The Golden State Warriors have been linked to DeMar DeRozan as a fallback if they miss on LeBron James, but that idea comes with a built-in complication: where exactly would the minutes come from?
Golden State’s need for more scoring makes DeRozan an easy player to picture in the mix. He’s a six-time All-Star, and he would give the Warriors another source of shot creation at a time when they need it.
But the fit isn’t just about what he can provide. It’s also about what he could block.
The Warriors already showed they’re willing to chase a bigger, older name by making James their top free-agent priority. That makes sense on paper, since the 41-year-old remains a top 20 player in the league when healthy and is clearly ahead of 11th overall pick Yaxel Lendeborg and forward Gui Santos.
DeRozan, though, is a different conversation. At 36, he might offer short-term help, but the question is whether that help is enough to justify pulling opportunity away from younger players like Lendeborg, Santos and Brandin Podziemski.
The answer, at least from this view, is no. Even if DeRozan gives Golden State a steadier offensive option right away, there’s a case that Lendeborg could already be making a real impact after his first five games with the Warriors in summer league. And if the Warriors are not suddenly vaulting into the Western Conference’s top six while Jimmy Butler is sidelined by injury, the argument for leaning into the young group gets stronger.
That’s the tension at the center of the DeRozan idea: he may be the cleaner short-term backup plan, but he doesn’t obviously move the needle enough to outweigh the developmental cost.
Roby Kalland of CBS Sports described DeRozan as the likely “Plan B” for James suitors, and said the Warriors “feel like the most likely landing spot for DeRozan if they miss out on James.”
Kalland also pointed to Golden State’s need for more shot creation and framed DeRozan as a possible floor raiser, which would matter while Butler recovers from his torn ACL. But that label is hard to fully buy when DeRozan’s last season with the Kings ended in a brutal 22-60 record and a 14th-place finish in the Western Conference, even though he averaged over 18 points on nearly 50% shooting from the floor.
Golden State can talk itself into the fit. The bigger question is whether it should. DeRozan could help them survive the moment, but he could also slow the growth of the players the Warriors may need most.
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