DeMar DeRozan joined the Chicago Bulls this season via a sign-and-trade from the San Antonio Spurs. He was just one of many moves that they executed, and the Chicago Bulls now have an elite scorer in Zach LaVine, surrounded by quality All-Star caliber players. There’s no doubt that DeRozan joining the Bulls was a good move.
During an episode of the No Chill Podcast with Gilbert Arenas, DeMar DeRozan revealed that Nikola Vucevic was the player that recruited him to the Chicago Bulls. The two were notably teammates in college at USC, and DeRozan revealed that the pair have always had conversations about playing with one another. (2:33)
It really came from Vucevic. That was my man, and for years, even when he was in Orlando, we always was tryna figure out “We need to play together, we need to play together”. A lot of the times it’d be like bs.
But the opportunity presented itself after he got traded to Chicago. We had a conversation during the season, when we played them late in the season, he was like “Look you’re a free agent, let’s see what we can do”. I was like “I’m gonna keep that on my radar”. As things transpired, it just started making more and more sense. Had my conversation with Zach, and just everything else from there fell into place.
The Chicago Bulls have a lot of talented players, but it remains to be seen how they all work together. Regardless of some potential hiccups with chemistry and adjusting to playing with one another, the Chicago Bulls should comfortably be a playoff team. DeMar DeRozan will surely be key to that, and his experience in the playoffs will prove crucial to a team with lots of young players on the roster. The Chicago Bulls have a lot of promise going into next season, and perhaps we’ll see them get back to the postseason.
