The Sacramento Kings are off to a disastrous 5-13 start to the 2025-26 season, and that has led to murmurs about the front office being ready to blow up this team. The Kings have a fair few veterans they might look into shipping out of town, and it appears the Los Angeles Clippers have their eyes on one of them.
The Athletic’s Sam Amick reports that the Clippers have some interest in DeMar DeRozan.
“DeMar DeRozan, the 36-year-old who league sources say has some interest from the LA Clippers, has a partial guarantee on his deal for next season (approximately $10 million of his $25.7 million).”
The Clippers have gotten off to a disastrous start of their own at 5-12, and something has to change. As for what a potential deal might look like, NBA analyst Jake Weinbach suggests they could discuss a swap deal with the Kings centered around DeRozan and John Collins.
The Clippers brought in Collins this past offseason from the Utah Jazz in a three-team deal that saw them send Norman Powell to the Miami Heat. They then signed Bradley Beal to fill the void left by Powell and earned praise for pulling off these moves. Unfortunately, things haven’t quite worked out.
Beal has been ruled out for the rest of the season due to a fracture in his hip, while Collins hasn’t been a great fit next to Ivica Zubac in the frontcourt. The forward is averaging just 11.2 points, 4.8 rebounds, 0.5 assists, 0.8 steals, and 0.5 blocks per game so far for the Clippers in 2025-26.
This trade for DeRozan would see the Clippers end the Collins experiment and get the scoring punch that they needed after parting with Powell. Amid all the dysfunction in Sacramento, the 36-year-old is averaging 18.7 points, 3.1 rebounds, 3.6 assists, 1.3 steals, and 0.2 blocks per game while shooting 50.0% from the field.
With DeRozan coming off the books after the 2026-27 season as well, he wouldn’t affect the Clippers’ plans of going after big-name free agents in the summer of 2027. It does make sense in certain aspects, but adding another aging player to this team doesn’t seem like the greatest of ideas.
The Clippers already have the likes of 40-year-old Chris Paul, 37-year-old Brook Lopez, 36-year-old James Harden, 36-year-old Nicolas Batum, and 34-year-old Kawhi Leonard among their ranks. While every team needs experienced players, you don’t need this many.
DeRozan is also not going to fix the Clippers’ issues on defense. Their 119.2 defensive rating ranks 25th in the NBA.
The Clippers are also a poor rebounding team, with their average of 41.4 rebounds per game only good enough to rank 26th in the league. Trading away Collins for DeRozan is only going to make matters worse on that front. It’s doubtful this trade would turn the Clippers’ season around, but they might just get desperate enough and make it anyway.
From the Kings’ side of things, Collins will be off their books after this season, and they’ll be accelerating their rebuild by bringing him in. They aren’t going to get much for DeRozan at this stage of his career, so they aren’t exactly winning or losing here.
