Bulls Insider Sounds Off on DeMar DeRozan’s Windy City Future

The Chicago Bulls had won three of their last four games heading into Friday’s home bout with the Phoenix Suns, and there has undoubtedly been a better energy about them since Patrick Beverley came on board. But the team’s long-term outlook continues to be murky.

Lonzo Ball’s knee problems have officially lingered into their second year, and some have even wondered whether they might be career-threatening. Amid his absence, an imperfect Zach LaVine-DeMar DeRozan-Nikola Vucevic core has been just good enough to keep the Bulls locked into the purgatory that is the NBA‘s middle ground.

One solution to the club’s fixed position problem would be to sell off one or more of those core pieces. In that scenario, DeRozan — who has arguably been the team’s MVP over the last 18ish months — could find himself playing elsewhere in the near future.

Asked whether the six-time All-Star might be moved this summer, longtime Bulls insider Sam Smith gave his prediction on how things could potentially unfold.

Sam Smith: DeMar DeRozan Could End Up With Another Team After Next Season

For his latest “Ask Sam” mailbag column on Bulls.com, Smith was asked whether DeRozan could be finding his way to the Los Angeles Lakers — a team he thought he was joining before the move to the Windy City — as early as this offseason.

And while Smith did note the LA connection, he ultimately opined that the status quo will likely be maintained through 2023-24. At that point, though, all bets are off.

“DeMar has been pretty open that he thought he was going to the Lakers and home as a free agent two years ago and that’s where he wanted to go. But he’s since said he believes in finishing what he started and has grown to like Chicago and the Bulls,” Smith wrote.

“Things change depending on, as I’ve said and we know, how the postseason goes. But with one more year on his contract, I expect DeRozan to be with the Bulls next season. Perhaps not after that.”

Alas, if DeRozan does get moved after next season, Smith believes that the Bulls have probably missed their window for maximizing the return on a trade. The hoops scribe’s logic is sound, too.

“The time to have traded DeRozan would have been at this trade deadline given that would have meant two playoff runs for an acquiring team, and DeRozan now can still be a difference maker and that last piece kind of player for a team that’s close. He becomes a rental after this season, so his value isn’t quite as high and thus I expect he finishes his contract with the Bulls.”

Over 57 appearances with the Bulls this season, DeRozan has averaged 25.0 points, 5.1 assists and 4.6 rebounds per contest while connecting on 50.8% of his field-goal attempts.

Bulls Jump Five Spots in B/R Power Rankings

Bleacher Report’s Andy Bailey was clearly picking up on the better vibes coming out of Chicago in compiling the outlet’s latest NBA power rankings. In addition to moving the club up five spots, from No. 26 to No. 21, Bailey was overwhelmingly positive in his assessment of the Beverley play:

Multiple teams around the league went to the buyout market for help with their starting lineups (unusual in itself), but it looks like the Chicago Bulls actually found it.

Patrick Beverley was signed shortly after he was released by the Orlando Magic, and he was immediately inserted into the starting five in place of Ayo Dosunmu. After Wednesday’s win over the Detroit Pistons, the Bulls are now 3-1 since the move…

With plenty of scoring already accounted for from DeMar DeRozan, Zach LaVine and Nikola Vučević, what the Bulls needed from Beverley was his patented grit and willingness to move the ball. He’s bringing both, and if the shot comes around, Chicago can still sneak into the play-in tournament.