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It’s free agency again in 2021. Although this time, the Chicago Bulls don’t seem like an ideal destination if DeMar DeRozan and his hometown team, the Los Angeles Lakers, can’t find a partnership.
NBA free agency is mostly a lucrative game, but it can also be unsentimental at times, leaving high-level players out.
And for now at least, DeRozan’s options are dwindling after the Bulls and DeRozan have so far failed to live up to promises they made all season to continue their relationship.
In mid-April, in an interview with KeynoteUSA Sports Chicago after morning practice in Detroit ahead of the penultimate game of the regular season, hear how emphatically DeRozan said he wanted to return.
“I love being an owner. I love everything about the city and the franchise, from top to bottom — the management, the staff we have,” he said. “It’s one of those places that motivates me to see everyone get what they deserve and feel what it’s like to win again.
“You watch me, how hard I play, how hard I want to bring success to this organization, to this city, that’s my main goal. I always want to get a job done. The last two years have been tough with injuries and so many ups and downs. But I always want to weather the storm and take whatever situation I want to make the most of it, to make it even better. That’s always been my mindset and it’s my mindset going forward. How can I be here and make this a winning organization like when I first got here?”
“I want the city and all these players to experience that feeling, vibe and energy that we had when we had that run (in 2021-22), and so do I. It’s always easy to complain and say what’s not right, but I made it clear that this is where I want to be and hang in there. I don’t want to go anywhere.
“They know that. They all know my position. I put it from this perspective: I want to come back. Let everyone figure out what they need to figure out. And that’s how I see it, so I don’t stress or worry about what will happen. I made it clear that this is where I want to be. Those in power just need to figure out what needs to happen. They all know my mindset.”
For their part, management and head coach Billy Donovan consistently praised DeRozan’s leadership with the Bulls’ young core and praised his steadfast personality in tough times. After a season in which DeRozan led the NBA in minutes played and fourth-quarter scoring, executive vice president Artūras Karnišovas reiterated his stance of wanting to re-sign DeRozan.
“DeMar has been great for us for three years,” Karnišovas said in mid-April. “He’s invested in the city of Chicago and has been really good with our young people. So both sides are interested in continuing.”
Toward the end of last month’s NBA Draft night, that public stance changed dramatically.
“As I said before, we will look at everything,” Karnišovas said on June 26. “Everything is on the table. And, as you know, it is still an option.”
Karnišovas spoke that night after signing a 19-year-old, Matas Buzelis, and days after trading 30-year-old Alex Caruso for 21-year-old Josh Giddey. But the rift between the Bulls and DeRozan goes beyond a youth movement.
After all, the Bulls have praised DeRozan’s veteran leadership and his mentorship of players like Coby White and Patrick Williams. Instead, the collapse is multifaceted and stems from both sides.
While he acknowledged he was speaking with raw emotions after a season-ending loss in the Play In Tournament to the Miami Heat, DeRozan offered an early clue that mid-April night.
“At the end of the day, I hate losing. I hate losing opportunities. It really affects you after the season when you look up and the last seconds are gone. You don’t have another game. The next time I play a game will be my 16th season. You realize the window closes for you personally,” DeRozan said. “I’m not trying to play 25 years. I just want to have the opportunity to do my best.”
“My stance on wanting to be here is still the same, but I just want to win. Watching the first round of the playoffs and the second round of the playoffs is frustrating.”
When asked what he would like to see management do this offseason, DeRozan didn’t hesitate.
“A competitive team. A team that gives us a chance to make a run,” he said. “Since I’ve been here, we’ve had to deal with a lot of things. My first year was a team we had planned to be with. But losing a star point guard like Zo (Lonzo Ball) and Zach (LaVine) getting hurt later that year allowed us to have all the pieces in play. I don’t know if a black cat ran in front of us or if we broke a mirror. But they gave us a chance to be competitive and not just a team fighting for a play-in game.”
So the Caruso-for-Giddey trade offered a second clue. DeRozan consistently praised Caruso, almost projecting a sense of awe when discussing his team mentality and defensive prowess.
DeRozan was also close to assistant coach Maurice Cheeks, who the New York Knicks hired, and some behind-the-scenes staff members who were quietly fired.
From the Bulls’ perspective, there’s no question that DeRozan outperformed his three-year, $81.9 million contract by appearing in two All-Star games in Chicago. That’s why internal discussions during the season initially centered on offering DeRozan a two-year deal with a high annual salary, perhaps closer to $40 million.
But that was also when there was the most internal optimism for a Zach LaVine trade. And while that was always the front office’s top priority, retaining Williams was also a priority.
And it’s been reported for months that re-signing Williams while keeping both LaVine and DeRozan would push the Bulls into luxury tax territory, an area the franchise has historically avoided.
Williams has verbally agreed to a five-year, $90 million deal. LaVine’s trade market remains a tough one. And with the Bulls roughly $13.3 million below the luxury tax line and 14 players under contract (Onuralp Bitim’s is not yet fully guaranteed), DeRozan, who worked through the season under the impression he would be re-signed, is the man out of the loop.
The third and perhaps biggest clue came when the Bulls did not negotiate with DeRozan during their exclusive negotiating period between the end of the NBA Finals and the start of free agency. Faced with a similar situation last season with Nikola Vucevic, the Bulls worked to sign their starting center to a three-year, $60 million contract before he became a free agent.
Then there’s the question of playing style. With the additions of Giddey, Buzelis and Jalen Smith to Williams, White and Ayo Dosunmu, it seems the Bulls and Donovan will want to try to play faster. DeRozan can play that way, but he’s never been their first option. And, like Giddey, he needs to have the ball in his hands to be most effective.
And now that?
The Lakers’ interest is genuine and the Bulls are open to the possibility of a sign-and-trade, sources confirmed. But any sign-and-trade deal would have to be for at least three years and for a lower annual salary than DeRozan wants.
So one potential scenario is that DeRozan plays out next season (possibly with the Lakers) under the $12.8 million non-taxpayer mid-level exception and then re-enters unrestricted free agency next offseason.
In 2021, DeRozan thought his childhood dream of playing for his hometown Lakers (and with LeBron James) was all but guaranteed. Then, the Lakers changed course and signed Russell Westbrook, and the Bulls took advantage of the opportunity and acquired DeRozan in a sign-and-trade transaction with the Spurs.
Perhaps a similar surprise is still in store for DeRozan, but for now, DeRozan and the Bulls’ stance on continuing their relationship throughout the season is not materializing.
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