What DeMar DeRozan's Hot Free Agency Market Means for the Kings

Earlier this month, the Sacramento Kings waived DeMar DeRozan, their key acquisition in a 2024 offseason that marked the beginning of the end of the most successful stint of Kings basketball in several decades. Sacramento signed DeRozan to a three-year, $74M contract, acquiring him via sign-and-trade.

Just $10M of his 2026-27 salary ($25.7M) was guaranteed. So, the Kings saved over $15M by waiving DeRozan, and ducked both aprons while doing so. Clearly, the right move for a team that went 22-60 last season and is set to be one of the worst teams in the league again next season.

Where Does This Leave Sacramento’s Financials?

As things stand now, Sacramento has $10M of dead money (DeRozan’s full guaranteed amount) on the books.

Sacramento Kings Cap Sheet (DeRozan salary fully paid out in 26-27) | James McCauley

Sacramento has until the end of August to decide whether to waive and stretch that $10M evenly over the next three seasons. This is how that looks:

Sacramento Kings Cap Sheet (DeRozan waived & stretched) | James McCauley

DeRozan has cleared waivers and is an unrestricted free agent, and teams in need of a scoring punch are considering bringing the future Hall of Famer in to push them over the top.

DeRozan Already Receiving Interest

Per The Stein Line’s Marc Stein, the Detroit Pistons are currently evaluating the idea of bringing DeRozan in. This makes sense - Detroit bowed out of the playoffs early (relative to expectations as the 1 seed) last season.

With the departure of Tobias Harris (signed with San Antonio in free agency) and Jalen Duren wilting under the playoff pressure, the Pistons are seeking cheap, battle-tested scoring and playmaking to help Cade Cunningham win now.

The Toronto Raptors have also been mentioned as a potential home for DeRozan. As his former coach Dwayne Casey explains, this would be a nice bookend to a long, productive career.

Could DeMar DeRozan end his career with the Raptors?

His former head coach in Toronto Dwane Casey would love to see that happen, as he tells @termineradio and @jumpshot8.

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— SiriusXM NBA Radio (@SiriusXMNBA) July 13, 2026

Stein noted that the LeBron James holding pattern will affect the DeRozan market, explaining that “a more complete picture of DeRozan’s suitors will emerge after [LeBron] James picks his next team. Some of the teams that miss out on LeBron are bound to turn to the 36-year-old.”

It is not at all surprising that there is interest here. DeRozan is undoubtedly at the tail end of his career, but he is still as lethal a scoring option as ever. It is still an unconventional offensive arsenal that is heavily midrange dependent, but teams that were another scorer or creator away from advancing in the playoffs getting a player like DeRozan for cheap is a very attractive option - especially those who fall short in the LeBron sweepstakes.

How Does This Interest Affect the Kings?

Any interest in DeRozan is good for Sacramento, and the salary figure he receives will increase their savings in the form of a ‘set-off.’ Set-offs occur when a waived player signs with a new team. The player’s new salary is used to set off some of the waived salary still on his old team’s books.

The equation for set-offs is the player’s new salary minus the veteran minimum for one year of service ($2,185,116 this year), multiplied by 50%.

If Detroit is where he ends up, it will be on a veteran minimum. This would be $3,876,529 for DeRozan. So, ($3,876,529 - $2,185,116) x 50% = $845,706. That is how much Sacramento can cut from the amount they owe DeRozan in 2026-27 should he sign in Detroit (or elsewhere) on a veteran minimum.

Should a team come with offers above the minimum, those savings would increase. For example, if a team wants to offer DeRozan their biannual exception or tax MLE to beat the minimum offers he will receive, you would plug $5,477,000 or $6,064,000 into the equation above, and end up with greater set-off figures.

NBA set-off calculations | James McCauley

Notably, the savings from the biannual exception or TMLE would be enough to bring Sacramento below the luxury tax if they were to keep DeRozan’s fully waived salary on the books this season. This would mean Sacramento’s cap sheet is that much cleaner in 27-28 and 28-29, without $3.33M of dead money sitting there each year.

Obviously, $3.33M is not nearly as bad a dead money hit as some teams have to live with right now (hello, Phoenix and Milwaukee), but teams have quickly learned that every dollar matters in the Apron era.

It would behoove Scott Perry to make possible dollars available to take swings on young talent that may be frustrated with their current team, absorb bad money for draft capital, to eventually retain my homegrown talent if it develops as planned, and the like.

Ideally, DeRozan’s market develops sooner rather than later, and we know what value he signs at before the August deadline comes around. If the value he signs at sets off enough salary to get them under the tax, they should keep his full salary on the books this year so it is gone sooner.

Based on team spending history and Scott Perry’s own words this summer, the luxury tax is Sacramento’s hard cap, and they will absolutely maneuver to get under that threshold. Say what you will, but that is the right decision for a team in this state.

If DeRozan’s market does not heat up above the minimum, or he waits until after August to sign, Sacramento will, in all likelihood, stretch DeRozan’s $10M. That alone would get them under the tax, and a set-off would get them even more breathing room under the tax.

In sum, there is already a market for DeRozan’s services. Once LeBron James decides where he will play his age-42 season, that market will likely become clearer. Kings fans should not necessarily expect—but should absolutely be rooting for—a bidding war for DeRozan.

The greater salary DeRozan signs for, the greater corresponding set-off Sacramento receives, which helps Scott Perry and the Kings navigate their tight financial situation this year and potentially help clear their cap sheet in the coming years, too.

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