NBA All-Star had “legitimate” interest in signing contract with Miami Heat

New Sacramento Kings forward DeMar DeRozan said the Miami Heat were one of the finalists in the sweepstakes to secure his services when he was a free agent this summer.

In his podcast “P” with Paul George, DeRozan said the Heat were one of five teams he was considering after leaving the Chicago Bulls.

“I thought about Philly. Philly was definitely an option, the Lakers were always an option. The Clippers were an option and the Heat were an option,” DeRozan said. “I said those teams were definitely all legitimate personal options that I considered.”

The Heat are under salary restrictions as they compete for the second apron. They had to take pay cuts to sign DeRozan. The alternative would have been a massive pay cut for him.

Last season, the Kings ended a long playoff drought under coach Mike Brown, which is one of the main reasons why DeRozan chose Sacramento.

“That's definitely something you always want to be a part of, a contagious culture of an organization that wants to win,” DeRozan said. “When I looked at all of that, I just felt like it was a good fit. It was a key piece that I thought I could bring to the table from a leadership perspective to give us that extra boost. The more I thought about it, the more attractive it became.”

Scott Salomon is a Miami Heat On SI contributor. Reach him at [email protected].

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