DeMar DeRozan returns to Chicago with Kings for first time, wondering what could have been
DeMar DeRozan wishes things had gone differently during his time with the Chicago Bulls.
“Sometimes the way the business of basketball works, a lot of stuff becomes out of both sides’ control,” DeRozan said. “But with that, just got to appreciate the time that was spent there. I gave it my all, all three years.”
DeRozan will be returning to Chicago on Sunday for the first time as a member of the Sacramento Kings, whom he joined in a sign-and-trade with the Bulls last offseason while Chicago made an organizational shift away from the 35-year-old toward youth.
The Kings sent reserve guard Chris Duarte and two second-round picks to the Bulls while moving Harrison Barnes to the San Antonio Spurs with an unprotected 2031 pick swap to clear the needed cap space to sign DeRozan. He signed a three-year, $74 million contract.
DeRozan earned two of his six All-Star nods with the Bulls. Many consider him the team’s best free agent addition in its history, though he technically joined Chicago via sign and trade.
But there was little to show for it. Chicago lost to the Milwaukee Bucks in five games in the opening round of 2022 playoffs and then lost in the second game of the NBA play-in tournament each of the following two years.
The Bulls were plagued by injuries, mainly to Lonzo Ball and Zach LaVine, and never finished better than sixth in the Eastern Conference with DeRozan in tow. It became clear both sides would want a fresh start when the Bulls traded away one of DeRozan’s favorite teammates, Alex Caruso, to the Oklahoma City Thunder for 22-year-old guard Josh Giddey in late June. DeRozan went to the Kings in early July.
“I really put everything into it, going there to try to make that city successful again on the court,” DeRozan said. “And unfortunately, we had to deal with so much as far as injuries that kind of gave us the short end of the stick. Things definitely would have been different if ‘Zo (Ball) never went down, Zach never got hurt. So it was a lot of good that came of it, and there were a lot of tough times that came of it too.”
One of DeRozan’s new teammates, Kevin Huerter, remembered a game Feb. 24, 2022, amid a season where DeRozan finished sixth in the NBA in clutch scoring. DeRozan scored 37 that night against Huerter and the Atlanta Hawks, which included a pair of midrange jumpers to help the Bulls win in the final minute.
The first came from the left elbow with Huerter a few feet away guarding LaVine. DeRozan rose over 6-foot-10 forward Danilo Gallinari with a 19-footer to trim Atlanta’s lead to 108-107 with 46 seconds left.
Then, after the Hawks missed a 3, DeRozan walked the ball up while the Bulls’ announcers said, “There he is, it’s DeMar DeRozan time!” DeRozan drove to the middle of the lane and spun to the same left side of the key. He rose from 13 feet, this time with Huerter helping off his man to contest the shot. DeRozan drilled it to take the 109-108 lead, and was fouled by Bogdan Bogdanovic. DeRozan hit the free throw.
“We knew exactly what shot he was gonna take, and we tried to contest and block it,” Huerter said. “I remember just being like, ‘I don’t really know what else we would have done differently.’ And they beat us.
“... Honestly, it felt like he never missed in the midrange. It felt like every time you played him, he was going to he going to get to his right elbow and he was going to raise up, and he was going to make that shot every time he took it.”
DeRozan shows his teammates Christie highlights
DeRozan has been a quiet leader as the Kings’ most experienced player and almost-certain Hall of Famer. He’s been among the most vocal figures during film sessions.
He recently took charge of a film session in the early days of Doug Christie’s stint as interim head coach following Mike Brown’s firing. DeRozan had clips shown of Christie, who played for the Kings from 2000 to 2005, playing defense against the stars of his era. The sequence opened with Christie’s infamous uppercut of Lakers forward Rick Fox during a 2002 preseason game, which included a brawl that spilled into the locker room tunnel.
For some of the Kings’ players, it was the first time they had seen their new coach in action, and an example of the team’s newfound spark during their six-game winning streak with Christie in charge.
“We watched a bunch of clips of Doug playing lock-down defense,” DeRozan said. “We’re trying to just channel that energy when we look to our side and see our coach — you could remember when he was guarding Tracy McGrady and Kobe Bryant, and the effort that he put into stopping those guys. You know, we can do the same thing.”
Christie was asked about the film session prior to the Kings’ 114-97 road victory over the Boston Celtics on Friday.
“There was a lot of laughing,” Christie said. “And (DeRozan) put it on and I was like, ‘Oh, boy.’ Because there’s Kobe, and there’s me, and then it just kind of goes through a montage. It was pretty funny to be honest with you.
“But the comments were ... yeah, you guys would have paid a lot of money for the comments.”
