Today the NBA officially announced the December East-West Player of the Month, Embiid and Mitchell were elected separately, while the recently hot Bulls star DeMar DeRozan was only nominated. This has made many Bulls fans unhappy about their star, and his teammate LaVine has questioned this result, posting on social media: "Wow..." with an angry expression.
The bull's official social media also immediately posted DeRozan's performance in December as a response.
In December, DeRozan played in a total of 8 games, averaging 29.3 points, 4.3 rebounds and 5.6 assists per game, shooting 52% from the field and 63% from three-point range, during which the Bulls won all eight games, and he also contributed two consecutive days of whistle-blowing three-point kills, the first player in NBA history to complete a back-to-back whistle-knockout.
For comparison, Embiid played in 13 games in December, and although he averaged 29.2 points and 11.2 rebounds per game, he led the team with only 8 wins and 6 losses.
DeRozan, on the other hand, played only 8 games last month, but it was due to delays in the team's matches, and deRozan actually had a 70% attendance rate. And the league finally gave embiid the Eastern Conference Player of the Month, which is really a bit outrageous.
The Bulls are currently two games ahead of top seeded Brooklyn Nets in the Eastern Conference. DeRozan is the main reason for the Bulls' biggest success since the 2011-12 season. He shot 49.4 percent from the field and ranked second in scoring per game in his 13-season NBA career. His scoring has dramatically improved the Bulls' struggling offense over the past six seasons.
Not a season since the 2014-15 season has the Bulls been more efficient than the 19th place. In the 2018-19 and 2019-20 seasons, the Bulls ranked 28th and 27th in offensive efficiency, respectively.
In 35 games this season, the Bulls are sixth-most effective in the NBA. The Bulls have taken a lot of steps this offseason, and while most have been praised, it was DeRozan's signing and trade that was questioned before the start of the season.
Can Zach Lavin coexist with DeRozan?
DeRozan's average of points per game this season is fifth in the NBA, while LaVine is sixth. As it turns out, the Bulls have two of the league's best 10 scorers, which helps a lot with their offense.
Last week, DeRozan was named Eastern Conference Player of the Week, the first Bulls player to win the Weekly Best since Butler in April 2017.
Butler has earned the title four times, tied for fourth in team history with Ben Gordon. Derek Ross and Scotty Pippen have been nominated 5 times and Jordan 23 times. In November 1980, Artis Gilmore became the first Bulls player to win Player of the Week. Others mentioned every week in the history of the team are Nate Robinson, Carlos Boozer, Orlando Woolrich and Reggie Seaus.
This is the 13th time in DeRozan's career that he has been selected as the player of the week. He was nominated once while playing for the San Antonio Spurs in 2020 and was selected 10 times in his nine years with the Toronto Raptors, including a back-to-back Player of the Week in March 2018.
In 2016, he helped the Raptors reach the Eastern Conference Finals, but at the end of the 2017-18 season, he was traded to the Spurs for Kawhi Leonard. Leonard won the 2019 NBA championship for Leonard before leaving the Raptors to sign with the Los Angeles Clippers, while DeRozan took on more supporting roles with the Spurs.
So when he became a free agent at the age of 32 last summer, as a mid-range pitcher who doesn't fit the modern style of basketball, he has the third-lowest average in points per game over the past eight seasons, so much so that many experts have questioned the Bulls' deal. But DeRozan ushered in a career renaissance with a traditional mid-shot, striking back at experts who questioned him.
The middle investment is the last word
DeRozan has not been easy these years, the Raptors period is said to be a pseudo-superstar, and Lowry is collectively called "garbage brothers", the Spurs period can not even enter the All-Star, but the Bulls know that DeRozan still has enough fuel tanks, to take him to Chicago, and finally prove himself again this year! And now the Bulls have the opportunity to create the best record in the Eastern Conference for the first time in 10 years.
For DeRozan's recent MVP-level performance, Spurs coach Bobo is not shocked.
"I wasn't surprised at all. He is known to be a great kid, a great teammate. He did what he had to do, and he did a very good job, and I coached him for three seasons and knew what he was capable of. It's just that now he's bringing it to Chicago. ”
Despite playing such a magical performance, Azan was ignored and not selected as the best of the month, but it did not prevent us from casting DeRozan into the All-Star!