The Sacramento Kings have agreed on a sign-and-trade that will land them free agent guard DeMar DeRozan from the Chicago Bulls on a three-year, $74 million contract.

The Kings will send forward Harrison Barnes and an unprotected 2031 pick swap to the San Antonio Spurs and guard Chris Duarte, two second-round picks and cash to the Bulls, according to sources.

The first two seasons of DeRozan’s contract are fully guaranteed with a partial guarantee for the final year and includes $59 million in guaranteed money.

With the addition of DeRozan, the Kings have forged a formidable nucleus that includes All-Star guard De’Aaron Fox, All-Star center Domantas Sabonis and promising young forward Keegan Murray.

DeRozan is a six-time All-Star and is coming off an impressive three-year run with the Bulls and averaged 24 points on 48 percent shooting along with 4.5 rebounds and 5.3 assists in 2023-24.

He is a three-time All-NBA selection and has played for Toronto, San Antonio and Chicago across his 15 NBA seasons. He’s averaged 21.2 points, 4.4 rebounds and 4.1 assists in 1,110 career NBA games.

The 34-year-old may not be a No. 1 option anymore, but he won’t need to be on a Sacramento team loaded with weapons. DeRozan should flourish in a secondary scoring role with the Kings.

Sacramento was looking to do something after finishing ninth in the Western Conference last season with a 46-36 record.

DeRozan travelled to Sacramento on Saturday to meet with team officials and Kings coach Mike Brown, who signed an offseason contract extension. Brown led the franchise to back-to-back winning seasons for the first time since 2006.

The Sacramento Kings will retain a key piece into the foreseeable future as they look to build upon two straight trips to the NBA's play-in tournament.

Deft scoring guard Malik Monk agreed to remain with the Kings on a four-year, $78million contract, ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reported late Thursday night.

The last year of the deal reportedly carries a player option.

Monk set career highs last season by averaging 15.4 points and 5.1 assists while finishing second in Sixth Man of the Year award voting.

Monk, a seven-year veteran out of Kentucky, was due to be an unrestricted free agent on June 30.

Monk had been linked to several teams searching for an infusion of perimeter scoring in free agency, including the Philadelphia 76ers and the Orlando Magic, but those clubs will now need to look elsewhere.

Monk has averaged 11.6 points, 2.5 rebounds and 2.8 assists in 458 career NBA games.

While the Kings have yet to win a play-off series since 2004, Sacramento have strung together back-to-back winning seasons for the first time since 2004-06. In 2023, the club ended a 16-year post-season drought and forced the defending champion Golden State Warriors to a Game 7 in their first-round play-off series loss.

The Sacramento Kings will retain a key piece into the foreseeable future as they look to build upon two straight trips to the NBA’s play-in tournament.

Deft scoring guard Malik Monk agreed to remain with the Kings on a four-year, $78million contract, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported late Thursday night.

The last year of the deal reportedly carries a player option.

Monk set career highs last season by averaging 15.4 points and 5.1 assists while finishing second in Sixth Man of the Year award voting.

Monk, a seven-year veteran out of Kentucky, was due to be an unrestricted free agent on June 30.

Monk had been linked to several teams searching for an infusion of perimeter scoring in free agency, including the Philadelphia 76ers and the Orlando Magic, but those clubs will now need to look elsewhere.

Monk has averaged 11.6 points, 2.5 rebounds and 2.8 assists in 458 career NBA games.

While the Kings have yet to win a play-off series since 2004, Sacramento have strung together back-to-back winning seasons for the first time since 2004-06. In 2023, the club ended a 16-year post-season drought and forced the defending champion Golden State Warriors to a Game 7 in their first-round play-off series loss.

The New Orleans Pelicans are wholly deserving of their place in the playoffs, so says Larry Nance Jr.

After losing to the Los Angeles Lakers earlier in the week, New Orleans clinched the Western Conference's No.8 seed on Friday by overcoming the Sacramento Kings 105-98.

Brandon Ingram scored 24 points while Jonas Valanciunas added 19 with 12 rebounds.

Victory also saw the Pelicans, who were without Zion Williamson due to a hamstring injury, beat the Kings for the sixth time this campaign, and they will now face the Oklahoma City Thunder in the playoffs.

