There likely won’t be a whole lot to do with any Bulls rumors heading into the 2021-22 season that has anything to do with player movement on the horizon. That is outside of potential contract talks that the Bulls have in store with star shooting guard Zach LaVine.
But there is the look back on what happened for the Bulls during this busy offseason. Executive vice president of basketball operations Arturas Karnisovas and general manager Marc Eversley went all out to start building up this roster to contend for a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference next season.
That included the Bulls landing key pieces such as star shooting guard/forward DeMar DeRozan from the San Antonio Spurs, point guard Lonzo Ball from the New Orleans Pelicans, and signing guard Alex Caruso, among other big moves. This Bulls team now looks to be rejuvenated and ready to snap the four-year-long postseason drought in the 2021-22 season.
Bulls rumors amounting to DeMar DeRozan signing in Chicago almost didn’t transpire?
Yet, one of the bigger moves for the Bulls this offseason looks like it came close to not happening at all. The Bulls getting a sign-and-trade deal done with the Spurs to bring DeRozan to Chicago is something that surprised quite a few NBA fans. DeRozan looked to have other options out there as to who he could sign with.
And a report from The Athletic early this week detailed that one of the teams that was looking to pursue DeRozan from the Spurs since the trade deadline last season was the Los Angeles Lakers.
Apparently the Lakers were looking to get another big star in the mix with Anthony Davis experiencing frequent injuries. Other names that the Lakers’ front office looked into were Portland Trail Blazers superstar point guard Damian Lillard and Washington Wizards star shooting guard Bradley Beal.
But in the end, the Lakers wound up nabbing star point guard and former NBA MVP Russell Westbrook from the Wizards to complete the big three with AD and LeBron James. Russ is likely to give the Lakers a similar boost in terms of success in the win column compared to what DeRozan and/or Beal could bring to the table for that team.
It also worked out well for the Bulls to be able to install this potent core in the starting unit heading into next season considering the main goal at hand looks to be winning right away. The Bulls are looking to prove a point to LaVine and to the NBA landscape in general that this team is to be taken seriously.
Considering the other direction the Bulls were headed in under the former front office regime of John Paxson and Gar Forman, this looks to be a lot more promising. The Bulls have formed a legit star trio of their own in this starting unit between center Nikola Vucevic, DeRozan, and LaVine.