DeRozan to mull future, calls Kings' season 'most I've been through'

DeMar DeRozan acknowledged his offseason focus will be on maximizing future playoff success in a career he admits is in its final stages.

"I think for me, the realization of, I'm going into my 17th season. That's the reality of it," the veteran said Thursday after he and the Sacramento Kings were eliminated from the play-in tournament by the Dallas Mavericks.

"For me, you don't have many opportunities left to give yourself a chance to compete in the playoffs, and that's all you kind of want at this stage of your career - just have a chance to get in there and see what happens. Not necessarily play in the play-in. For me, being in the playoffs the last couple years, it's not something I desire or not a goal for me. A lot of that will be on my mind."

DeRozan, 35, joined the Kings on a three-year, $73.9-million contract in July as part of a three-team sign-and-trade involving the Chicago Bulls and San Antonio Spurs. Though he fared well individually in Sacramento, averaging 22.2 points, 4.4 assists, and 3.9 rebounds, the team's campaign was thrown into disarray with the sudden firing of head coach Mike Brown in December.

Doug Christie replaced Brown on an interim basis and immediately won 10 of his first 12 games in charge. However, the Kings were unsettled again in early February when they sent franchise star De'Aaron Fox to San Antonio in another three-team deal involving the Spurs and Bulls. Though that swap also reunited DeRozan with his former Bulls teammate Zach LaVine, Sacramento went just 16-18 after parting with Fox and never climbed above eighth in the Western Conference.

"I think it really won't hit me for the next couple days," DeRozan said when asked to gauge the team's year. "It's probably the most I've been through in my 16-year career. The season that we had, it was a lot.

"It's too hard to kind of fathom right now. But I'm pretty sure over the next couple of days, it will kind of hit - the reality of everything we all went through."

DeRozan is under contract with the Kings through his age-37 season in 2026-27. However, Sacramento's future plans at this point are unclear; the franchise mutually parted ways with general manager Monte McNair on Thursday and is reportedly set to hire former New York Knicks executive Scott Perry as his replacement.

The Kings could explore trading DeRozan with the goal of retooling the roster. They may also shift course to a full-fledged rebuild, with DeRozan, LaVine, and three-time All-Star center Domantas Sabonis all being candidates to fetch significant returns via trade.