"We deserve it," Pelicans forward Nance Jr. said.

"That's how we felt coming into this game, and that's how we felt going into the last game. You don't win 49 games by accident; that doesn't happen.

"You don't just slip and do that in a historic conference. We're a really good team, and we deserve to be here. We showed that tonight, and we're proud to be going to Oklahoma."

Ingram, meanwhile, was on top form having recently returned from injury.

"It's been one my healthiest seasons, and I was out for three weeks just watching and just trying to stay disciplined," Ingram said.

"It's hard just trying to stay disciplined, trying to stay locked in knowing I wanted to be out on the floor. I was losing some of my conditioning a little bit and just trying to stay ready.

"That was three weeks that passed, and I was just coming in and trying to play 30 minutes after all that and be locked in. I was, of course, hard on myself because I didn't think it mattered that I just came off the knee injury. Those first two games didn't go how I wanted to go, but I just wanted to give it all tonight and trust my teammates, trust my stuff, and we ended up winning.

"I thought I could control the game. I thought I controlled the game the first quarter, the second quarter. And I knew that it was about time for us to go on a run."

Of the Pelicans' playoff hopes, he added: "This was the goal at the beginning of the year.

"Throughout it, we had some injuries. We had different things happen. But we had another opportunity today, and we came in and everybody contributed."

D'Aaron Fox said the Sacramento Kings knew exactly was on the line when they went up against the Golden State Warriors.

The Kings came out on top 118-94 on Tuesday, progressing to a meeting with the New Orleans Pelicans on Friday as Sacramento aim to make the playoffs.

Sacramento, who were led by Keegan Murray's 32 points, lost to the Warriors in the first round of the playoffs last year.

And Fox and his teammates knew exactly how important gaining a measure of revenge was this time around.

"We knew what was on the line," said Fox, who scored 24 points for the Kings.

"This was just another obstacle in our way. We have to get over this hump.

"Obviously, losing to this team last year and obviously facing this team now, it's like, of course we have to face this team."

The Warriors, meanwhile, have now missed out on the playoffs for the third time in the past five seasons.

"I was a sophomore in high school watching them win championships [four titles between 2015 and 2022]," Fox said.

"We've been watching this team for a long time. If it is the end, it is what it is. I'm glad we're able to beat this team at this moment, but they definitely had a hell of a run."

Stephen Curry managed 22 points for the Warriors, but he admitted Golden State were second-best.

He said: "For the most part, they just took it to us the whole game. There's really no way around it."

Steve Kerr is hoping for more of the same from "sublime" Steph Curry when the Golden State Warriors face the Sacramento Kings in the play-ins.

Curry produced a career-high 50 points to guide the Warriors to a Game 7 victory in Sacramento in the sides' most recent win-or-bust showdown.

The two-time MVP became the first player in playoff history to score 20 points or more from behind the arc and in the paint in the same game.

Asked about that performance on the eve of Tuesday's do-or-die matchup with Sacramento at Golden 1 Center, Kerr told reporters: "He's one of the great clutch players in the history of the league, we know that.

"That performance did not surprise me because he's 'that guy'. What I remember about that game is that we extended a lead at the end of the third, I think we went into the fourth up by 12 or something and so we had timeouts saved up.

"And the conversation you're referring to I think I was telling him we can take a timeout anytime you want just to get a couple of minutes of rest. And we were able to control that fourth quarter, but he was so sublime."

Curry leads the NBA standings across the regular season for average 3-point field goals made (4.8) and is ninth overall in terms of average points per game (26.4).

If the Warriors are to stay on course for the playoffs, the four-time NBA champion will likely have a major part to play.

"I think he led the league in player efficiency this year and clutch minutes," Kerr added of what to expect from Curry. 

"We've seen him win championships, win Finals MVP. I mean Steph Curry is Steph Curry."

Jalen Brunson needed only three quarters to score 39 points and the New York Knicks continued their push for the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference with a 118-109 win over the league-leading Boston Celtics on Thursday.

Brunson was 15 of 23 from the field and 6 for 11 from long range, while Donte DiVincenzo added 17 points and Josh Hart had 16 points and 16 rebounds.

