DeMar DeRozan just agreed to a one-year, $3.9 million deal with the Denver Nuggets, and I am staring at that number like it is a typo the league forgot to correct. A six-time All-Star. Eighteen seasons in. Still averaging 18.4 points on nearly 50 percent shooting. And he is walking into Ball Arena for the veteran minimum because the second apron turned contending teams into thrift stores.
Shams Charania put the agreement on the board without decoration: “Six-time NBA All-Star DeMar DeRozan has agreed to sign with the Denver Nuggets on a one-year, $3.9 million deal, sources tell ESPN.” That is the entire transaction. Sacramento waived him after guaranteeing only $10 million of the final $25.7 million year on his deal. The Kings wanted the savings. DeRozan wanted a real March and April. Denver wanted a closer who already knows how to create when the set dies.
Chris Haynes filled in the part that actually matters. “DeMar DeRozan has been in conversations with Nikola Jokic, Aaron Gordon and Jamal Murray and is anxious for the opportunity to play for a contending team, sources say. Denver adds another veteran clutch bucket-getter.” I keep rereading that last sentence. Clutch bucket-getter. Not “floor spacer.” Not “defensive versatility.” A guy who still gets you a clean midrange look when the possession turns ugly. That is the exact skill the Nuggets bled after shipping Peyton Watson to Cleveland in the multi-team deal that also netted them an unprotected 2031 first.
Miami Had the Texts and Still Chose the Wrong Star
The Heat had mutual interest. Bam Adebayo stayed in contact all summer. Then Miami decided Klay Thompson clearing waivers was the higher priority. I understand the brand math. I do not understand the half-court math. DeRozan still manufactures offense out of nothing against a set defense. He still gets to the line at an elite clip. He still plays 70-plus games like it is a personal insult to sit. Klay is a legend and a floor spacer. DeRozan is a second creator who does not need the ball the way a fading catch-and-shoot wing does.
He spoke with Washington and New Orleans too. He could have chased bigger usage or a softer landing. He took the min and the hardest Western Conference minutes available. That is the choice of a 37-year-old who finally stopped auditioning for the lead and started hunting a ring. Since his last five playoff runs in Toronto he has posted exactly two winning seasons and one postseason appearance in Chicago. The Kings year ended with a collaborative waiver. The supporting role is no longer a demotion. It is the plan.
The Apron Made This Steal Possible
Denver could not offer real money. Second-apron teams are handcuffed to the veteran minimum for outside free agents, and the Nuggets were already projecting several million over it. So they sold the fit instead. Jokic and Murray as the primary creators. DeRozan as the late-clock insurance and the secondary playmaker who can punish the help that always collapses on the big man. That pitch works because it is true. DeRozan does not need 20 shots. He needs space and a closing window, and Jokic creates both every night.
I watched the Kings enough last season to know the shot still falls and the body still holds up. Seventy-seven games. Starts in every one of them. At least 70 appearances in each of the past five years. Career durability that borders on stubborn. He has 26,711 points and climbing. The midrange game people keep trying to bury is the same game that will punish every switch Minnesota or Oklahoma City throws at Denver in May.
Watson got four years and $88 million from Cleveland. DeRozan gets pocket change and a real chance. In two years one of those contracts will look like a bargain and the other will look like a tax bill. I already know which side I am on. The Nuggets finished 54-28 last year and still exited in the first round. They needed another adult who has closed games. They got one for the price of a third-string big.
One year. Minimum money. Maximum leverage next summer if the chemistry hits, or a parade if it does. Either outcome beats another 40-win purgatory. Denver turned a salary dump into a playoff weapon while half the league was still debating whether DeMar still belonged. He does. He just belongs next to Jokic now.
