A quick note here for the night owls regarding a potential sign-and-trade that would send DeMar DeRozan to the Kings.

DeRozan would have to sign at least a three-year deal and presumably would want all of it guaranteed, and Sacramento is only $4.5 million from the tax line and about $10 million from the tax apron (after including $2.5 million in unlikely incentives for Trey Lyles and Domantas Sabonis).

The Kings also cannot aggregate the contract of recently acquired Jalen McDaniels.

Thus, the strongest possible team Sacramento could put together would have them combine Chris Duarte and a signed-and-traded Kessler Edwards, but the Kings could only pay DeRozan a maximum of $15 million in 2024-25 and still sign a 14th player and remain below the apron.

To go beyond that for DeRozan, into the $20 million a year range that one presumes might be necessary to seal a long-term deal, requires a) trading one of Kevin Huerter or Harrison Barnes, or b) aggregating Duarte and Lyles. Barnes and Huerter are signed beyond this season, however, and the Bulls likely are looking for expiring money in return for DeRozan.

In addition, with Chicago being only $11 million from the tax line with 13 contracts in hand, the Bulls almost certainly don’t want to take back much money from Sacramento.

Thus, the biggest complication here seems to be the Kings would need to pay two different teams in draft capital: First, to a team with room or a large trade exception like the Pistons or Jazz to take one of Barnes, Lyles or Huerter, and second, to the Bulls for completing the DeRozan sign-and-trade.

(Note Chicago could likely take a smaller contract like that of McDaniels’ $4.7 million or Duarte’s $5.8 million off their hands as part of the deal — McDaniels can’t be aggregated to offset DeRozan’s salary, but he can still be in the trade — but Sacramento still needs to find a landing zone for a larger contract).

So, if you’re wondering why we aren’t progressing more quickly from “mutual interest” to a deal, that’s why.

There are a lot of complicated moving parts here, and in addition the three clearly interested parties (the Kings, the Bulls and DeRozan), it almost certainly requires another team’s involvement to get to the finish line.

Lastly, one final, small wrinkle to watch for: If Sacramento is sending Duarte or McDaniels to Chicago, the Bulls could include veteran forward Torrey Craig as offsetting salary, which would thus allow them to get the maximal trade exception for DeRozan’s outbound salary.