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No player has scored more points for the Toronto Raptors than DeMar DeRozan. Selected ninth overall by Toronto in the 2009 NBA draft, he spent his first nine seasons with the franchise and sits atop its all-time scoring list with 13,296 points, ahead of Kyle Lowry (10,540) and Chris Bosh (10,275).
That run ended after the 2017-18 season, and DeRozan has since suited up for San Antonio, Chicago and Sacramento.
A six-time All-Star, DeRozan owns a career scoring average of 21.1 points per game, along with 4.1 assists and 4.3 rebounds, across 1,264 regular-season games spanning 17 seasons. But on Monday, a path back to Toronto opened.
The Sacramento Kings waived the 36-year-old, as ESPN’s Shams Charania first reported, with the two sides working together on the release after first exploring a trade.
DeRozan had been set to make nearly $26 million in 2026-27 for Sacramento. He is now on track to clear waivers and become an unrestricted free agent on Wednesday.
In 2025-26, DeRozan appeared in 77 games for the Kings and put up 18.4 points a night on 49.7% shooting, handing out 4.1 assists and grabbing 2.9 rebounds while logging 31.2 minutes a game.
The Toronto reunion chatter began almost immediately. On his NBA Insider Notebook livestream on Monday, NBA insider Jake Fischer named Toronto and Miami as the two teams that could end up chasing DeRozan.
Any reunion comes with one major question, however. Toronto’s projected starting five is Immanuel Quickley, RJ Barrett, Kawhi Leonard, Scottie Barnes and Jakob Poeltl, leaving no clear path to a starting job for DeRozan.
DeRozan has come off the bench in just 12 of his 1,264 career games, and all 12 came as a rookie in 2009-10, between March 26 and April 14, 2010. He has not played a single game as a reserve since.
Toronto, which finished 2025-26 at 46-36, reacquired Leonard from the LA Clippers on June 30 for Brandon Ingram, Gradey Dick, unprotected 2031 and 2033 first-round picks, a 2027 first-round swap and two second-round picks. Leonard averaged 27.9 points in 65 games in 2025-26, earning second-team All-NBA honors, and is owed $50.3 million next season.
While Fischer sees interest on Toronto’s end, a homecoming would likely come on a modest contract, and it would ask the franchise’s career scoring leader to do something he last did on April 14, 2010, which is come off the bench.
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That run ended after the 2017-18 season, and DeRozan has since suited up for San Antonio, Chicago and Sacramento.
A six-time All-Star, DeRozan owns a career scoring average of 21.1 points per game, along with 4.1 assists and 4.3 rebounds, across 1,264 regular-season games spanning 17 seasons. But on Monday, a path back to Toronto opened.
The Sacramento Kings waived the 36-year-old, as ESPN’s Shams Charania first reported, with the two sides working together on the release after first exploring a trade.
DeRozan had been set to make nearly $26 million in 2026-27 for Sacramento. He is now on track to clear waivers and become an unrestricted free agent on Wednesday.
In 2025-26, DeRozan appeared in 77 games for the Kings and put up 18.4 points a night on 49.7% shooting, handing out 4.1 assists and grabbing 2.9 rebounds while logging 31.2 minutes a game.
The Toronto reunion chatter began almost immediately. On his NBA Insider Notebook livestream on Monday, NBA insider Jake Fischer named Toronto and Miami as the two teams that could end up chasing DeRozan.
Any reunion comes with one major question, however. Toronto’s projected starting five is Immanuel Quickley, RJ Barrett, Kawhi Leonard, Scottie Barnes and Jakob Poeltl, leaving no clear path to a starting job for DeRozan.
DeRozan has come off the bench in just 12 of his 1,264 career games, and all 12 came as a rookie in 2009-10, between March 26 and April 14, 2010. He has not played a single game as a reserve since.
Toronto, which finished 2025-26 at 46-36, reacquired Leonard from the LA Clippers on June 30 for Brandon Ingram, Gradey Dick, unprotected 2031 and 2033 first-round picks, a 2027 first-round swap and two second-round picks. Leonard averaged 27.9 points in 65 games in 2025-26, earning second-team All-NBA honors, and is owed $50.3 million next season.
While Fischer sees interest on Toronto’s end, a homecoming would likely come on a modest contract, and it would ask the franchise’s career scoring leader to do something he last did on April 14, 2010, which is come off the bench.
Continue reading...
