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Kings Tried to Trade for Lauri Markkanen Before DeMar DeRozan, per Report
The Sacramento Kings reportedly landed free agent DeMar DeRozan on Saturday night in a three-team sign-and-trade deal that involved the Chicago Bulls and San Antonio Spurs.
Before the Kings honed in on DeRozan, they were in serious pursuit of Utah Jazz forward Lauri Markkanen, according to Anthony Slater of The Athletic. Slater reported that the Kings felt they gave the Jazz an offer that was enough in terms of draft picks to get Markkanen, but Utah, "didn't meet" a deadline the Kings gave Utah to respond. Instead, they pivoted to DeRozan.
The Kings protected Keegan Murray in discussions around Markkanen, according to the report.
Slater also described a sense of growing doubt among others in the league that the Jazz will trade Markkanen at all. Several interested teams have reportedly kept tabs on Markkanen, including the Golden State Warriors, who made a substantial offer to no avail. Markkanen won Most Improved Player of the Year in 2023.
DeRozan was informally introduced to Kings fans Saturday at the team's California Classic debut tipping off summer league.
Sacramento sent Harrison Barnes in the deal, effectively swapping him for DeRozan. Last year, Barnes averaged 12.2 points, three rebounds, and 1.2 assists per game. DeRozan averaged 24 points, 4.3 rebounds, and 5.3 assists per game.
JOSH WILSON
Josh Wilson is the news director of the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. Before joining SI in 2024, he worked for FanSided in a variety of roles, most recently as senior managing editor of the brand’s flagship site. He has also served as a general manager of Sportscasting, the sports arm of a start-up sports media company, where he oversaw the site’s editorial and business strategy. Wilson has a bachelor’s degree in mass communications from SUNY Cortland and a master’s in accountancy from the Gies College of Business at the University of Illinois. He loves a good nonfiction book and enjoys learning and practicing Polish. Wilson lives in Chicago but was raised in upstate New York. He spent most of his life in the Northeast and briefly lived in Poland, where he ate an unhealthy amount of pastries for six months.