(Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)
It seems like, once and for all, the Chicago Bulls have finally heard their fans’ prayers and started a full-scale rebuild.
Otherwise, they wouldn’t have moved on from Alex Caruso and swapped him for Josh Giddey.
That could be just the first domino to fall for them this offseason.
Needless to say, a player of DeMar DeRozan’s caliber should have little to no incentive to play for a non-contending team.
The Bulls thought of themselves as a playoff-caliber team, which is why they also decided to overpay for his services, but with that no longer being the case, they also don’t have many — if any — incentives to bring him back.
Considering that, other teams around the league are allegedly expecting DeRozan to hear out offers in free agency and leave the Windy City in the offseason, according to a report by Brett Seigel (via Legion Hoops).
REPORT: “Rival teams are anticipating that DeMar DeRozan will hear out offers that come his way when the free agency period begins… potentially leading to a departure from Chicago.”
(via @BrettSiegelNBA, https://t.co/d6rxnrq2f4) pic.twitter.com/oAYsVPclWK
— Legion Hoops (@LegionHoops) June 25, 2024
This is far from surprising.
A rebuilding team has no use for a 34-year-old player making that kind of money, and DeRozan could still gauge interest from a championship contender.
While he never proved to be a 1A or the best player on a championship team, DeRozan is a mid-range master and an efficient scorer, and he could be a second or third-scoring option somewhere else.
As for the Bulls, they could also lose Andre Drummond in free agency, and they should look to move Nikola Vucevic as well.
Zach LaVine’s injury-proneness and massive contract make him almost impossible to trade, but he should also be up for grabs to kickstart this new and long-overdue era in Chicago.
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