DeMar DeRozan Rumors: Bulls Star Expected to Sign New Contract in NBA Free Agency

Tyler Conway@@jtylerconwayFeatured Columnist IVMay 13, 2024

Issac Baldizon/NBAE via Getty Images

The Chicago Bulls are reportedly expected to re-sign DeMar DeRozan in free agency this summer.

Michael Scotto of HoopsHype reported the “belief” around the league is that the Bulls will offer DeRozan a role and pay he would not receive elsewhere. Chicago also wants to continue competing for a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.

DeRozan spent the last three seasons in Chicago, making two All-Star teams while remaining an efficient scorer as he enters his mid-30s. He averaged 24.0 points, 4.3 rebounds and 5.3 assists per game this season while starting in 79 games.

While DeRozan was a bastion of health, the Bulls spent the majority of the season without All-Star guard Zach LaVine and the entire campaign without Lonzo Ball. LaVine is expected to be fully healthy for the start of next season, while Ball’s basketball future remains up in the air as he tries to return from a knee injury.

One could argue the Bulls would be better off starting a rebuild and allowing DeRozan to walk in free agency rather than tie up their cap for a team that—at best—tops out as a No. 4-6 seed in the East. LaVine’s injury-plagued 2023-24 hurt his value around the league, but the Bulls could likely convince a team to take on the three years and $138 million left on his contract.

Ball’s contract expires after the 2024-25 season, which would leave Chicago with a largely clean cap sheet moving forward.

If the Bulls front office is determined to move forward with this core, odds are they’ll pay DeRozan enough to stick around. They blew the market out of the water in 2021 to sign him and could double down on an even larger contract this time around.