The DeMar DeRozan trade keeps proving to be Spurs' new beginning

At this point, it was almost five years ago, but when the San Antonio Spurs traded DeMar DeRozan (in a sign-and-trade), it kickstarted a new era of basketball for the organization. They may have a brighter future than any team in the NBA. Yet, at the same time, DeRozan has struggled to find his footing in recent years, and it seems as though his NBA career is slowly coming to a close.

The Sacramento Kings have been the worst team in the NBA this season. Nothing has gone right for then, and in tandem with that, nothing has gone right for DeRozan. Outside of a couple of fun seasons with the Chicago Bulls, everything has gone downhill for DeRozan since he left the Spurs.

Yet for San Antonio, the opposite is true.

The DeMar DeRozan trade was a new beginning for the Spurs

After trading DeRozan, the Spurs committed to a rebuild. And they couldn’t have made that decision at a better time. They were truly awful for one season and were rewarded with one of the greatest NBA prospects of all-time: Victor Wembanyama.

Not only has Wembanyama been great for San Antonio, but he looks like he has the potential to be one of the best players in the world. To be honest, he might already be one of the best players in the world.

He’s helped lead the Spurs to the second-best record in the West this season, alongside the likes of De’Aaron Fox, Dylan Harper, and Stephon Castle. It’s been a great season.

And speaking of Fox, part of the reason the Spurs were able to trade for Fox last season was because of the Bulls first-round pick that they got back from Chicago in the DeRozan sign-and-trade.

Ironically, they ended up sending it back to the Bulls in the trade, which was a three-team deal that also saw Zach LaVine join DeRozan in Sacramento.

DeRozan’s first year in Chicago was fun. The Bulls were competitive. It all ended in a first-round exit at the hands of the Milwaukee Bucks, but they looked promising. A Lonzo Ball injury away from being something more.

Ever since then, DeRozan has yet to make it back to the playoffs. And every single team he’s been on has been in a terrible position.

It’s been mess after mess for DeRozan, all the while, the Spurs are in one of the best positions of any team in the league.

Unfortunately for DeRozan, that trade was a new beginning for San Antonio.