USC Basketball: New King DeMar DeRozan Could Reach Free Agency Sooner Than Expected

The immortal Sacramento scorer could hit the market quite soon.

Mar 4, 2024; Sacramento, California, USA; Chicago Bulls forward DeMar DeRozan (11) drives to the basket against the Sacramento Kings during the fourth quarter at Golden 1 Center. Mandatory Credit: Ed Szczepanski-USA TODAY Sports / Ed Szczepanski-USA TODAY Sports

Former one-and-done USC Trojans All-Pac-10 swingman DeMar DeRozan, now a six-time NBA All-Star (and counting), is moving on to his fourth pro franchise, after agreeing to a three-season, $73.7 million sign-and-trade deal that will send him from the Chicago Bulls to the Sacramento Kings.

Now, it turns out the 6-foot-6 small forward, 34, could be back on the open market sooner than many would have expected upon initially hearing about that deal.

According to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, only $10 million of the final year of the deal, for the 2026-27 season, is guaranteed, meaning DeRozan could hit free agency again prior to that season.

The three-time All-NBA Team honoree enjoyed another efficient scoring season for the Bulls in 2023-24, albeit on a doomed 39-43 squad that failed to advance beyond the Play-In Tournament for the second straight year.

In a stunningly healthy 79 regular season contests, DeRozan averaged 24 points on .480/.333/.853 shooting splits, 5.3 assists, 4.3 rebounds, 1.1 steals and 0.6 blocks a night for Chicago, as the team's de facto best player and top offensive option.

Chicago team president Arturas Karnisovas' bid for relevance, with the additions of DeRozan, Lonzo Ball, and Alex Caruso in the summer of 2021 now alongside Zach LaVine, Nikola Vucevic, Coby White and Ayo Dosunmu, ultimately resulted in just one playoff appearance in three seasons against the Milwaukee Bucks, and a single game victory.

With DeRozan and Alex Caruso (traded to the Oklahoma City Thunder in exchange for former lottery pick Josh Giddey) now gone, Karnisovas is clearly, finally closing the door on his inscrutable chase for the Eastern Conference's No. 8 seed for good. Now, he can fully reset the roster and embrace the tank.

DeRozan, meanwhile, has a fresh opportunity to potentially contend for a championship, with an offense-heavy lineup alongside All-Star point guard De'Aaron Fox and All-Star center Domantas Sabonis, plus perennial Sixth Man of the Year contender Malik Monk. Last season, the Kings went 46-36 and made the Western Conference's No. 9 seed. In 2022-23, Sacramento finished 48-34 and notched the the West's third seed. The team is clearly hoping to have a result in 2024-25 closer to its finish two seasons ago, and counting on DeRozan to bring it home.

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