New York won its third straight and pulled within a game of Milwaukee for second in the East, with each team having two games left. The Knicks would need to win both and have the Bucks lose their games at Oklahoma City and Orlando, because Milwaukee has the head-to-head tiebreaker.

The Knicks dominated on the glass, 52-36, and had 22 second-chance points compared to 12 for the Celtics.

Boston got 18 points from Jayson Tatum and lost its second in a row.

Surging Warriors handle Trail Blazers

Stephen Curry scored 22 points and Jonathan Kuminga added 22 to propel the Golden State Warriors to their ninth win in 10 games, 100-92 over the Portland Trail Blazers.

Golden State, which played without Klay Thompson and Draymond Green, has already clinched a play-in spot but can potentially improve its playoff seeding in the final two games.

With their 45th victory, the Warriors surpassed their win total from last season, when they advanced to the conference semifinals.

Deandre Ayton had 25 points and 11 rebounds and Scoot Henderson tallied 18 and 12 assists for the Trail Blazers, who have won just two of their past 15 games.

Pelicans complete season sweep of Kings

CJ McCollum and Zion Williamson scored 31 points apiece and the New Orleans Pelicans completed a five-game season sweep of the Sacramento Kings with a 135-123 win.

McCollum matched a season high with nine 3-pointers in 12 tries and added seven assists for the Pelicans, who improved to 27-14 on the road, a franchise record for wins and tied with Boston for the best mark in the NBA.

New Orleans is sixth in the Western Conference, one game ahead of Phoenix with two games remaining.

De’Aaron Fox scored 33 points as the Kings lost for the fourth time in five games and failed in a bid to avoid the play-in tournament.

Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson each scored 29 points and the Golden State Warriors won their season-high sixth straight game, 133-110 over the Houston Rockets on Thursday.

Rookie Trayce Jackson-Davis had a career-high 20 points, five rebounds and four assists for the Warriors, who made it 13 straight wins against the Rockets since a loss on Feb. 20, 2020, and tightened its grip on 10th place in the Western Conference.

Thompson scored 21 points in the first half with five 3-pointers to help Golden State take a 65-50 lead into the break.

The Warriors held a 16-point lead after three quarters and were up 20 with just under four minutes left when coach Steve Kerr cleared his bench.

Jabari Smith Jr. scored 24 points for the Rockets, who dropped their third straight following an 11-game winning streak.

Knicks rally past Kings to end skid

D had 35 points and 11 assists and Josh Hart added a season-high 31 points as the New York Knicks overcame a 21-point deficit in a 120-109 win over the Sacramento Kings.

Hart shot 14 of 19 from the field, had nine rebounds and eight assists and Donte DiVincenzo scored 21 points to help New York snap a three-game skid and tie Orlando for the fourth-best record in the Eastern Conference.

De’Aaron Fox had 29 points, seven boards and seven assists for the Kings, who failed in a bid to tie New Orleans and Phoenix for sixth in the West.

Sacramento raced to a 46-25 lead while making 19 of its first 28 shots, but the Knicks responded with a 16-2 to get back in it.

Clippers hold off Nuggets

Paul George had 28 points and Ivica Zubac scored the final six points for the Los Angeles Clippers in a 102-100 win over the Denver Nuggets.

James Harden tallied 20 points, eight assists and six rebounds and Zubac finished with 14 points and 15 boards as the Clippers snapped a five-game home skid despite the absence of Kawhi Leonard, who sat out his second straight game with a sore right knee.  

Nikola Jokić notched his 24th triple-double of the season with 36 points, 17 rebounds and 10 assists, but the Nuggets couldn’t come all the way back from an 11-point deficit in the fourth quarter and dropped one-half game behind Minnesota for the Western Conference lead.

LeBron James believes the Los Angeles Lakers are still playing "good ball", despite a 120-107 loss to the Sacramento Kings on Wednesday.

The defeat leaves the Lakers at 36-31, ninth in the Western Conference and three games back of the Kings, who currently occupy the sixth seed and would avoid the play-in tournament were the season to finish now.

