Should he stay or should he go? Don’t ask DeMar DeRozan, who wasn’t even sure what he planned to do on Monday, let alone guess what the Bulls front office was thinking.
Jacob Kupferman/AP
DeMar DeRozan still has no idea what will happen at the NBA trade deadline on Thursday.
Then again, the Bulls forward admittedly has no idea what he’s doing on Monday, let alone what his front office is planning to do with the future of the roster.
DeRozan reiterated his mindset following the disappointing loss to Sacramento on Saturday.
“I’m a terrible planner,” DeRozan said. “That’s probably like my big pet peeve. Some people like jotting down in their journal what they gotta do for the week. That would drive me nuts. If I get caught up in having future thoughts on things, I’m going to drive myself crazy. I try to take it day by day and be prepared for whatever happens. I don’t get caught up in the he-say, she-say stuff.”
A trait that probably helps in the stress department, but one that also is now working under much different circumstances.
It was one thing when DeRozan first said that last week in Charlotte. After all, the league-wide feeling then was the Bulls were only looking to move Zach LaVine and his max contract, hoping to keep the rest of the core intact for a push to the play-in.
That’s changed. Oh, how it’s changed.
The organization announced Friday afternoon that LaVine was having right foot surgery, sidelining him for the next four to six months. No trade on Thursday, and likely no trade this upcoming summer with the uncertainty around the injury.
DeRozan expressed his concern for LaVine, acknowledged that they’ve played a lot of good basketball without him this season, and stressed how important it was for the younger players – especially Coby White – to keep progressing like they have throughout the first 50 regular-season games.
“The level Coby took his game to, the capability every one of these guys has when they are healthy can make it a collective so you don’t have to lean on one person every single night,” DeRozan said. “We are getting to that more and that’s been the emphasis this year, to share the ball, move the ball, get everybody involved so we don’t have to depend on one person to win the game.”
But will they be depending on DeRozan by Thursday?
The LaVine injury would seemingly force executive vice president of basketball operations Arturas Karnisovas to have to pivot off his Plan A and start working on a Plan B.
A plan that could involve trading DeRozan and his expiring contract.
How did it get to this point?
It’s actually very simple, considering Lonzo Ball and LaVine were guaranteed to make $65 million next season having missed a combined 288 games since Jan. 14. 2022.
It’s the LaVine contract that offers the biggest roadblock to flexibility, and that’s why it was tough to move it when the guard was healthy.
If Karnisovas decides to stay the course and not make a move that could lead to some difficult decisions this summer, letting DeRozan walk for nothing or losing out on restricted free agent Pat Williams. Letting Williams go is not in the plans, especially with the jump White has taken from Year 4 to 5, so that means DeRozan would be the logical choice.
And while he knows everything is on the table, DeRozan also feels that this current team isn’t done coming together and actually has a push left that he feels could lead to some special things.
“There’s a lot on (all the) teams battling for something,” DeRozan said. “We’re (also) battling for something.”