Chicago Bulls players bound to struggle on defense this season: DeMar DeRozan
A new addition for the Bulls during the offseason that definitely was never a real positive presence on the defensive end of the floor is the former San Antonio Spurs star shooting guard/forward DeMar DeRozan. But, as is the case for a number of new faces that the front office brought in during the summer, DeRozan wasn’t signed to be a premier defender for this team.
That is why executive vice president of basketball operations Arturas Karnisovas and general manager Marc Eversley went out to get the likes of guard Alex Caruso, small forward Derrick Jones Jr., power forward Alize Johnson, etc., during the offseason.
DeRozan was brought in to ensure that this Bulls team could be a real postseason contender this season. A star trio of DeRozan, shooting guard Zach LaVine, and center Nikola Vucevic, is one that will be really difficult to keep out of the postseason this season.
Nonetheless, it will be up to Donovan and his staff to figure out what to do with the likes of DeRozan and Vucevic on defense this season. So far, it looks like the Bulls have figured out a nice way to play defense this season with the starting unit. And it should only get better once second-year forward Patrick Williams returns to the lineup.
DeRozan actually did improve his defensive box plus/minus with the Spurs in the last three seasons. But it was still below zero for the entire course of his run with the Spurs. The Bulls would have to work some magic for DeRozan to become a plus defender this season.
It seems like the best that the Bulls can do is put some quality defenders with length around DeRozan to allow him to at least use his basketball IQ to get help from the likes of point guard Lonzo Ball and Williams when needed. DeRozan was able to adapt his game enough in San Antonio to become more of a neutral defender instead of a bona fide negative.
As a one-on-one defender, it is really tough to envision DeRozan having a successful season on that end of the floor with the Bulls.