DeMar DeRozan has added quite a bit to the Sacramento Kings, who are set to visit the Miami Heat on Monday night.
Both the Kings and Heat had to clear customs in order to arrive in Miami on Monday. The Kings played in Canada on Saturday, the same day the Heat beat the Washington Wizards in Mexico.
DeRozan, who was acquired in July as part of a sign-and-trade deal, is in his 16th NBA season. The 35-year-old is a six-time All-Star and still going strong, scoring at least 20 points in all six of Sacramento’s games. He leads the Kings in scoring (25.3 ppg).
DeRozan is coming off a game-high and season-high 33 points in Sacramento’s 131-128 overtime loss at the Toronto Raptors on Saturday night, which snapped a three-game win streak.
Kings point guard De’Aaron Fox raved about DeRozan and his tricks of the trade.
“It’s a joke around the league that you get a silly fine if you jump at (DeRozan’s) pump fake,” Fox said. “He’s going to pump fake, and everyone knows it.
“At some point, he’s going to get you with it.”
Fox said DeRozan — perhaps the best mid-range shooter in the NBA — makes the game look easy.
“Teams have to send another guy at him,” Fox said, “or at least have two or three sets of eyes on him.”
While DeRozan was Sacramento’s big addition after last season, the Kings also returned their nucleus, which includes Fox, Keegan Murray, Malik Monk, 3-point shooter Kevin Huerter and Domantas Sabonis, one of the most skilled centers in the NBA. Sabonis leads the Kings with 13.0 rebounds and 6.3 assists to go with 21.5 points per game.
Fox may be the fastest player in the league, and he finished last season ranked eighth in the NBA in scoring (26.6). Through six games this season, he has averaged 23.5 points per game.
Miami is coming off a 118-98 win over Washington in a game played in Mexico City as part of the NBA Global Games series.
“We had a great time,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said of the Mexico experience. “We love the fans … and the most important thing is that we were able to get a win.”
Miami has started the same lineup for all five of their games, featuring Tyler Herro (team-high 20.8 scoring average) and Terry Rozier in the backcourt; Jimmy Butler (team-high 5.6 assists) and Nikola Jovic at forward; and Bam Adebayo (team-high 8.6 rebounds) at center.
Butler is Miami’s emotional leader, but, at age 35, there have been some signs of decline, including frequent injuries the past couple of years. His scoring pace has ticked down from 20.8 ppg last year to 17.0 through five games this season.
At the other end of the spectrum, Jovic, 21, is the most underrated Heat starter. He played for Serbia in the Olympics this past summer and continues to improve.
Adebayo, a three-time All-Star, signed a three-year, $166-million extension in the offseason. He had 32 points and 14 rebounds in Saturday’s Mexico game.
The Heat bench is led by Jaime Jaquez Jr., who made NBA first-team All-Rookie last season.
Power forward Kevin Love, who has yet to play this season, and 3-point shooter Duncan Robinson missed Saturday’s game due to personal reasons.