After failing to find a team that wanted to trade for DeMar DeRozan, Sacramento and the seventeen-year veteran forward decided it was best for both parties to part ways. As the Kings waived DeRozan on Monday. For more about DeRozan rumored landing spots check out this article by us here.
Once the news broke, NBA fans began to speculate where the six-time All-Star would go next. Teams such as the Heat and Raptors were thrown out as likely destinations for Demar.
But there is one team that, while not a lot of NBA fans want to see DeRozan end up on, makes too much sense. And that team is located in California, but it’s not the Los Angeles Clippers; instead, it’s the Golden State Warriors.
At first, the thought of DeRozan on the Warriors makes you shake your head. But there is a hole on their roster that Demar can fill.
Golden State’s big acquisition from the 2024-2025 NBA trade deadline was five-time All-NBA forward Jimmy Butler. This move had immediate dividends, as after trading for Butler, the Warriors finished the 2025 season winning 23 of their next 30 games.
In the 2025 season, they finished as the seventh seed and beat the Rockets in the first round in seven games. Before losing in the second round in five games to the Timberwolves after Steph Curry suffered a hamstring injury in game 1 of that series.
This past season, by January 18th, while the Warriors only had a 24-19 record, ranking as the eight seed in the Western conference, before Butler tore his ACL the following day in a game against the Heat. There were signs of promise that they could be something more.
Since the arrival of Butler in games, both he and Curry play from start to finish, they have a 41-18 record. And in their 1,058 minutes together during the regular season, Golden State has a 122.6 offensive rating, a 115.9 defensive rating, equaling a +6.7 net rating per one hundred possessions.
The duo’s 862 minutes alongside Draymond Green during the regular season are even better. The Warriors produce a 122.6 offensive rating and a 115.7 defensive rating, equaling a +7 net rating per one hundred possessions.
But after Butler tore his ACL in combination with injuries to Curry and Mooses Moody, the Warriors fell off a cliff the rest of the season. They went 12-26 for the rest of the regular season and finished as the 10th seed out West with a 37-45 record. Before ultimately losing in the second play in game to the Suns, missing out on securing the 8th seed in the Western Conference.
Leaving a secondary shot creator hole that needs to be filled until Jimmy comes back. That’s where DeRozan comes in.
We all know what DeMar is at this point on the surface level; he’s one of the best midrange scorers of all time. Even now, at thirty-six years old, he’s still one of the best midrange scorers in the NBA.
DeRozan is doing this despite ranking ninety sixth percentile or higher in both short and long midrange attempts. With those attempts being self-created and well contested, Demar’s ability to still be a high-end mid-range creator can let him somewhat fill that vacancy of a secondary shot creator until Butler comes back.
But he can somewhat fill this void and not completely fill it for a couple of reasons. For one, Demar can’t get to the rim at the same rate he used to, let alone in his prime, but even five years ago.
Then you add on the fact that he’s just an average passer and playmaker; he’s giving you very little as a shooter from deep, and he’s bad defensively. Outside of midrange scoring and three-point shooting, Butler is better than Derozen in all of those aforementioned areas by a wide margin.
But where we are at this point of free agency, beggars can’t be choosers, and at this point, Golden State is a beggar. With recent reports stating the Warriors believe they’re no longer in the LeBron James sweepstakes unless they can pull off a trade for Anthony Davis.
As a result, this means the Warriors need to get a third team involved in order to pull this trade off. But making that happen is easier said than done.
With a Davis trade seeming less likely as the days go by, Golden State’s chances of signing James have decreased significantly as well. Allowing the Warriors’ general manager, Mike Dunleavey, to save face with their fanbase and use the signing of DeRozan as a consolation prize.
It’s easy to understand why Warriors fans would be disappointed after just a few weeks, when it seemed signing LeBron and trading for Anthony Davis was a real possibility. For ultimately, their outside additions just amount to signing DeMar DeRozan.
But this has been a common theme with Golden State over the past five years, outside of trading for Jimmy Butler. They never end up making a big splash acquisition despite being in the running for said player.
DeRozan, at this point in his career, is not a player who can raise the ceiling of a team, but he can raise the floor. And it is easy to see the Warriors brass using this logic to bring in the veteran forward.
Demar can fill the secondary shot creator hole next to Steph until Butler returns. Then scal1e down to the player he actually is at this point in his career. As a guy for a playoff team that comes off the bench as the seventh or eighth man in the rotation.
Not to mention, DeRozan wouldn’t have to move that far away to play for Golden State. Since the Kings and Warriors are only two hours apart.
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