The Kings' win on Wednesday means they have swept the Lakers 4-0 this season. Domantas Sabonis starred for Sacramento with 17 points, 19 rebounds and 10 assists, while Harrison Barnes also hit seven 3-pointers as James finished with just 18 points.

The Lakers need an upturn in form if they are to avoid the play-in tournament, but despite suffering a defeat to a playoff rival in Sacramento, James still feels his team played well in some spots.

"We already knew we were in the gauntlet of our schedule," James told reporters.

"We already knew we had all the teams that were coming in, everybody positioning and jockeying, some of the best teams in the league. We knew it was a tough stretch for our ball club.

"But even with the loss to Denver, even with the loss to Sacramento both times, we've still been playing some good ball."

The win for Sacramento means Sabonis has now played against fellow center Anthony Davis 10 times during his career, winning all 10 of those clashes.

However, Sabonis hopes the growing talk of his impressive record against nine-time All-Star Davis quietens down, joking: "I don't pay attention to that.

"The more you guys bring attention to that, it makes my life harder. If anything, it will light a fire under him, so stop mentioning anything, please!"

The Sacramento Kings delivered their most complete performance of the season as they snapped a long winless run against the Milwaukee Bucks.

Sacramento won 129-94 on Tuesday, defeating the Bucks for the first time since February 2016.

That 15-game losing streak was the longest active such run of any team in the NBA.

De'Aaron Fox led the Kings with 29 points, while Domantas Sabonis had 22 points and 11 rebounds. He has now set a new Kings single-season record, with what was his 47th successive double-double. 

As good as the Kings' offense was, however, Fox wanted to praise the defense.

"I think defensively we did a great job," Fox said.

"I think that fuelled our offense. Obviously, we scored 130 points, but even if we didn't play that well offensively, if we have an even below-average game, score 110, we still win this game by 15.

"I think this was one of the most complete games that we've played this year."

Speaking of his teammate Sabonis, Fox added: "Night in, night out, he's come up big for us.

"I think people are immune to it. No one outside of basically us talks about it. But that's obviously a hard thing to do and there's not many people have done it. He comes ready to play every night."

While Giannis Antetokounmpo had 30 points and 13 rebounds, Bucks coach Doc Rivers said his team did not deserve anything but a defeat, and he took full responsibility.

"We deserved it tonight," said Rivers.

"It's my fault. I didn't get them prepared the way I should mentally. At shootaround, guys were talking about planes leaving.

"As a staff, we talked about it after shootaround that if our focus is not better than this morning, it's going to be a long day. And it was a long day. So that's on us."

Anthony Edwards scored 37 points and the Minnesota Timberwolves rallied from a 22-point deficit for a 118-100 win over the Los Angeles Clippers on Tuesday.

Nickeil Alexander-Walker added a season-high 28 points and Mike Conley scored 23 with five 3-pointers for the Wolves, who bounced back from consecutive losses to pull within one game of the Northwest Division lead.

Kawhi Leonard left with back spasms between the first two quarters, the Clippers said. He played the entire first quarter, but he was seen leaving the arena during the second quarter.

Faced with a 57-35 deficit midway through the second quarter, Minnesota cut the Clippers’ lead to 63-55 at halftime and took control in the second half for the team’s largest comeback since November 2012.

Paul George scored 22 points for Los Angeles, which has dropped two straight for only the second time since Christmas.

Minnesota’s Rudy Gobert returned from a one-game absence with a right hamstring injury but then apparently injured his ribs or sternum at some point in the second half, heading to the locker room in pain.

Kings finally beat Bucks

De’Aaron Fox scored 29 points and Domantas Sabonis had 22 with 11 rebounds as the Sacramento Kings defeated the Milwaukee Bucks, 129-94, for their first win in the series in over eight years.

Sacramento posted its first win over Milwaukee since Feb. 1, 2016, with the 15-game losing streak being the longest active streak for any team.

Giannis Antetokounmpo had 30 points and 13 rebounds as the Bucks finished a 1-3 California swing.

Hart stars in Knicks’ rout of 76ers

Josh Hart registered his fourth triple-double of the season and OG Anunoby scored 14 points in his return from an 18-game absence as the New York Knicks rolled to a 106-79 drubbing of the Philadelphia 76ers.

