The Chicago Bulls have put together a solid rotation, though it’s not quite the championship contender the city is desperate for. Instead of hitting the reset button in an attempt to reshape the franchise, Chicago seems content with running it back and letting the chips fall where they may.
But what does that leave them next year? Obviously, they secured Zach Lavine‘s services with a massive extension last summer, and earlier this offseason, they re-signed Nikola Vucevic to a three-year contract. However, DeMar DeRozan is entering the final season of his contract and will be an unrestricted free agent next summer.
According to Andy Bailey of Bleacher Report, DeRozan will be the 10th-best free agent in the 2024 class.
“DeMar DeRozan turns 34 in August. And despite a brief reprieve from this career-long trend in 2021-22, DeRozan’s teams have had a worse net rating when he was on the floor in 10 of the past 11 seasons.
“You can explain away one or two seasons like that with lineup or other situational context. It’s tough to do that for a 10-of-11 stretch.
“Having said that, there’s no doubt that DeRozan is still one of the game’s most prolific inside-the-arc scorers,” Bailey wrote.
Bailey went on to detail the specifics of DeRozan’s mid-range game and how effective it’s been, but that doesn’t change the lack of success his teams have had.
It seems likely that Chicago will offer DeRozan an extension, but should they let him go in favor of reshaping the roster moving forward? The Bulls will certainly have options.
