Presence of DeMar DeRozan heightens excitement in Sacramento as Kings open training camp

DeMar DeRozan’s new teammates were struck by the sight of the six-time All-Star in a Kings uniform during media day festivities Monday at the team’s Golden 1 Center practice facility.

“It’s pretty crazy,” Kings center Domantas Sabonis said. “It looks good on him.”

The presence of DeRozan added to the sense of excitement in Sacramento as the Kings opened training camp Tuesday in preparation for the 2024-25 NBA season.

“One thing he brings to the table, and there are a lot, but the thing I’m most excited about is that I’m a firm believer in belief,” Kings coach Mike Brown said. “When you’ve got a guy like DeMar walking through that door, it adds to the belief of everybody.

“As you can tell, the organization and the city are excited about him. Everybody’s got their chest puffed up a little bit more because of him, so I’m extremely excited about that as well as seeing how he shows his leadership skills.”

DeRozan liked what he saw from his new teammates on the first day of practice.

“Today was extremely fun,” DeRozan said. “It was exciting. I’m excited for all the great reasons.”

The Kings want to return to the playoffs after falling short last season with DeRozan predicting they will reach the Western Conference finals. The Kings went 17-11 against the top seven teams in the West last season, but they were 13-11 against the other seven teams.

Sabonis believes DeRozan can help the Kings become more consistent.

“He’s going to come ready every game and that was our problem last year,” Sabonis said. “We won against the best, lost against the lower seeds, and I feel like with him and his leadership, he’s a veteran, Hall of Fame career, he’s going to make sure we’re all showing up in all of those games.”

The Kings acquired DeRozan, 35, in July in a three-team sign-and-trade deal involving the Chicago Bulls and San Antonio Spurs. The 15-year veteran and three-time All-NBA selection is 36 ^th on the all-time scoring list, one spot behind Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry.

DeRozan averaged 24.0 points, 4.3 rebounds and 5.3 assists while shooting 48% from the field for the Bulls last season. The addition of DeRozan gives the Kings one of the most talented rosters they’ve ever had with a core group that includes De’Aaron Fox, Sabonis, Malik Monk, Keegan Murray and Kevin Huerter.

“I think we’ve got a chance to be one of the best offenses in the league,” Kings general manager Monte McNair said. “Any time you’ve got guys like De’Aaron, Domas and DeMar, one thing is it’s going to be harder for teams to guard us, especially down the stretch of games. Are you going to put somebody on De’Aaron? Somebody on DeMar? You’ve still got Keegan, Kevin, Malik, Domas — all these guys that can score — so I think we will be able to put units out there where all five guys will be tough to defend.”

Fox and DeRozan have been two of the best fourth-quarter scorers in the NBA in recent years. Fox won the inaugural Jerry West Clutch Player of the Year award in 2023. DeRozan was the runner-up for the award last season.

“I think when you get down to the end of games, to the playoffs, to these kinds of big moments, defenses are more locked in,” McNair said. “Sometimes you’ve got to have guys who can just go 1-on-1 and score. We definitely have two guys who can really do that, but also Domas has shown that he can do that. We know what Malik can do and Keegan is coming into his own. ... We’re excited to see what those guys can do, not just for themselves but what they’ll open up for others.”

Fox is looking forward to playing with DeRozan, saying he adds “a whole other dynamic” to Sacramento’s offense.

“We draw the same type of defenders,” Fox said. “Nine times out of 10, I’m being guarded with some type of wing, so I think we take the pressure off each other in that aspect. He’s one of the best (isolation) scorers in the league. He’s been that for a long period of time.”

“... And then his playmaking, being able to be on the court with him, him talking about if a double-team is coming from this way or that way, this is what he wants to happen. I definitely think his playmaking is a very underrated part of his game, and whenever you’re actually in a gym with him and you kind of understand his thought process, you kind of see it.”

Monk said DeRozan’s presence is unmistakable.

“His presence is being a leader,” Monk said. “He comes in and you feel it. You feel that he’s a leader. He says the things that a leader says, so we’re just going to get behind him and follow him.”

Monk talked about what it’s like to team up with DeRozan after playing against him over his first seven seasons in the NBA.

“Against him, I was always telling him to stop making all those shots, but now I’m going to tell him to keep making them,” Monk said. “It’s always good to have a future Hall of Famer on your team.”

Kings forward Trey Lyles spent two seasons with DeRozan when he played for the Spurs from 2019-21. Lyles can attest to the quiet leadership and consistency DeRozan provides.

“DeMar speaks up when he needs to,” Lyles said. “I learned that from playing with him for a couple years. He’s a strong voice who all the guys are going to respect and listen to when he speaks.

“... I think everybody on this team grew up watching this guy play, so we all know who he is and he knows who he is. He’s not going to step out of himself and we’re not going to ask him to do that. I think that’s DeMar. We know what DeMar is going to do so that’s a cool thing to have that kind of security in a person.”

Lyles was asked how DeRozan’s game has progressed since he played for the Spurs from 2018-21. Lyles pointed to DeRozan’s free-throw shooting as one example.

DeRozan shot 85.3% at the free-throw line while ranking fourth in the NBA with 7.7 attempts per game last season. That could be crucial for a Kings team that ranked 21st in free-throw attempts (20.9) and 30 ^th in free-throw shooting (.745) last season.

“He gets to that free-throw line, that’s for sure,” Lyles said. “He’s always been able to close out games, and I would just say the consistency. You know what he’s going to do, but you still can’t stop him, and I think adding that to our team is just going to help us that much more.”