On July 7, according to the latest reports from the American media, Bulls star DeRozan joined the Kings with a three-year $76 million sign-and-trade contract, and formed the King's Big Three with Sabonis Jr. and Fox. And for the Lakers, who verbally said that they want to strengthen the lineup, the free agent market this year is not even the last big fish!
On July 7, according to Shams of The Athletic, DeRozan signed and then traded to the Kings for 3 years and 76 million in a three-way deal! Salary plus bonus $76 million for 3 years, $59 million guaranteed for the first two years, and partially guaranteed for the third year
The specific three-way deal is as follows: the king gets DeRozan; Bulls get Duarte, two second-round picks and cash; Spurs get: Harris Barnes, unprotected first-round swap rights in 2031.
DeRozan played only once in the playoffs in 2021-22 in his three seasons with the Bulls, losing 4-1 to the Bucks in the first round. Since then, Lonzo Ball has been reimbursed for two consecutive years of knee injury seasons, and the Bulls are ranked 10th in the East with 40-42 in 2022-23 and 9th in the East with 39-43 in 2023-24, missing the playoffs for two consecutive years.
The Bulls also offered DeRozan a two-year, $80 million contract this summer, while DeRozan's annual salary last season was only $28.6 million.
However, for DeRozan, who has earned $258 million in his career, he is about to turn 35 years old, and he hopes that his team has the hope of hitting the championship. Therefore, DeRozan would rather go to the king to get 76 million for 3 years, and the average annual salary is only 25.33 million at the price of cabbage, but also to compete for the championship.
According to a follow-up report from Kings reporter Mark Haynes, DeRozan will wear the No. 10 jersey with the Kings, and he will form the Kings' Big Three with Sabonis Jr. and Fox.
For the Lakers, the initial targets were Klay, Harden, and Valenciunas, but these people defected to other teams or renewed their contracts, and in the end, even DeRozan Lakers were unwilling to pay assets to trade, and they also spent a very mediocre offseason, for which Lakers general manager Pelinka was also scolded.
In this regard, netizens have said, "Lakers: whatever"
"I have to mention the Lakers"
"The boat has capsized, the lake has dried up!"
"I am a chicken and an egg, I didn't leave when I should go, I didn't come when I should have come"
"I don't understand, DeRozan is not better than George, George 34 has potential injuries and has a top salary, is DeRozan the price of this cabbage?"
"The Lakers are still thinking about using 13 million to pick up the leak and laugh off the big teeth."
"Lakers Clippers: You guys are doing something, tomorrow the Lakers merge to form the Los Angeles Clippers."
"He is strong, let him be strong, Lao Tzu earns traffic"
"Could those fans who scolded Pelinka be scolding the wrong person, I think Pelinka is just taking the blame, in fact, the boss didn't want to spend money at all, otherwise he wouldn't be able to get it alone all summer? It's just to let the fans play through the media, otherwise Pelinka would have been out of class a long time ago! ”