RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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0 Share Newsweek is a Trust Project member See more of our trusted coverage when you search. Prefer Newsweek on Google to see more of our trusted coverage when you search. With LeBron James finally deciding on a landing spot, signing a two-year, $8 million deal with the Philadelphia 76ers, any team that was hoping to potentially land the future Hall of Famer now has to look elsewhere.
Bradley Beal is a veteran sharpshooter who has reportedly already spoken with teams, and Trey Murphy III remains hot in trade rumors. Meanwhile, nobody really knows what's going on with restricted free agents Jalen Duren and Peyton Watson.
But there are two other names that have frequently been linked to contenders across the NBA : Klay Thompson and DeMar DeRozan .
The two players are in very different situations. Thompson still has one year, around $17.4 million, remaining on his contract with the Dallas Mavericks. DeRozan, meanwhile, was recently waived by the Sacramento Kings and remains a free agent.
On Monday, ESPN's Shams Charania reported that the Miami Heat are "among several championship contending teams" keeping an eye on the situation in Dallas with Thompson, while the Heat, Cleveland Cavaliers, and Denver Nuggets are among three teams interested in signing DeRozan.
DeRozan is entering his age-37 season but remains one of the best mid-range scorers in basketball. Last season with the Kings, he appeared in 77 games and averaged 18.4 points, 4.1 assists, and 2.9 rebounds in 31.2 minutes per game, shooting 49.7% from the field.
He's a six-time All-Star with three All-NBA honors who may be nearing the end of his career, but DeRozan can still play at an elite level and deliver reliable scoring for any contender. It's no surprise to see Denver, Cleveland, and Miami among the teams interested.
All three franchises were strongly linked to LeBron James, with the Cavaliers even viewed by many as the favorites to land him. Now that option is off the table, and pivoting to a veteran who offers leadership, playoff experience, and steady scoring makes plenty of sense — especially one who's missed just 13 games over the last three seasons combined.
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DeRozan has been one of the league's best shooting guards over the last decade — remarkable considering he's never really developed much of a 3-point shot. But a championship ring has eluded him, and he needs one to fully cement his legacy.
Teaming him with an elite playmaker like Nikola Jokic in Denver would be intriguing, and so would pairing him with James Harden and Donovan Mitchell in Cleveland. But Miami looks like the team most desperate to make a move, unwilling to miss out on another available star.
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