Chicago Bulls: 3 studs the fans should be thankful for

Studs that Chicago Bulls fans should be thankful for: DeMar DeRozan

Not only has the former San Antonio Spurs star shooting guard/forward DeMar DeRozan come out of the gates hot this season for the Bulls, but he also looks like a dark horse MVP contender. The latest KIA NBA MVP Ladder has DeRozan with the fourth-best chance to win the honors this season.

That places him in the company of superstars like the Golden State Warriors point guard Stephen Curry, Denver Nuggets big man Nikola Jokic, and Brooklyn Nets forward Kevin Durant.

If nothing else, DeRozan is definitely putting himself in a position to get his fifth career All-Star nod and third career All-NBA Team selection this season. DeRozan didn’t have the best stretch of late for the Bulls, but that doesn’t take too much away from his hot start to the regular season in general.

DeRozan currently ranks seventh in the NBA in points per game, leads in free throws made, 13th in total assists, and ninth in total win shares (2.7). To get to this point, DeRozan averaged 25.8 points per game, 5.2 rebounds, 4.3 assists, 1.0 steals, and 0.4 blocks. And he’s shot 48.0 percent from the field, 32.7 percent from beyond the arc, and 89.7 percent from the free-throw line.

There are plenty of wins for the Bulls so far this season that can be directly attributed to the offensive production of DeRozan. So far this season, he’s got six games with at least 31 points. And he’s even got five games with at least two steals.

The Bulls definitely wouldn’t be where they are now without DeRozan. That obviously means that Bulls fans should be very thankful for what he’s done for this team up to this point.