Being a Compton native and growing up a huge Los Angeles Lakers fan, DeMar DeRozan is someone who has naturally been linked to the organization for years.
DeRozan has never played for the Lakers but had a close relationship with Kobe Bryant and has always been open about his desrie to play for his hometown team.
With the expectation that he would leave the Chicago Bulls this offseason, DeRozan was again linked to the Lakers although he instead wound up with the division-rival Sacramento Kings.
In an interview with Sam Amick of The Athletic, DeRozan discussed how close he came to signing with L.A. this summer before ultimately joining the Kings:
“Yeah, you just learn how to deal with it from a business standpoint. Obviously I have my selfish reasons of wanting to be able to play at home, (but) sometimes it just doesn’t work out that way. And sometimes it probably isn’t the best decision for me either. So after that didn’t happen, I didn’t dwell on it. I wasn’t mad. They made their choice, and I just left it at that.”
DeRozan also came close to joining the Lakers in the summer of 2021, but they chose to trade for Russell Westbrook instead. Because of that, he didn’t get his hopes up that it would happen this time around:
“Yeah. Yeah, it did. But after the last time, the last situation, you really don’t get your hopes all the way up. I think the first time before I went to Chicago (in 2021), that was the closest it had been. And even for me, I thought it was going to be that. But when that didn’t happen, I didn’t have high hopes because you already see how it could play out.”
DeRozan is now 35 years of age and just signed a three-year contract with the Kings, so it looks like the possibility of him playing for the Lakers is dwindling.
Instead, he will be going up against them as a division rival, which should make for some interesting battles over the next few years.
Lakers never made offer or seriously pursued DeMar DeRozan
Despite DeMar DeRozan’s noted desire to play for the Lakers, it turns out they never made an offer or seriously pursued him this offseason.
LeBron James would have needed to take a significant paycut in order to complete a sign-and-trade for DeRozan, which he was reportedly willing to do, but the Lakers still did not pursue the six-time All-Star.
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