Kings are ‘dug in’ on their pursuit of DeMar DeRozan

DeMar DeRozan has been linked with a move to the West Coast for months. Most NBA observers thought DeRozan would end up with the Los Angeles Lakers when the dust settled. Now it appears that the Sacramento Kings are the veteran wing's best hopes of engineering a move to California.

The Kings' desire to acquire DeRozan is not a straightforward proposition. They'll need to engineer a sign-and-trade with the Bulls to meet the player's salary demands. Such a trade would also require the involvement of a third team that would permit Sacramento to offload a significant chunk of salary.

The good news is that the Bulls should be motivated to cooperate. There does not appear to be any mutual interest between the team and DeRozan to extend his stay in Chicago. A couple second-round picks should be enough to involve the Bulls in the multi-team trade.

The bigger challenge will be satisfying a third team to take on the sort of salary needed to make the trade legal. Any deal will likely require significant draft compensation on that front. It's also possible that the Kings might need to give up a quality player like Kevin Huerter to make room for DeRozan.

NBA Rumors: Kings 'dug in' on making DeMar DeRozan sign-and-trade

The real question the Kings need to ask is whether or not DeRozan really can improve their short-term prospects. He's an excellent mid-range player but he does not possess the sort of perimeter shooting ability to stretch the floor past the 3-point line. Giving him major minutes alongside De'Aaron Fox and Domantas Sabonis could clog up the team's halfcourt offense in a way their transition game can't overcome.

Even if adding DeRozan boosts the Kings' win total by a couple games it's not going to be enough to put them in championship contention. The Western Conference is loaded ahead of next season and Sacramento won't have enough talent to push itself into the upper echelon of title contenders. That raises a valid question over whether or not adding a player of DeRozan's age really makes sense with the Kings' potential timeline for championship contention.

Nonetheless, the Kings seem poised to try everything they can to add DeRozan to their mix in the next couple of days. It may not be the right long-term move for the franchise but it might make Sacramento a more interesting team to watch next season.