35 yro for most professional athletes is getting towards the end of career - that's just a fact. Average age in the NBA is 26. It could be he avoids significant injury this year, but the odds are stacking against - and there is heightened risk of injury with age increasing. Leonard is 2 years younger, and has significant (chronic) injury problems. Realistically Derozen has 2 maybe 3 years left in his professional NBA career. Stars of yester-year often become role players in old age - if they're lucky - there's a whole bunch of examples - and a very small few manage to continue high performance the right side of 35. It is a consideration/risk. I'm ok with the trade for a 3 year contract as long as Kings have the team option 3rd year.
Yeah but you're just talking about players in general. Show me some evidence that DeRozan in particular is an injury risk. Half the point here is that DeRozan is an All-NBA level player who is potentially available to us right now
because of his age. He's not a guy who might grow into that or who was once at that level, he's there right now. If he's only got three years of high level performance left, that's perfect for our situation. Hopefully we can help each other to get a championship in those three years. We don't need to be stacking superstars here, just find guys who fit into roles. DeRozan is an elite scorer and he gets to the line. That's enough to make this team better. We'll look elsewhere for our defensive stud.
The Kawhi thing is a particularly poor comparison because these guys are exact opposites in terms of track record and mentality. Kawhi has had chronic knee issues for the last 5 years already and he refuses to play when he's in even mild discomfort. DeRozan is the type of player who if his leg isn't falling off he's going to play, he's said as much himself and his track record reflects that. Kawhi is an MVP on paper and a team killer in reality. And if DeRozan were prime Lebron he would already have signed with the Lakers. Why do you want to pick apart the best player available who has shown any interest in joining our team?