Following a second straight exit before the playoffs proper, Chicago Bulls small forward DeMar DeRozan was surprisingly candid in his postgame press conference about his impending potential unrestricted free agency, per K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago. He remains extension-eligible with Chicago until the official start of the 2024-25 season on July 1.
"That's still where I'm at," he said about wanting to remain in Chicago. "But 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 the last seconds run off. You don't have another game."
Team-building is something DeRozan values. Last summer, Chicago team president Arturas Karnišovas re-signed a pair of talented young restricted free agent guards, Coby White and Ayo Dosunmu, to contracts that, suddenly, are far below market value. White, in particular, has looked like a prime candidate for Most Improved Player honors this season.
"The next time I play a game will be my 16th season," DeRozan continued. "You realize the window closes for you personally. I ain't trying to play 25 years. You just want to have the opportunity to give everything great in you. My stance on wanting to be here is still the same. But I just want to win. Seeing the first round of the playoffs, the second round of the playoffs is frustrating."
"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.
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Newsweek contributing writer Alex Kirschenbaum is a hoops fanatic who has managed to parlay his passion into a writing career. ... Read more
