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Before DeMar DeRozan became a member of the Sacramento Kings in a sign-and-trade deal, the Chicago Bulls didn’t make a big effort to keep him.
According to ESPN Jamal CollierDeRozan and the Bulls were ‘never close’ to a new contract.
DeRozan landed with the Kings on a three years, $74 million The Bulls signed a deal that saw Chris Duarte and two second-round draft picks in a three-team trade. Harrison Barnes went from Sacramento to the San Antonio Spurs.
The Bulls have been a tough organization to figure out. Their brief period early in the 2021-22 season, when Lonzo Ball was healthy, showed enormous promise. They were tied for No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference with 12 games remaining in the regular season.
Since then, the Bulls have gone 86-100. They have made the play-in tournament each of the last two seasons but have failed to qualify for the playoffs.
Despite their struggles last season, Chicago management opted to stand their ground at the trade deadline rather than try to begin a rebuild.
The approach appears to have changed this offseason, though the results have been disappointing so far. Alex Caruso was traded to the Oklahoma City Thunder for Josh Giddey in a one-for-one trade that was generally criticized on the Chicago side.
Losing DeRozan this offseason for a package built around future second-round picks is better than nothing, but doesn’t add much long-term value to the Bulls.
Even though DeRozan turns 35 on Aug. 7, he remains an effective offensive player. The six-time All-Star averaged 25.5 points on 49.6 percent shooting in 299 games over three seasons with the Bulls.
DeRozan will bring his scoring ability to Sacramento for a team that has won a combined 94 games over the past two seasons but missed the playoffs last season after losing to the New Orleans Pelicans in the playoff tournament.
The Bulls will enter the 2024-25 season with a core of Giddey, Coby White, Zach LaVine, Patrick Williams, and Nikola Vučević. Giddey, White, and Williams are a promising group to build around, but this team’s ceiling seems very low with no obvious long-term potential path to contention.
