Bulls News: Chicago All-Star Hints at Summer Departure
Following his second consecutive exit before the playoffs, Chicago Bulls small forward DeMar DeRozan was surprisingly honest in his postgame news conference regarding his impending potential unrestricted free agency, according to K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago. He is still eligible for an extension with Chicago until July 1, 2024-25, when the season officially begins.
“That’s still where I’m at,” he stated of wanting to stay in Chicago. “But at the end of the day, I despise losing. I dislike missing out on opportunities. It truly gets you after the season as you look up and the last seconds tick away. “You don’t have another game.”
DeRozan values teamwork. Last summer, Chicago team president Arturas Karnišovas re-signed two talented young restricted free agent guards, Coby White and Ayo Dosunmu, to contracts that are significantly below market value. White, in particular, has looked like a strong candidate for Most Improved Player this season.
“The next time I play a game will be my 16th season,” DeRozan concluded. “You understand the window closes for you personally. I’m not trying to play 25 years. You simply want to be able to express everything that is best about yourself. My position on wanting to be here is unchanged. But I only want to win. After the first round of playoffs, the second round is
“There’s so much to it, but all you need is a competitive core,” DeRozan noted, per Julia Poe of The Chicago Tribune. “When you have that, you can build off that in so many ways. Guys like that make it easier to want to be a part of something. I love going to war with those guys and I want to reap the fruits of everything that comes with being successful with those guys because I know how hard they work and how hard they want it.”
In 79 regular season games this season, the six-time All-Star swingman averaged 24 points on a .480/.333/.853 slash line, 5.3 assists, and 4.3 rebounds for the Bulls, across an impressive 37.8 minutes a night.
“It would mean everything,” Coby White reflected on the hypothetical significance of DeRozan returning next season. “Whatever he [wants], I think he should get paid — whatever he wants. It’ll be important for us to have him back and me personally, I really want him back. So hopefully they can get everything done and he can be back in a Chicago Bulls uniform.”
Karnišovas, meanwhile, has indicated that he wants to keep DeRozan, Johnson adds in a separate piece. Karnišovas is rumored to have offered the 34-year-old vet a two-year extension worth around $80 million.
“DeMar’s been great for us for three years,” Karnišovas noted, per Johnson. “He’s been invested in the city of Chicago and has been really great to our young guys. So both sides are interested in continuing and we’ll see what happens in free agency.”
Should DeRozan opt to enter unrestricted free agency, he’d be one of the most appetizing pieces to hit the open market this summer. He remains one of the league’s best midrange scorers (a rare skill these days, outside of certain Phoenix Suns All-Stars and DeRozan) and is still an expert at getting to the line and drawing contact. He’s also been very imperative in the clutch, despite a fairly inconsistent three-point shot. His defense is also considered a weakness, though he does at least try on that end and is fairly athletic still, despite his relative NBA dotage.
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