DeMar DeRozan had his pick of the field last summer when he was among the best free agents on the market.
The 4x All-Star could have gone to many different franchises, but ultimately chose to sign with the young and unproven Chicago Bulls, who many still see as an underdog in the East.
While DeRozan has helped the Bulls become a formidable squad this season, there are still questions about why he chose to go there, of all places.
In a chat on the ‘Knuckleheads’ podcast, he explained his decision:
“I’ve done, did everything other than make the finals… It gave me that whole underdog mentality I have had my whole career…Imagine going there and winning in Chicago, oh my god.”
The silver lining of DeRozan being 24-34 in the playoffs is that he knows he’s 24-34 in the playoffs.
He didn’t come to Chicago for the weather.pic.twitter.com/x4XTQFA7eW
— Drew Stevens (@Drew_H_Stevens) December 27, 2021
DeRozan played for 9 years in Toronto, and it’s where he blossomed into the star we recognize him as today. Unfortunately, early exits became routine for the DeRozan/Lowry duo, and he was traded from the team in 2018 in the now-famous Kawhi Leonard deal.
He spent the next three seasons with the Spurs, falling into obscurity before getting the opportunity to link up with other stars on one of the NBA’s most prestigious organizations.
“It really came from Vucevic,” DeRozan said back in August. “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.”
In hindsight, it’s hard not to wonder what might’ve been had DeRozan made a different decision that summer. Might a team like the Lakers be in a better position?
But, all things considered, the 12-year veteran has proven he has what it takes to breathe some new life into Chicago basketball. If he’s able to take the team to a title, he’ll go down in NBA history.