Hart had 20 points, a career high-tying 19 rebounds and 10 assists, and Jalen Brunson added 20 points and nine assists for the Knicks, who bounced back from Sunday’s loss to the 76ers.

Anunoby played his first game since Jan. 27 due to a right elbow injury that required surgery. New York improved to 13-2 in games that he has played in since his acquisition from Toronto on Dec. 30.

Kelly Oubre Jr. had 19 points and Tyrese Maxey added 17 after missing the previous four games due to a concussion. Philadelphia has lost four of its last five games.

Sacramento Kings coach Mike Brown does not want to keep referring to De'Aaron Fox as "amazing", but he has little choice.

Fox tied his career-best points haul on Wednesday, with his haul of 44 helping the Kings to a 130-120 win over the Los Angeles Lakers.

The victory saw the Kings move two-and-a-half games ahead of the Lakers in the Western Conference, while it also marked the seventh time this season that Fox has scored over 40 points.

And Brown is running out of ways to describe the Kings' talisman.

"He was amazing. I hate using that word because to me that’s who he is," Brown said.

"It's hard to score 44 points every single night, especially on the percentage that he did it at, but he is more than capable with his ability.

"It was a big game for him in a big-game environment."

Fox stressed how important it is for the Kings to pick up wins against the teams around them.

"Right now where the standings are, if we lose this game, we're half a game in front of them rather than two and a half like it is now," Fox said.

"So right now especially to play teams that are around us in the standings, those games mean a little more."

The frustration from Lakers coach Darvin Ham was evident.

Ham said: "They got a few easy opportunities in transition and they were able to get inside and make some tough shots.

"The sense of urgency we have to be able to maintain that.

"We talk about forcing our will on the game. We obviously initiated it, but we didn’t sustain it and we damn sure didn't finish it."

LeBron James led the Lakers with 31 points, though he exited midway through the fourth quarter due to ankle soreness.

"Some games it's better than others. I didn't feel it during the Oklahoma City Thunder game [on Monday] and I didn't feel it tonight until the fourth quarter," James said. "Some days are better than others."

D'Angelo Russell believes the Los Angeles Lakers are only going to get better after he scored 30 points to help seal a 139-122 home win over the New Orleans Pelicans.

The Lakers put up 87 first-half points in a spectacular start as they bounced back from their loss to the Denver Nuggets with a big win against the Pelicans on Friday.

Austin Reaves had 27 points and LeBron James added 21 with 14 assists for the Lakers, who tied a franchise record with 51 points in the second quarter. 

Russell scored 21 in the first half and all five starters had at least 12 while the Lakers hit 11 3-pointers and 67.4 percent of their overall shots.

Back in the lineup after missing the Nuggets loss through injury, Russell thinks there is much more to come from Los Angeles (28-26).

"The chemistry is definitely growing," Russell said to the Los Angeles Times.

"The trade deadline just ended, so guys are a little bit more comfortable. So, I think it’s only going to get better from here.

"With all the guys we have, it’s going to allow guys to step up when their names are called. It was a good job."

While the Lakers did not make any moves at the trade deadline, they do hope to add free agent Spencer Dinwiddie, who was waived by the Toronto Raptors after being traded from the Brooklyn Nets.

Dinwiddie attended the game and sat with general manager Rob Pelinka before visiting the Lakers’ locker room.

He is believed to be deciding between the Lakers and former team the Dallas Mavericks, who the guard visited with on Thursday.

James and Anthony Davis are optimistic about the prospect of Dinwiddie signing.

"Playmaking, another ball handler, another shot-maker, another guy, another veteran," LeBron said after being asked what Dinwiddie would bring.

"Anytime you can add a veteran with that ability, it helps. So we will see what happens."

Davis added: "Obviously, we have seen what he did with Brooklyn and what he did with Dallas making big plays for them. He is a well-established player."

There were 20 points from Davis despite being limited by foul trouble. He can feel a sense of relief among the Lakers squad after the trade deadline passed.

"I'm just glad the day is over," he said ahead of the game. "It can kind of make it a little wacky around the trade deadline time, guys hearing their names in rumors, and if this is going to happen, not going to happen. 

