{"id":383708,"date":"2026-07-02T15:33:22","date_gmt":"2026-07-02T15:33:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/383708\/"},"modified":"2026-07-02T15:33:22","modified_gmt":"2026-07-02T15:33:22","slug":"kings-veteran-trying-to-find-a-way-out-of-sacramento-according-to-insider","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/383708\/","title":{"rendered":"Kings Veteran Trying to Find a way Out of Sacramento, According to Insider"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\t\t\t\t<img width=\"780\" height=\"439\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/GettyImages-2267473833-e1783005485596.jpg\" class=\"attachment-featured-image size-featured-image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\"   decoding=\"async\" fetchpriority=\"high\"\/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGetty\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p>SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA &#8211; MARCH 19: Head coach Doug Christie of the Sacramento Kings looks on during a timeout against the Philadelphia 76ers at Golden 1 Center on March 19, 2026 in Sacramento, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Lachlan Cunningham\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/sports\/nba\/sacramento-kings\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Sacramento Kings<\/a> were one of the worst teams in the NBA this past season. It was a nightmare season from the start. Injuries and poor play plagued the team from the moment the year started. Two of their starters had surgery, too.<\/p>\n<p>One veteran who played most of the season was <a href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/nba\/player\/demar-derozan\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">DeMar DeRozan<\/a>. He was the most consistent player for the Kings, even if his stats dropped from a year ago. He played in 77 games and was one of the leaders of the team. Yet, his play wasn\u2019t good enough for the team to come close to making the playoffs.<\/p>\n<p>Now, DeRozan is trying to find a way out of Sacramento.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-6141814\" class=\"size-large wp-image-6141814\" data-lazy-load=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/GettyImages-2266052060.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"780\" height=\"520\"  \/><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-6141814\" class=\"size-large wp-image-6141814\" data-lazy-load=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/GettyImages-2266052060.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"780\" height=\"520\"  \/><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-6141814\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">GettySacramento Kings forward DeMar DeRozan holds the ball in a game. (Photo by Ezra Shaw\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n<p>DeMar DeRozan is trying to Get Away from the Kings<\/p>\n<p>DeRozan is trying to find a way out of Sacramento, according to <a href=\"https:\/\/sports.yahoo.com\/nba\/article\/jaylen-brown-blockbuster-lakers-makeover-and-a-wild-day-2-of-nba-free-agency-233200215.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener external nofollow\">Kelly Iko of Yahoo Sports<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cKings wing DeMar DeRozan, who is owed $25 million for the upcoming season \u2014 with only $10 million guaranteed \u2014 is hoping to accelerate his exit, either by being waived and testing the open market or being traded sooner rather than later, sources say,\u201d Iko wrote.<\/p>\n<p>DeRozan would likely have some interest in the buyout market. He could be a veteran player that a contending team would love to have come off the bench. He\u2019s an extremely durable player who could start, but he might be most effective as a bench player on a really good team.<\/p>\n<p>DeRozan is tired of playing on a team that has no shot of making the playoffs. He wants to play some meaningful basketball. It would be surprising if someone tried to trade for him, though. His age and his contract would make it shocking if a team pursued that route.<\/p>\n<p>DeRozan being outright waived seems to be the most logical conclusion. There is a chance that the Kings want to keep him as a veteran presence on a rebuilding team. The issue with that is they already have several other veteran players with no easy way to move them.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-6141816\" class=\"size-large wp-image-6141816\" data-lazy-load=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/GettyImages-2267425992.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"780\" height=\"520\"  \/><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-6141816\" class=\"size-large wp-image-6141816\" data-lazy-load=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/GettyImages-2267425992.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"780\" height=\"520\"  \/><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-6141816\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">GettySacramento Kings DeMar DeRozan dribbles the ball in a game. (Photo by Ezra Shaw\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n<p>Sacramento is Stuck in the Middle of Timelines<\/p>\n<p>The Kings have an issue with their roster construction. They clearly are a team that needs to rebuild, but they have too many veteran contracts to get younger, as a lot of their players don\u2019t have much trade value. They are likely going to be stuck near the bottom of the West again.<\/p>\n<p>That is why DeRozan wants to find a way out of town, if he can. He doesn\u2019t want to play for a bad team at the end of his career. He will be 37 years old when next season starts, so his career is coming towards a close. It\u2019s clear he wants to play for a team that has at least a shot to make the playoffs.<\/p>\n<p>Sacramento had the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nba.com\/stats\/teams\/advanced?dir=A&amp;sort=OFF_RATING&amp;SeasonType=Regular+Season\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener external nofollow\">fifth-worst offense<\/a> in the NBA last season. They will likely put together a similar number next season.<\/p>\n<p>\n\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/author\/ryanstano\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Ryan Stano<\/a> Ryan Stano covers the NBA and College Football for Heavy.com. He has been covering sports since 2017, covering the NFL, College Football, College Basketball, and the NBA. His work has been featured on Yahoo, Bleacher Report, FanSided, and Sports Illustrated. <a href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/author\/ryanstano\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">More about Ryan Stano<\/a>\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Getty SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA &#8211; MARCH 19: Head coach Doug Christie of the Sacramento Kings looks on during a&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":383709,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[121,123,122],"class_list":["post-383708","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sacramento","tag-sacramento","tag-sacramento-headlines","tag-sacramento-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/383708","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=383708"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/383708\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/383709"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=383708"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=383708"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=383708"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}