With the loss of the playoffs, the Bulls also came to a turning point, just now, DeRozan, one of the core of the team, refused the Bulls' contract extension. According to American media reports, the Bulls hoped to keep DeRozan and offered him a two-year, $80 million contract extension, but in the end it was not successful.
It is understood that Azan rejected the Bulls for two reasons: first, he hopes to get a long-term contract, and second, he hopes that the team can build a team that can compete for championships.
In fact, it is understandable that Azan has these ideas, the most important thing is the issue of age.
In three months, DeRozan will be 35 years old, and after being eliminated by the Heat in the play-in round, he said: "I want to stay with the Bulls, but I want to win, I'm almost 35 years old, I'm going to be in a declining competition, and it's my 16th season, and I can give everything to compete for a championship." ”
At the end of his career, DeRozan longed for a championship ring to end his career, but there was no hope for the Bulls in recent years.
In the summer of 2021, DeRozan joined the Bulls for 3 years and $81.9 million, but in the three years of the Bulls, he missed the playoffs twice and a round trip once, which was not as good as the Raptors that year.
The other is the issue of long-term contracts, in fact, the annual salary of 40 million is not low, but due to the arrival of the end of his career, DeRozan prefers to get a contract with a longer year, after all, it is very likely to be the last big contract of his career.
DeRozan played in 80 regular season games for the Bulls this season, averaging 37.6 minutes per game, first in the league, scoring 24 points, 4.3 rebounds, 5.3 assists and 1.1 steals, shooting 48%/33.3%/85.3% from three, and shooting percentages per game, rebounds, shooting and free throws were all career lows for the Bulls.
For the current situation of the team, the management is also helpless, because there are indeed too many injuries this season, and LaVine, the highest paid player on the team, has only played 25 games this season, and he has been exempted from the game, averaging 19.5 points, 5.1 rebounds and 3.9 assists per game.
In the past 2 years, he has undergone 3 consecutive surgeries on his knee, and now he looks recovering, but in fact, Brother Qiu has been scarred, and he has not participated in any NBA games since January 14, 2022.
Looking at the team like this, the team's vice president of operations, Kanisovas, also elaborated: "We did have a lot of questions, and it's time to make changes, and hopefully we can get some answers in the offseason." ”
Obviously, the Bulls are on the road to dismantling the team, but the road to rebuilding is so simple, because the contracts of many players in the team have not expired at all, LaVine has 3 years left for 215 million, Vucevic has 2 years left for 60 million, and Brother Golf has 1 year left for 80 million, and now Azan's contract has expired.
With the current situation of the Bulls, the possibility of Azan leaving the team is very high, so where will he go?