If the Chicago Bulls want to be sure they do not lose veteran wing DeMar DeRozan for nothing in free agency this coming offseason, making a deal with another ball club for his services is their best bet to make sure that does not happen while Chicago retools the team.
To such an end, Pounding the Rock’s Bill Huan proposes a deal sending DeRozan to the Los Angeles Lakers. The trade would include D’Angelo Russell, Gabe Vincent, a 2024 or 2025 first-round pick (pending protections) and a 2024 second-round pick for the Bulls vet in what feels like a solid haul for Chicago given DeRozan’s looming free agency.
“Russell and Vincent are included here mostly to match salary,” writes Huan, who notes that while DeRozan is not “a perfect fit, … he at least gives the Lakers another ball-handler and creator.”
Is a Zach LaVine trade from the Chicago Bulls incoming? https://t.co/aoQNEH1RiC pic.twitter.com/EGBVwUzGEB
— Bulls Wire (@Bulls_Wire) January 23, 2024
“Chicago seems like they want to trade LaVine more, but that’ll be a much tougher task given his enormous contract,” he adds.
“DeRozan, meanwhile, will be a free agent at the end of this season, so the Bulls are more incentivized to get some value in return before he potentially walks for nothing.”
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