Kings play for DeRozan Will he be successful as a scorer in Sacramento? – ESPN
Below is what DeMar DeRozan, Klay Thompson, Caleb Martin and others will increase their fantasy value through new teams.
By Eric Moody, Andre Snellings
Jul 07, 2024 08:00 PM
Formerly, I was a manager for an Fortune 100 financial services company and now living the dream of creating content about sports betting and fantasy on the NFL, NBA, and WNBA for ESPN.
The ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported on Saturday evening reports that Sacramento Kings are acquiring free agent DeMar DeRozan under the three-year, signing-and-trade agreement worth $74 million that involves two teams: the Chicago Bulls and San Antonio Spurs. In the terms of the deal, Harrison Barnes as well as an unprotected 2031 selection swap will be given to the Spurs and Chris Duarte, two second-round selections as well as cash will be given for the Bulls.
The Kings have been trying for a new star player to the team which comprises De’Aaron Fox, Domantas Sabonis, Keegan Murray and Malik Monk after not making the playoffs in the this season. The trade has significant betting and fantasy basketball implications for betting. However, will be able to make the Kings an actual contender within the Western Conference? Let’s look at it more closely. — Eric Moody
Fantasy value: Will DeRozan be a successful goal-scorer in Sacramento?
The six-time All-Star is turning 35 in the coming month, is coming off an impressive three-year stint with the Bulls where DeRozan was averaging 25.5 PPG. The majority of his scoring came from the midrange. DeRozan is the top midrange scorer throughout that time and the gap between him and second-highest quantity scoring player, Kevin Durant is quite wide. Durant’s average last season was 24.0 PPG. 4.3 RPG and 5.3 APG. DeRozan also placed second in Clutch Player Of the Year’s poll, finishing ahead of Stephen Curry. In addition, he topped the league in minutes played per season, despite being only 34 years old which makes him the oldest player to accomplish this feat. DeRozan hasn’t been absent for over 11 matches during the past since the year 2012.
Early in his career DeRozan was most of the time as a shooting guard before moving to small forward in the last five years. DeRozan will continue to be the top fantasy option for the Kings especially when it comes to points leagues and the category format. But he’s not going to assist the Kings solve their needs for size, length in addition to defense. That is essential because Sacramento has been ranked in lower part of the league with regards to the amount of points allowed per 100 plays during that time. — Moody
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Implications of betting Are the Kings legitimate contenders for the 2024-25 season?
In 2023 in 2023, the Kings reached an appearance in the playoffs, for the first time since their 2005-2006 campaign. But, in the last campaign, Sacramento landed in the play-in tournament but fell in the play-in tournament to New Orleans Pelicans in the game for the no. 8 seed. Even though the Kings wanted someone not Fox to manage the offense and make shots in a playoff atmosphere of a high level I have a feeling that the addition of DeRozan is more about pleasing the owners who want to recreate the excitement of the 2022-2023 period. Let me explain.
Sacramento has been ranked in top quartile of the league for scoring points per 100 possessions during the past two seasons. The Kings are known to be a speedy team and beat opponents out of the park and play a weak defense. Although DeRozan offers the Kings an option to play a third in place of Fox Sabonis and Fox but the truth is that defense is what’s most important in this case.
The problem is that DeRozan’s not very good on defense and he’s unable to create much impact on offense if there’s no ball. The Kings already have plenty of ball-handling Fox and Monk and both enjoy high utilization rates. In addition the Kings play a significant portion of their offense with Domantas Sabonis. The system is based on movement on and off the ball, as well as with their players. However, DeRozan is somewhat an eagle-keeper. Although he’s a great player when he’s got possession of the ball Fox along with Monk are not well-known for their defense.
Additionally The Kings don’t have a premium protective rim, but let’s get honest, Sabonis is an offense-first huge. Losing Barnes particularly on the defensive side will feel the Kings. Even though Keon Ellis has emerged as a great defender the season, and with DeRozan being in town is Ellis even get enough time to have an impact?
