Following the Chicago Bulls‘ season-ending loss to the Miami Heat in the NBA play-in tournament, an offseason of change is presumably to come.
However, the team apparently wants leading scorer DeMar DeRozan to be part of the immediate future. DeRozan, an unrestricted free agent, was reportedly offered a two-year contract recently that could pay him as much as $40 million per season, according to NBC Sports Chicago’s K.C. Johnson.
If true, that figure would be a significant raise for DeRozan, who earned $28.6 million in the final year of his three-year deal with the Bulls. Offering him an annual salary that would put him among the top 25 highest-paid players in the NBA indicates how much Chicago wants to bring the 15-year veteran back.
DeRozan will be 35 next season but is coming off one of the best seasons of his career, averaging 24 points per game for the Bulls. He is reportedly looking for a three-year contract in free agency, the longest deal he can sign under the NBA’s over-38 rule. But the Bulls offering a higher average annual salary may entice DeRozan to put aside his desire for a longer contract.
Whether or not DeRozan returns to Chicago might depend on how he views their chances of winning. After Friday’s loss to the Heat, he was candid about his limited NBA future.
“At the end of the day, I hate losing,” DeRozan told reporters. “I hate missing opportunities… The next time I play a game will be my 16th season. You realize the window closes for you personally.”
“The next time I play a game will be my 16th season. You realize the window closes for you personally. I ain’t trying to play 25 years. … My stance on wanting to be here is still the same but I just want to win.”
DeMar DeRozan speaks on his future pic.twitter.com/jljLoRAktE
— NBA TV (@NBATV) April 20, 2024
“My stance on wanting to be here is still the same,” he added, “but I just want to win. More than anything, just have the opportunity to win.”
Bulls vice president of basketball operations Arturas Karnisovas met with reporters on Saturday and said changes are in store after a disappointing season. He wants to re-sign DeRozan and keep head coach Billy Donovan.
However, bringing back DeRozan at that salary and avoiding a luxury tax for going over the salary cap would likely mean the team has to trade Zach LaVine, who has three years and $138 million remaining on his contract. In Karnisovas’s view, finishing ninth in the Eastern Conference is not worth paying a luxury tax.
“My approach looking at the luxury tax is if you can prove that your team is going to be in the top-four, you go in the luxury tax,” Karnisovas said. “It just makes no sense to be in play-in if you’re going to be in the luxury tax.”
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