How the Bulls’ DeMar DeRozan Partnership Failed originally appeared on NBC Sports Chicago
Presented by Nationwide Insurance Agent Jeff Vukovich
It’s 2021 free agency again, although the Chicago Bulls don’t seem to be the best option this time around if DeMar DeRozan and his hometown Los Angeles Lakers can’t find a partnership.
NBA free agency is usually a lucrative game. But it can also be an unsentimental game, where high-level players are squeezed out.
And for now, DeRozan’s options have become scarce as the Bulls and DeRozan have thus far failed to deliver on their promises to continue their relationship.
As recently as mid-April, in an interview with NBC Sports Chicago after the morning shootout in Detroit before the third-to-last game of the regular season, DeRozan said emphatically that he wanted to return.
“I love ownership. I love everything about the city and the franchise, from top to bottom — the front office, the staff that we have,” he said. “It’s one of those places that motivates me to see everybody get what they deserve and to feel what it’s like to win again.
“You look at me, how hard I play, how hard I want to contribute to the success of this organization, this city, that’s my main focus. I always want to get the job done. The last couple years have been tough with injuries and so many ups and downs. But I always want to weather the storm and persevere in whatever situation comes my way to get the most out 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 it was when I first got here?
“The feeling, the vibe, the energy that was there when we had that run (in 2021-22), I want the city and all these players to experience that again — and for myself as well. It’s always easy to complain and say what’s not there. But I’ve made it clear that this is where I want to be and ride it out. I don’t want to go anywhere.
“They know. Everybody knows my position. I’m putting it from this perspective: I want to come back. Everybody has to figure out what you have to figure out. And that’s just how I look at it, so I don’t have to worry about what’s what. I’ve made it clear that this is where I want to be. The powers that be just have to figure out what needs to be done. Everybody knows my mindset.”
Management and coach Billy Donovan, for their part, consistently praised DeRozan’s leadership with the Bulls’ young core and his steady personality during difficult 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 that he wanted to re-sign DeRozan.
“DeMar has been great to us for three years,” Karnisovas said in mid-April. “He’s invested in the city of Chicago and has been really great to our young guys. So both sides are interested in moving forward.”
By the time the NBA Draft rolled around late last month, that public attitude had changed dramatically.
“As I said before, we will look at everything,” Karnišovas said on June 26. “Everything is on the table. And you know, it is still an option.”
Karnišovas spoke that night after drafting a 19-year-old in 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 mentorship of players like Coby White and Patrick Williams. Instead, the breakdown is multifaceted and comes from both sides.
DeRozan acknowledged he was speaking with raw emotion following a season-ending Play In Tournament loss to the Miami Heat, but provided an early indication that night in mid-April.
“At the end of the day, I hate losing. I hate missing opportunities. It really hits you after the season when you look up and it’s the last few seconds. You don’t have another game. The next time I play a game, my 16e season. You realize the window is closing for you personally,” DeRozan said. “I’m not trying to play 25 years. You just want to get the opportunity to give it everything you’ve got.
“My position on wanting to be here is still the same. But I just want to win. Seeing the first round of the play-offs, the second round of the play-offs 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 been through a lot. My freshman year, it was a team that we planned to be with. But to lose a star player like Zo (Lonzo Ball), Zach (LaVine) who got hurt later that year, we had all the pieces in play. I don’t know if a black cat ran for us or if we broke a mirror. But giving us a chance to be competitive and not just a team that’s fighting for a play-in game.”
That’s why the Caruso-for-Giddey trade offered a second clue. DeRozan consistently praised Caruso, almost projecting a sense of awe when discussing his team-first mentality and defensive prowess.
DeRozan also had close relationships with assistant coach Maurice Cheeks, who was hired by the New York Knicks, and with several behind-the-scenes staffers who were quietly let go.
From the Bulls’ perspective, there’s no doubt that DeRozan outperformed his three-year, $81.9 million deal and made two All-Star appearances in Chicago. As such, internal discussions during the season initially focused on offering DeRozan a two-year deal with a high annual salary, perhaps approaching $40 million.
But that was also when there was more internal optimism for a Zach LaVine trade. And while that was always management’s first priority, keeping Williams also served as a priority.
For months, it has been reported that extending Williams and retaining both LaVine and DeRozan would put the Bulls in a luxury tax situation, something the franchise has traditionally avoided.
Williams has verbally agreed to a five-year, $90 million contract. LaVine’s trade market remains challenging. And with the Bulls about $13.3 million under the luxury tax line and 14 players under contract (Onuralp Bitim’s is not yet fully guaranteed), DeRozan, who operated during the season under the impression he would be re-signed, is the odd man out.
The third and perhaps biggest clue came when the Bulls failed to 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 offseason with Nikola Vucevic, the Bulls worked to sign their starting center to a three-year, $60 million contract before he hit free agency.
Then there’s the matter of playing style. With the addition of Giddey, Buzelis and Jalen Smith to Williams, White and Ayo Dosunmu, it certainly seems like the Bulls and Donovan want to play faster. DeRozan can play that way, but it’s never been his first choice. And like Giddey, he needs the ball in his hands to be most effective.
So what now?
The Lakers’ interest is genuine and the Bulls are open to sign-and-trade opportunities, sources confirmed. But any sign-and-trade would have to be for at least three years and at a lower annual salary than what DeRozan wants.
So one possible scenario is that DeRozan plays next season, possibly with the Lakers, under the $12.8 million non-taxpayer middle-class exception and then becomes an unrestricted free agent again next season.
In 2021, DeRozan thought his boyhood dream of playing for his hometown Lakers — and with LeBron James — was all but guaranteed. Then the Lakers turned around and traded for Russell Westbrook, and the Bulls seized the opportunity, acquiring DeRozan in a sign-and-trade transaction from the Spurs.
Perhaps a similar surprise is in store for DeRozan. But for now, the season-long stance by both DeRozan and the Bulls to continue their relationship is not coming to fruition.
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