DeMar DeRozan is one of the most accomplished scorers in NBA history, currently sitting at 25th in league history with 25,555 points throughout his 17-year career. He’s known for his patented mid-range shot, which has helped him top 20+ points per game for 12 straight seasons.
But he’s also used another weapon to help keep his scoring up throughout his Hall-of-Fame career, getting to the free-throw line. He’s always been one of the best in the league at creating contact and getting to the line, as he’s averaged 6.5 free throws per game in his career. But so far this season, is taking just 4.4 attempts at the line per game.
That’s not only down from last year’s 5.7, but the lowest mark since his rookie season back in 2009-10 when he averaged 2.5 free-throw attempts in 21.6 minutes per game. But for some reason, this season, he’s just not getting to the line like we’ve seen before.
It could be that it’s a product of the Kings’ poor offense, which currently ranks 25th in the league. Or it could be that he doesn’t have the explosiveness that he’s had in the past, now that he’s in his age-36 season.
Nov 16, 2025; San Antonio, Texas, USA; Sacramento Kings guard DeMar DeRozan (10) dribbles against San Antonio Spurs forward Keldon Johnson (3) in the second half at Frost Bank Center. Mandatory Credit: Daniel Dunn-Imagn Images | Daniel Dunn-Imagn Images
It’s the second straight year there’s been a significant drop in his production from the free-throw line, as DeRozan shot from the line 7.7 times per contest in his final year with the Bulls. If it were just this season so far, we could chalk it up to a small(ish) sample size, but with two years in a row, it’s worth giving more thought.
Sitting at 3-11, the Kings need a lot of help and have a lot of problems to fix, and part of that is more consistent scoring from their guards. DeRozan is coming off a great game against the San Antonio where he finished with 27 points on 12-of-15 (80%) from the field. But even in that strong performance, he only shot two free throws.
Over the six-game losing streak, he’s only taken 11 total free throws, good for 1.8 attempts per game. That’s an extremely low total for a player who has reached that number in a single game 199 times throughout his career.
Sacramento has a lot of ways they can improve on offense, and much like the focus on Domantas Sabonis improving his efficiency, as recently written about as well, DeRozan getting to the line three or four more times per game would go a long way for this team. Will it save their season? Likely not. But that, combined with a few more slight tweaks, could get them out of the basement of the standings.
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