"It can kind of weigh on guys. So, I'm just glad it is over. We are who we are and we have who we have.

"It is on us to figure out how we can get more wins and move up in the standings."

Los Angeles is ninth in the Western Conference, winning four times in five games before it hosts Detroit on Tuesday.

Zion Williamson had 30 points for the Pelicans (30-22) and Brandon Ingram contributed 22 against his former team as a four-game winning streak was snapped. New Orleans is at Portland on Saturday.

Nikola Jokic recorded his league-leading 15th triple-double this season and Jamal Murray fell a rebound shy of one as the Denver Nuggets took down the Portland Trail Blazers, 120-108 on Friday.

Jokic had 27 points, a season-high 22 rebounds and 12 assists for his 120th career triple-double, a total bettered only by Russell Westbrook (198), Oscar Robertson (181) and Magic Johnson (138) in NBA history.

Murray finished with 13 points, 10 assists and nine rebounds, while Aaron Gordon scored 18 points and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope had 16 points. The Nuggets have won five straight and 12 of 13 against the Blazers.

Scoot Henderson scored 30 points and Anfernee Simons had 29 for Portland, which played without Jerami Grant, who was a late scratch due to lower back tightness.

Clippers’ Westbrook hits milestone in win

Russell Westbrook scored 23 points to become the 25th player in NBA history to reach 25,000 in the Los Angeles Clippers’ 136-125 win over the Detroit Pistons.

Westbrook, who shot 10 of 13 from the field and handed out nine assists, joined teammate James Harden on the list of players to score 25,000 points. Harden reached the milestone in December.

Kawhi Leonard scored 21 of his 33 points in the first half and Paul George added 18 as the Clippers won for the seventh time in eight games.

Jalen Ivey scored 28 points and Bojan Bogdanovic had 26 for the Pistons, who dropped to 4-41 after a 2-1 start to the season.

Sabonis breaks Robertson’s record in Kings’ win

Domantas Sabonis tallied 26 points and 12 rebounds to break Oscar Robertson’s single-season franchise record with his 30th straight double-double to lead the Sacramento Kings to a 133-122 win over the Indiana Pacers.

Sabonis, who added seven assists, surpassed Robertson’s mark set from Dec. 6, 1961-Jan. 30, 1962.

De’Aaron Fox had 25 points and six assists and Malik Monk added 23 points, six assists and five rebounds to help Sacramento win for the fifth time in six games.

Bennedict Mathurin scored 31 points for the Pacers, who shot 54.1 percent from the field but were hurt by 21 turnovers to fall to 4-8 in their last 12 games.

Sacramento Kings coach Mike Brown used a laptop to help demonstrate what he feels are calls to have gone against his team from the NBA officials.

Brown was ejected after he stormed onto the court to confront referee Intae Hwang during the fourth quarter of the Kings' 143-142 overtime loss to the Milwaukee Bucks on Sunday.

The Kings have lost three of their last five games, but coach Brown was not willing to let his team take full accountability for the loss to the Bucks.

Instead, during his postgame news conference, Brown wheeled out the technology to show what he believes were inconsistent calls from the referee.

"The referees are human, and they're going to make mistakes, but you just hope that there's some sort of consistency and there's some sort of communication between the refs," Brown said.

"The refs tonight, they were great, they communicated with me all night. But in terms of consistency, you guys saw it right here. In my opinion, the consistency wasn't here tonight.

"We had a chance to win the game and we didn't get it done," Brown said. "But I'm telling you, man, to go through [the inconsistency in calls], it's tough, man. It's tough to go through that."

Despite Brown's ejection, the Kings came back from 12 points behind to force overtime, in which they went ahead, only to be condemned to a defeat by Damian Lillard's long 3-pointer just before the buzzer.

Bucks coach Adrian Griffin said: "It was like we had the game and they stole it from us and we took it back at the end.

"When they went up six, it would have been easy for us to throw in the towel, but those guys are resilient. Probably one of our best wins of the season."

The Bucks look to be back on form after a slump earlier in January, and have now won their last three games. They sit second in the Eastern Conference, with the Kings sixth in the West.