Lakers draft Bronny James to form NBA’s first father-son duo
USA TODAY Sports’ Jeff Zillgitt breaks down the historic move by the Los Angeles Lakers, drafting Bronny James to form the leagues first father-son duo.
DeMar DeRozan is heading back to California, but the Los Angeles native isn’t returning to Southern California. Instead, he’s headed up north.
DeRozan is set to join the Sacramento Kings in a sign-and-trade deal involving the Chicago Bulls and San Antonio Spurs, agreeing to a three-year deal worth $74 million, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski and Tim Bontemps reported on Saturday. In exchange, the Kings are sending Harrison Barnes to the Spurs and Chris Duarte, two second-round picks and cash to the Bulls, ESPN added.
DeRozan averaged 24 points, 4.3 rebounds and 5.3 assists in 79 games last season for the Bulls, where he averaged a league-high 37.8 minutes played per game.
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DeRozan was selected out of USC by the Toronto Raptors with the ninth overall pick of the 2009 NBA Draft. He spent the first nine seasons of his career in Toronto, where he was named an All-Star four times (2014, 2016-2018).
He spent three seasons in San Antonio and another three seasons in Chicago, where he picked up two more All-Star nods (2022, 2023). In 2022, DeRozan became only the 50th player in NBA history to eclipse 20,000 career points.
The Kings have made a big free-agent splash as they look to improve on a 46-36 record. They made the play-in game but did not advance to the playoffs.
In addition to landing DeRozan, Sacramento locked down Malik Monk, the Sixth Man of the Year runner-up last season, agreeing to a four-year, $78 million deal. Center Alex Len will also remain in Sacramento after agreeing to a one-year, 3.3 million contract, The Athletic reported.
Contributing: Jeff Zillgitt
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