The Kings have chosen to use the stretch provision to spread DeMar DeRozan’s remaining $10MM salary for the 2026/27 season over a three-season period, Michael Scotto of HoopsHype tweets.
DeRozan will be on Sacramento’s books for $3.33MM for each of the next three seasons, through ’28/29.
DeRozan was waived by the Kings in early July in a cost-cutting measure. He was due a $25.74MM salary for the 2026/27 league year but the contract was only partially guaranteed for $10MM. Sacramento worked with DeRozan and his representatives on a potential trade but didn’t find a workable deal and ultimately opted to waive him before the contract became fully guaranteed.
Under the current CBA, teams don’t have to decide right away when they waive a player if they want to stretch his salary. The Kings had until the end of August to make that call.
Using the stretch provision to spread DeRozan’s $10MM across the next three seasons has major implications on Sacramento’s cap situation. As cap expert Yossi Gozlan notes (Twitter link), the Kings will now fall under the luxury tax line.
Sacramento currently has 13 players with guaranteed contracts on its roster and now has enough cap space to fill the last two roster spots with veteran players on minimum deals without going back into tax territory. The Kings recently worked out several free agent guards.
DeRozan remained on the free agent market until last week, when he agreed to a one-year deal with the Nuggets. The 37-year-old averaged 18.4 points and 4.1 assists per game in his final season with the Kings.