DeMar DeRozan of the Bulls
There’s little doubt that signing forward DeMar DeRozan out of San Antonio three years ago has worked out nicely for the Bulls. Despite his well-known aversion to 3-point shooting, DeRozan has mostly evolved with the NBA game, going from a high-flying shooting guard in his youth to a steady all-around power forward here in his 30s. In fact, he’s earned back-to-back All-Star spots in his two Bulls seasons.
So what should the Bulls do next with DeRozan? TRADE HIM!
That was the assertion from ESPN writer Tim Bontemps on the Hoops Collective podcast. Bontemps noted DeRozan’s remarkable productivity in Chicago, but pointed out that with DeRozan eligible for an extension, now would be a good time to cash out on his value (DeRozan chat starts at 37:02).
“Truthfully, if I was the Bulls, I would be trying to trade DeMar DeRozan,” Bontemps said. “Because as great as he has been for them, they’re in a no-win situation here.”
DeRozan Signed With Bulls in 2021
One reason the Bulls are in a no-win situation on DeRozan, Bontemps pointed out, is that his agent—Aaron Goodwin, who also represents Damian Lillard—is likely to ask for a significant raise off his current deal. The Bulls took some criticism when they originally signed DeRozan in 2021, giving him a three-year, $82 million contract when it looked like DeRozan was going to have trouble finding anything more than a midlevel deal.
DeRozan thought he would be landing with the Lakers that offseason, and both the Spurs and L.A. were working on ironing out a way to make that happen. But that was when the Wizards put Russell Westbrook on the market, and the Lakers’ attention turned away from DeRozan. L.A. landed Westbrook in what proved to be a disaster of a trade, made worse by the fact that it cost them a chance at DeRozan.
“I felt like going to the Lakers was a done deal and that we were going to figure it out. I was going to come home (to Los Angeles),” DeRozan told Yahoo Sports in 2021. “The business side of things just didn’t work out. A couple of things didn’t align. It didn’t work out. It’s just part of the business, part of the game. My next option was definitely Chicago. So, looking back at it, it worked out well.”
DeRozan Just Turned 34
Things have, indeed worked out well. After averaging 26.2 points, 5.0 assists and 4.9 rebounds in two seasons in Chicago, DeRozan is due for a raise.
But he also turned 34 years old on August 7. DeRozan is eligible to earn a maximum deal estimated to be worth four years and $179 million and while he certainly won’t get that, figuring out how much to ay DeRozan and for how many years is difficult.
The expectation around the NBA is that the Bulls will, in fact, extend DeRozan, probably after this season as they’d done with center Nikola Vucevic this summer. But that could be a mistake, depending on how much he gets.
“I love DeMar, and he’s been fantastic,” Bontemps said. “Like, this second act he’s had as more of a creator and as a sort of a point forward on offense, he’s been amazing to watch. But I don’t want to be paying DeMar $35-to- $40 million a year into his late 30s. I just I just don’t really know what your goal is if you’re doing that. And they’re not really going anywhere as it is. They’re just in a really tough spot, I’m not sure what the right answer is. Honestly, I really don’t. I would probably try to trade him.”