The DeMar DeRozan era in Sacramento is over before it ever really had a chance to become anything. According to Shams Charania, the Kings are waiving the six-time All-Star forward after failing to find a trade partner willing to take on his contract.
This is the kind of divorce that both sides had to see coming. Sacramento’s roster construction never quite made sense with DeRozan on it, the Kings have missed the postseason, and the front office needed a reset. Waiving him is the cleanest way to get that done.
The Contract Math
DeRozan’s salary for the 2026-27 season was $25.7 million, but only $10 million was guaranteed. That is the number that made a buyout situation feasible. Sacramento eats the guaranteed money, opens up significant cap flexibility, and moves on with their reshuffle.
Charania reported the sides worked collaboratively after exploring trade routes, which is executive-speak for both parties recognizing that continuing the relationship benefited no one. Sometimes the best trade is no trade at all.
Where DeRozan Fits In Free Agency
Here is where things get interesting. DeRozan instantly becomes one of the top names available on a free-agent market that had already thinned out earlier in the summer. Contenders looking for a proven mid-range bucket-getter and a veteran who can carry an offense for stretches now have a real option.
The Knicks, Heat, and Warriors all make some level of sense. Any team with a title window and a need for wing scoring should be picking up the phone. DeRozan is not the player he was five years ago, but he averaged over 20 points last season and remains one of the most reliable isolation scorers in the sport.
The buyout market rarely produces stars. This one just did.
What Went Wrong In Sacramento
DeRozan’s tenure in Sacramento was doomed from the start by fit. The Kings needed shooting and defense on the wings, and DeRozan is not really either. He is a ball-dominant scorer, and pairing him with De’Aaron Fox and Domantas Sabonis created spacing issues that never got resolved.
Some of that is on the front office for the initial acquisition. Some of it is on the roster construction that never surrounded him with the right pieces. And some of it is on the coaching staff that could never figure out lineups that maximized what everyone did well.
Whatever the mix of blame, the result was the same. Sacramento fell short of expectations, DeRozan’s numbers dipped, and the marriage limped to its ending.
The Bigger Picture For Sacramento
The Kings now have some flexibility and a clearer path forward. What that path looks like is anyone’s guess, because Sacramento has been remarkably inconsistent with its long-term planning. But at least the roster is no longer trying to fit a square peg into a round hole.
Fox’s future in Sacramento continues to be a swirling storyline, and moving on from DeRozan does not answer that question. It just gets the front office to a place where the answer can start to take shape.
For DeRozan personally, this is an opportunity. He has always been a professional, always shown up, and always produced points. Some contender is about to get a guy who wants to play in a big spot. The Sacramento chapter closes, and the free-agency chapter begins.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
