4 overrated NBA offseason moves that will fail to move the needle
By Ismail Sy
The NBA season starts next week, but the offseason brought some fireworks that puts the anticipation for this upcoming year at an all-time high. There may not have been many big free-agent signings, but there were some trades that could have an impact on the NBA this season.
However, there were also some moves where the impact seemed great on the surface, but when you look deeper, it does not look as great as it seemed at first. With that said, here are the NBA’s four most overrated offseason moves.
4. DeMar DeRozan to the Kings
The Sacramento Kings in the offseason decided to let go of Harrison Barnes and bring in DeMar DeRozan to fill the other forward spot next to Keegan Murray. While DeRozan is a scoring upgrade over Barnes, his fit next to Fox, Sabonis, Murray, and Malik Monk is a question. Additionally, paying a soon to be 35 year old 74 million over the next three years is questionable.
DeRozan in his career has never been a good three-point shooter. He has never shot above 35 percent in a season. He is more of a mid-range assassin and needs the ball in his hands and with the Kings having three ball-dominant players and two non-shooters in their likely closing lineup of Fox-Monk-Murray-DeRozan-Sabonis, the clutch offense could get clunky.
DeRozan himself is a great clutch scorer, but his clutch success has come with him as the number one option. Fox is the number one option in the clutch for the Kings and with the presence of Monk and his scoring punch, DeRozan could even be the third option in the clutch some nights.
Additionally, DeRozan doesn’t fix the Kings' defensive problem in their starting lineup. He isn't big enough to guard bigger forwards and can’t stop the point of attack on the perimeter. The Kings hope that starting Keon Ellis will soften the blow, but even then this move as a whole doesn’t move Sacramento up much in the West.
In a tough conference that features the Thunder, Wolves, Grizzlies, Suns, Nuggets, and more, the Kings may need another move to move up to the contenders tier in the West. DeRozan makes them slightly better than last year, but not enough to take them seriously as contenders.