"I didn't have high hopes" - DeMar DeRozan gets real on possibility of joining Lakers in 2024 NBA free agency
Newly signed Sacramento Kings star forward DeMar DeRozan recently named the LA Lakers as one of the teams he considered joining this summer. However, according to the six-time All-Star, his past NBA free-agency experiences left him pessimistic about his chances of landing with his hometown squad.
DeRozan, who entered the offseason as one of the top unrestricted free agents, was widely expected to move on from the retooling Chicago Bulls. In early July, he ultimately joined Sacramento on a three-year, $73.9 million contract via a sign-and-trade deal.
However, on "Podcast P with Paul George" Monday, DeRozan said he had other "legitimate options," including the Lakers, LA Clippers, Miami Heat and Philadelphia 76ers.
During a follow-up interview with The Athletic's Sam Amick Wednesday, DeMar DeRozan spoke in depth about his long-standing interest in playing for the Lakers. The Compton, California native noted that LA hasn't always reciprocated his interest level. Thus, he has learned to accept the business of the NBA.
"Yeah, you just learn how to deal with it from a business standpoint," DeRozan said. "Obviously, I have my selfish reasons for wanting to be able to play at home, [but] sometimes it just doesn’t work out that way.
"And sometimes it probably isn’t the best decision for me either. So after that didn’t happen, I didn’t dwell on it. I wasn’t mad. They made their choice, and I just left it at that," he added.
DeRozan added that despite Lakers superstars LeBron James and Anthony Davis backing the franchise's potential pursuit of him, he wasn't optimistic about landing in LA.
The three-time All-NBA selectee cited his failed 2021 free-agency negotiations with the Lakers as the primary reason for his dampened hopefulness.
"After the last time, the last situation, you really don’t get your hopes all the way up," DeRozan said. "I think the first time, before I went to Chicago, that was the closest it had been. And even for me, I thought it was going to be that. But when that didn’t happen, I didn’t have high hopes because you already see how it could play out."
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Kings weren't on DeMar DeRozan's free-agency "radar" until he got shunned by Lakers
Later in his interview with The Athletic, DeMar DeRozan spoke about how he ended up joining Sacramento.
According to the star forward, he didn't consider the Kings a viable free-agency destination until his options began dwindling.
"No, it definitely took me a minute [to consider them]. To tell you that they were on my radar beforehand — no, they definitely weren’t," DeRozan said. "But sometimes you’ve gotta let the fog clear to make a decision, and that’s kind of what I did."
Sacramento may not have been DeRozan's preferred landing spot. Nevertheless, he added that the franchise offered him the "perfect opportunity" to continue earning a fair salary and competing at a high level.
DeRozan joins a Kings squad coming off a ninth-place (46-36) Western Conference finish. However, with DeRozan teaming up with stars Domantas Sabonis and De'Aaron Fox, the franchise appears primed to return to the playoffs.
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