It was as emotional as DeMar DeRozan had been in his three-year stay with the Bulls.
Just minutes after the play-in loss to Miami back in April, the veteran was asked about his immediate future and facing free agency.
“It’s kind of like crawling up that hill,” DeRozan said. “You get knocked back down, you take a look up that mountain and say, ‘Damn, I gotta do it all over again, gotta figure it out.’ “
As of Saturday night there’s now a new hill to climb.
With the Sun-Times reporting earlier in the week that DeRozan had played his last game with the Bulls, he quickly found a new home, sent to Sacramento in a sign-and-trade that gives DeRozan three years and up to $74 million. Bulls public relations confirmed the deal.
Rumors of a three-way trade happening started late Friday, and that third team ended up being San Antonio, where DeRozan coincidentally played before becoming a Bull in a sign-and-trade. The Spurs will receive Harrison Barnes and the Bulls get Chris Duarte, two second round picks and cash.
It also continues pushing the youth movement forward by Bulls executive vice president of basketball operations Arturas Karnisovas, who had already moved on from Alex Caruso before the start of free agency last week.
That doesn’t mean his work is done, as the Bulls continue aggressively shopping Zach LaVine and have been looking for a new home for Nikola Vucevic if it presents itself.
As for DeRozan he leaves quite a three-year stay, not only impacting the Bulls on the court, but as an elite leader off of it. Even at age 34 during the 2023-24 campaign he led the league in total minutes played, averaging 24 points and 5.3 assists per game.