While it’s a cliché however, the concept “defense wins championships” holds to be true in the NBA. Although adding a skilled player like DeRozan could appear to be a smart move at first glance however, the Kings defense’s issues aren’t easy to overcome in a competitive Western Conference. If Sacramento solves these issues it’s difficult to consider seriously as a serious candidate for the conference championship (+3300 in BET on ESPN BET) as well as winning the NBA title (+7500). But, DeRozan does raise the Kings their regular season floor in terms of winning totals, considering that Sacramento has two of the best players as DeRozan (+20000 to be named the MVP of the regular season) in addition to Fox. This means that bets on Kings to be victorious in their Pacific Division (+370) an interesting bet. — Moody
Pacific Division Odds:
Other moves in the NBA:
Klay Thompson for the Dallas Mavericks:Thompson quit his Warriors home to join the Mavericks team that desperately requires an efficient 3 point shooter on the wings. In the regular season, the Mavericks had two former wings Tim Hardaway Jr. and Tim Hardaway Jr. as well as Derrick Jones Jr. A total of 50+ minutes in a game and, in that time, they averaged 23.0 PPG, based on 8.1 of 18.9 (42.9 FG percent) in the open field, and 3.8 out of 10.7 (35.5 3P percentage) at the point of attack. Thompson will be able to accomplish the amount of 3-point scoring in around 60% of the time because of his improved shooting efficiency. Thompson should be able to shoot better in Dallas, based on the strength and skill that is Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving and even more than the shots he had during his time in Golden State. Instead of having to work in a way that relies on the move, which has become more difficult as he’s been getting older and is recovering from serious leg injuries, Thompson will be able to get more spot-up shots especially on the corner.
Before the offseason adjustments as a member of the Warriors I had Thompson listed at 130th in my rankings that were too early. Thompson’s move could propel Thompson back into my top 100 as a good alternative to flex.
The Buddy Hield for the Golden State Warriors:The logic for this move is obvious. The Warriors were able to shed Klay Thompson, and substituted him with the player whose game most closely resembles his. When playing for this team, Warriors in the last campaign, Thompson scored 17.9 PPG, based on 6.4 of 14.7 (43.2 percent) FFG in addition to 3.5 (3.0) of 9.0 (38.7 3P percent) from downtown with 29.7 MPG. Hield has a career average of 43.4 FG percent in addition to 30.0 3P% on shots that are very similar to ones he’ll be getting with the Warriors. Thompson played the majority of the season, but by the end, he was stepping from the bench. Hield was also mixed playing both on and off from the bench with both Indiana Pacers and the Philadelphia 76ers in the previous season. He saw fewer than a quarter of a minute (25.7 MPG) than Thompson in the previous season, however, prior to that, he averaged 31.0 MPG with the Pacers and had 16.8 PPG.
One area in which Hield has a distinct edge over Thompson is the availability. Hield has had an average of one missing game every season throughout his career. This longevity helps his projected fantasy value. Prior to this change, Hield projected to a position on the fantasy roster that was borderline within the 130s of the rankings. After this move Hield is now barely outside of the top 100 and is firmly in contention for a flex starting spot in the typical Fantasy hoops leagues.
Harrison Barnes to San Antonio Spurs: Barnes is a 12 years old veteran with a long history of being available and scoring professionally in both the inside and outside of the arc. Barnes will be the second notable player to be added to the young Spurs in the offseason, and it is likely that he will assist Chris Paul to aid Victor Wembanyama and the young Spurs develop their skills in winning basketball. It’s unclear if Barnes will play in the starting lineup or come from the bench, however the likelihood is that he’ll make more points per minute while playing Wembanyama with a team lacking powerful scoring perimeter players as he did on the Kings team that was packed with scoring options on the perimeter.
In the prior days to this move I had Barnes at 141st place in my far-too-early rankings. Barnes has the potential to climb up to the 110-130 mark as a result of this move, but also however, there is a lot of uncertainty due to his unclear role. We’ll get an idea of his role will be during the winter.
Caleb Martin to Philadelphia 76ers: Martin has been a regular starter and came from the bench with the Heat in the past two seasons, but is likely as the 5th starter for the team this year. Martin will be a player on a 3-and-D forward team that has three scorers with high usage, and will likely have numbers that are comparable to the 10.4 PPG 5.5 RPG 2.6 APG 1.4 3 pointers, and 1.4 blocks and steals the player averaged in 23 games for the Heat during the season.
Prior to his move, Martin was ranked 182nd in my rankings that were way too early, and was outside of the draft’s range for any except for the most deep fantasy leagues. If he’s a regular player in Philadelphia the potential for his success could bring him closer to the top 150 and even consideration for late-round fantasy draft evaluation. — Andre Snellings