DeRozan boldly predicts Kings will make Western Conference finals run originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
Star Kings forward DeMar DeRozan is high on his new team.
And the California native proved it when revealing a courageous claim about Sacramento’s 2024-25 NBA season in a TikTok video shared Wednesday by ESPN.
“My boldest NBA take for the season?” DeRozan wondered aloud. “Kings [will reach the] Western Conference finals.”
Mini-mic drop.
The Kings missed the playoffs last season after being eliminated by the New Orleans Pelicans in the NBA Play-In Tournament.
DeRozan, who signed a three-year, $76 million contract with Sacramento in July, clearly isn’t putting any stock into the past. The 35-year-old instead is ready to compete.
Sacramento is primed to be special after pairing DeRozan with the quartet of De’Aaron Fox, Domantas Sabonis, Malik Monk and Keegan Murray. The team’s marquee acquisition should mesh nicely after averaging 24 points, 5.3 rebounds and 4.3 assists during the 2023-24 NBA season.
DeRozan, feeling the hype, recently stoked the flame of excitement on “Podcast P” with Paul George.
“You always definitely want to be a part of a contagious culture of an organization that wants to win,” DeRozan told Geroge Monday. “When I looked at all that [this offseason], it just felt like it fit.”
Neither DeRozan nor Sacramento have hoisted a Larry O’Brien Championship Trophy. The likely future Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame selection and the Kings have been as far as the conference finals.
The DeRozan-Kings union very well could lead to each rewriting their title-less histories. DeRozan’s bold goal of a conference finals appearance hasn’t happened since 2001-02 when Sacramento reached the Western Conference finals behind legends Mike Bibby and Chris Webber.
Sacramento only has reached the playoffs once (2022-23) since the 2005-06 season. You would have to dig up the Rochester Royals’ 1950-51 season records to find the franchise’s lone league championship.
DeRozan plans to add another.