For the last three seasons, the most valuable player for the Chicago Bulls remained consistent: DeMar DeRozan.
DeRozan wasn’t the highest-paid player on the roster, but that never mattered. Wherever DeRozan went, the Bulls followed.
In his 15th season at age 34, DeRozan played more minutes than any other NBA player and led the league in fourth-quarter production. He fueled scoring and cemented standards of effort, inviting the team’s youngest players to train with him in the offseason. And the Bulls loved him for it.
During the last year of his contract, the front office remained adamant: DeRozan’s future was in Chicago and the Bulls would do what it took to ensure that stayed true.
Yet barely two days into NBA free agency, the window for DeRozan to remain in Chicago had all but shut. The Bulls are out of salary-cap space to re-sign the veteran — and regardless, DeRozan’s free-agency focus has shifted elsewhere.
So what changed?
In the final days before free agency opened Sunday, it became clear something had shifted. On draft night last week, Bulls executive vice president of basketball operations Artūras Karnišovas refused to commit to any intention to re-sign DeRozan.
Karnišovas already had taken a swing toward a rebuild by trading Alex Caruso for Josh Giddey. And as the Bulls loaded up on young talent — re-signing 22-year-old Patrick Williams, drafting 19-year-old Matas Buzelis, picking up 24-year-old Jalen Smith in free agency — the space for a veteran like DeRozan shrank into nonexistence.
It seems DeRozan has followed suit in a mutual parting of interest, reportedly seeking a one-year deal to free up his options for free agency in 2025, according to ESPN. The Miami Heat and Los Angeles Lakers could emerge as leading suitors for DeRozan, according to reports by ESPN and the Miami Herald.
Despite the insistence of both DeRozan and the Bulls front office all year, there were signs of this potential change of heart long before this week. In the emotional aftermath of the team’s season-ending play-in tournament loss in Miami, DeRozan voiced his own inner conflict. He was sick of losing, wary of his age and facing the reality that the next contract he signed might be his last.
All of those factors combined into uncertainty, something he previously had not voiced when asked about his future in Chicago. That uncertainty has now transformed into action, with DeRozan seeking a spot on a team that might provide a clearer path back to the playoffs.
DeRozan’s path still might require a transaction with the Bulls, who could benefit from his move to a new team through a sign-and-trade deal. But due to their cap situation — barely $18 million of wiggle room before hitting the luxury tax — a sign-and-trade would be a fairly complicated endeavor, likely requiring multiple teams to balance out the finances.
Whether or not DeRozan walks for free, the Bulls will have to answer the same question this season: Was losing him worth it?
DeRozan led the Bulls last season with 24 points and 5.3 assists per game. They can’t replicate that production with their current roster. Without him, the offense will undeniably take a step back.
But there’s a silver lining to DeRozan’s departure: For the first time in two years, the Bulls have a sense of direction.
For the last two seasons, the Bulls did nothing but tread water. The front office called it “continuity,” but the reality was closer to stagnancy. There was no clear identity propelling their roster construction, leaving them to wallow in the muck just outside the playoffs.
Karnišovas has shown an ability to craft a roster around a central vision. That was certainly true with the 2021-22 roster — but that project lasted fewer than 40 games before Lonzo Ball’s injury wedged open the first crack in its foundation, allowing the weaknesses of the team’s construction to seep through.
Now the Bulls are back on track for a new plan. Karnišovas is betting on the promise of young players such as Williams, Coby White and Ayo Dosunmu while recouping draft stock and honing a path for the roster to build year over year. Committing to DeRozan would have meant delaying — or outright denying — this vision in the name of consistency.
So if this is goodbye, it will be both painful and necessary. The Bulls won’t be better this season without DeRozan — but they will have the potential for success that extends long beyond his time in the league.
