Report: Kings ‘team to watch’ for DeRozan sign-and-trade with Bulls

The Kings have been mostly quiet this NBA offseason, but they’re reportedly still putting in the work behind the scenes to land a big-name star.

Sacramento is having conversations with the Chicago Bulls around a potential DeMar DeRozan sign-and-trade deal, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported Friday. Wojnarowski added that a third team would need to be involved to pull off the move.

Wojnarowski joined “Sports Center” and further broke down the discussions.

“Well, certainly DeMar DeRozan has played his last game for the Chicago Bulls,” Wojnarowski said. “The one team that’s been dug in with him and trying to find a sign-and-trade scenario is the Sacramento Kings. They’ve been talking this week. They’re going to need a third team involved in a sign-and-trade. Chicago, while they’re certainly willing to facilitate helping DeMar DeRozan get more than the mid-level exception on a team that doesn’t have cap space, they don’t want to take back contracts. They’ll need a third team to route a bigger salary, too.

“But those conversations continue, and I think there are some other scenarios for DeMar DeRozan, but I think Sacramento right now is the team to watch between now and when the moratorium ends here in the next 24 to 48 hours.”

The six-time NBA All-Star — who averaged 24.0 points, 5.3 assists and 4.3 rebounds last season — has been tied to several other teams, but Sacramento seemingly has been of interest in recent days, with ESPN’s Zach Lowe reporting Wednesday that the Kings are a “sneak” candidate to acquire DeRozan.

“I think the Kings have a move yet to make in the offseason. … I think they’ve sniffed around DeRozan,” Lowe said on “The Lowe Post” podcast.

After missing the playoffs last season, Kings general manager Monte McNair and Co. certainly have their work cut out for them this summer to build a revamped roster that can compete in the stacked Western Conference.

A player such as DeRozan surely would help with those efforts.