September 8: DeRozan officially signed with the Nuggets NBA Transaction Log.
August 21: Free forward DeMar DeRozan plans to sign with Nuggetsreports Chris Haynes of NBA on Prime and NBA TV (via Twitter).
DeRozan, who turned 37 earlier this month, became a free agent in July after the Kings opted out of his partially guaranteed contract in a cost-cutting effort. The six-time All-Star and three-time NBA All-Star reportedly drew interest from a variety of teams before deciding to join Denver.
According to Haynes (Link to Twitter), Nikola Jokic, Aaron Gordon and Jamal Murray all played a role in recruiting DeRozan to the Nuggets. DeRozan, who is ranked 16th List of all-time NBA scorersreally wants to play for a contender, Haynes sources say.
As ESPN’s Shams Charania confirms (via Twitter), DeRozan will sign a one-year, $3.9 million deal with Denver. That reporting shows it’s a minimum-salary contract — DeRozan will make $3.88 million, while the Nuggets will receive $2.45 million in cap hit. As a second-tier team, Denver can’t offer much more than that to outside free agents.
While he is no longer in his prime and has never been a great defender, DeRozan could be a bargain on his new deal. The mid-range maestro averaged 18.4 points, 4.1 assists, 2.9 rebounds and 1.0 steals on .497/.321/.868 shooting in 77 games last season for Sacramento (31.2 minutes per contest).
DeRozan, the No. 9 overall pick in the 2009 draft, has been very solid throughout his career, appearing in at least 60 regular season games in all 17 NBA seasons. Over the past five years, he has participated in at least 74 competitions.
While the Nuggets kept one of their restricted free agent forwards this offseason after matching a two-year offer letter Spencer Jones After signing with Oklahoma City, the team parted ways with the incoming wing Peyton Watsonwhich was signed and traded to Cleveland on Thursday for an unprotected first-round pick in 2031 and a second-round pick in 2032.
Denver also lost Tim Hardaway Jr in free agency and Bruce Brown remains unsigned. DeRozan plans to come off the bench after starting 1,252 of the 1,264 games played so far in his long, successful career.
As Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald tweetsThe Heat were one of the teams that talked to DeRozan, but they were more interested Klay Thompson because it is better suited to building a team’s roster. Reportedly, the four-time champion plans to sign with the Heat after reaching a buyout with the Mavs.
The Nuggets, who will have 14 players under guaranteed contracts after DeRozan’s signing becomes official, plan to pay an $84.3 million luxury tax and $4.5 million second apron per Yossi Gozlan from “Third Apron”..
The addition of DeRozan could be bad news for his former Spurs teammate. Lonnie Walker IVwho has a non-guaranteed deal in training camp with Denver, according to ESPN’s Bobby Marks (via Twitter). Because of their high payroll, Marks expects the Nuggets to open the season with 14 players on their roster, rather than the maximum 15.
