DeMar DeRozan To Sign With Nuggets

DeRozan, who turned 37 years old earlier this month, became a free agent in July after his partially guaranteed contract was waived by the Kings in a cost-cutting move. The six-time All-Star and three-time All-NBA member reportedly drew interest from a wide variety of teams before deciding to join Denver.

According to Haynes (Twitter link), Nikola Jokic, Aaron Gordon and Jamal Murray all played a role in recruiting DeRozan to the Nuggets. DeRozan, who ranks 16th on the NBA’s all-time scoring list, is eager to play for a contender, sources tell Haynes.

As Shams Charania of ESPN confirms (via Twitter), DeRozan will sign a one-year, $3.9MM deal with Denver. That reporting indicates it’s a minimum-salary contract — DeRozan will earn $3.88MM, while the Nuggets will carry a $2.45MM cap hit.

Although he’s no longer at his peak 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 steal on .497/.321/.868 shooting in 77 games last season with Sacramento (31.2 minutes per contest).

The No. 9 overall pick in the 2009 draft, DeRozan has been highly durable throughout his career, appearing in at least 60 regular season games in all 17 of his NBA seasons. He has played a minimum of 74 contests each of the past five years.

While the Nuggets retained one of their restricted free agent forwards this offseason after matching a two-year offer sheet Spencer Jones signed with Oklahoma City, the team parted ways with rising wing Peyton Watson, who was signed and traded to Cleveland on Thursday for a 2031 unprotected first-round pick and a 2032 second-rounder.

Denver also lost Tim Hardaway Jr. in free agency and Bruce Brown remains unsigned. DeRozan figures to come off the bench after starting 1,252 of his 1,264 games to this point in his long, accomplished career.

As Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald tweets, the Heat were one of the teams who spoke to DeRozan, but they were more interested in Klay Thompson because he’s a better fit for the team’s roster construction. The four-time champion reportedly plans to sign with the Heat after reaching a buyout with the Mavs.

The Nuggets, who will have 14 players on guaranteed contracts once DeRozan’s signing is official, project to have a luxury tax payment of $75MM, per ESPN’s Bobby Marks (Twitter link), who says they’re $3.15MM over the second apron.

DeRozan’s addition could be bad news for his former Spurs teammate Lonnie Walker IV, who’s on a non-guaranteed training camp deal with Denver, Marks notes (via Twitter). Due to their expensive payroll, Marks expects the Nuggets to open the season with 14 players on their roster rather than the maximum of 15.