled Spur also catapulted DeRozan's former team to the NBA championship, which must have stung, given the numerous playoff eliminations DeRozan's Raptors faced courtesy of LeBron James.
It was also against DeRozan's Raptors that LeBron earned the nickname “LeBronto,” after demolishing the Raptors in 2018 and almost singlehandedly swept them out of the second round.
Now, after three previous NBA teams, Demar DeRozan looks to revitalize his playoff hopes with the Kings and advance past the play-in despite playing in a stacked Western Conference. The young team had just returned to the postseason in 2023, though they lost to the then-defending champions Golden State Warriors in a thrilling seven games.
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However, they stumbled a bit in 2024, failing to improve upon their previous 48-34 record and falling short in the play-in against the New Orleans Pelicans despite avenging their playoff loss to the Warriors.
While the Kings aren't lacking in offense, it wouldn't hurt to add a playoff veteran like DeRozan to the roster. Still, it remains to be seen whether their style of outscoring their opponents every game will take them far in the postseason.
