DeMar DeRozan joined the Chicago Bulls this offseason, and he said that the Bulls’ offseason dealings were a huge reason.
In an interview with The Atheltic’s Darnell Mayberry, DeRozan says the Bulls’ offseason acquisition of Lonzo Ball was key in his decision to head to Chicago.
“Once Lonzo signed, that made it even more appealing,” DeRozan said. “You could see what they were working toward, and it was something I wanted to be a part of. It wasn’t too much of a pitch that they had to make after that.”
DeRozan signed a three-year deal, reportedly worth $85 million, with the Bulls shortly after Ball had agreed to his four-year deal (reportedly worth $80 million).
The Bulls acquired both players via sign-and-trade. The Bulls sent a second-round pick, Tomas Satoransky and Garrett Temple to the Pelicans to acquire Ball and sent Thad Young, Al-Farouq Aminu, a 2025 first-round pick, a 2022 second-round pick and a 2025 second-round pick to the San Antonio Spurs for DeRozan.
The Bulls have been on a spending spree the past few months, trading for Nikola Vucevic at the trade deadline last season and signing Alex Caruso this offseason to a four-year $36.9 million contract.
The Bulls are fast on their path to get this team back to the playoffs for the first time since 2016-17, and a starting lineup of Ball, DeRozan, Zach LaVine, Patrick Williams and Vucevic is a great start to the path to competitiveness.
Chicago finished 11th in the Eastern Conference with a record of 31-41 last season, two games back from making the play-in tournament.
