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Kings Embrace 'Bulls West' Identity, Sign Another Ex-Chicago Star

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Alex Kirschenbaum | Last updated Jul 21, 2025 4:59 PM ET

The Sacramento Kings just can't stop their transformation into becoming the Western Conference remix of the Chicago Bulls.

Last year, Sacramento reunited the Bulls' very mediocre 2021-22 All-Star "core" of wings Zach LaVine and DeMar DeRozan via a midseason three-team deal with Chicago and the San Antonio Spurs. LaVine was essentially collateral, the best player in the agreement with ex-Kings All-Star point guard De'Aaron Fox.

Armed with both of those players, a jump-shooting former All-Star European center (Domantas Sabonis, who admittedly is better than his more ground-bound Bulls equivalent Nikola Vucevic), and minimal defense, the Kings stumbled to a middling 40-42 record, ultimately failing to emerge out of the play-in tournament.

Chicago had made the play-in but missed the playoffs proper during each of its prior two seasons with LaVine and DeRozan.

Now, the team is bringing back a free agent Chicago alum who doesn't play defense.

Shams Charania of ESPN reports that sharpshooting combo forward Doug McDermott is inking a one-year, veteran's minimum deal to rejoin Sacramento. McDermott had been a non-rotation piece for the Kings last season.

Free agent Doug McDermott has agreed to a one-year, $3.6 million deal to return to the Sacramento Kings, Mark Bartelstein and Andy Shiffman of @PrioritySports tell ESPN. McDermott will enter his 12th NBA season after shooting 44% from 3 in 42 Kings games in 2024-25. pic.twitter.com/J6cMwmupxJ
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) July 21, 2025

McDermott, whose draft rights the Bulls traded their No. 13 pick to acquire on the evening of the 2013 NBA draft out of Creighton (LaVine was the No. 14 pick out of UCLA, selected by the Minnesota Timberwolves), played sparingly during his two-and-a-half seasons in Chicago. McDermott never overlapped with LaVine and DeRozan as a Bull, but will now continue to not contribute meaningfully as their teammate in Sacramento.

Last season, the 6-foot-8 pro appeared in just 42 games for the Kings as a fringe rotation piece, averaging 3.5 points on .427/.436/.600 shooting splits and 0.5 rebounds in 8.1 minutes per. For his career, the 33-year-old is a 41.1% marksman from deep on 3.4 long tries per.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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