DeMar DeRozan Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Kings To Acquire DeMar DeRozan In Three-Team Trade

July 6th, 2024 at 9:26pm CST by Arthur Hill

DeMar DeRozan is headed from the Bulls to the Kings in a three-team deal that also includes the Spurs, sources tell ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link). San Antonio will receive Harrison Barnes, while Chicago will get Chris Duarte, two second-round picks and cash. In addition, the Spurs will get an unprotected pick swap from Sacramento in 2031.

The deal is a sign-and-trade for DeRozan, who ranked sixth on our list of the top 50 free agents for this summer. His new contract will be worth approximately $76MM over three years, according to Chris Haynes of TNT and Bleacher Report (Twitter link), who adds that the first two seasons are fully guaranteed with a partial guarantee for the final year.

The contract includes $49MM in guaranteed money over the first two seasons, per Sean Cunningham of FOX 40 Sacramento (Twitter link). It also features bonuses for being named an All-Star, tweets ESPN’s Bobby Marks.

The trade leaves the Kings hard capped at the $178.1MM first apron, per cap expert Yossi Gozlan (Twitter link). They’re about $5.8MM beneath the $170.8MM luxury tax with 12 players under contract. Gozlan points out that Sacramento can add two more players to its roster without going into tax territory, but using most of its remaining $12.8MM non-taxpayer mid-level exception will push the team over the threshold.

Sacramento will also create a $5.9MM trade exception in the deal, Gozlan adds.

The Kings were heavily pursing DeRozan, who traveled to Sacramento for a meeting today with team officials. The 34-year-old forward was extremely productive during his three seasons in Chicago, averaging 25.5 points, 4.7 rebounds and 5.1 assists and finishing near the top in the Clutch Player of the Year balloting the past two seasons.

The six-time All-Star will now team with De’Aaron Fox, Domantas Sabonis, Malik Monk and Keegan Murray on what should be one of the league’s most exciting offenses. The Kings will be counting on that group to lead them back to the playoffs after being eliminated in the play-in tournament last season.

Parting with DeRozan is the latest step in an offseason roster shakeup in Chicago, which has already traded Alex Caruso and lost Andre Drummond in free agency. The Bulls are shifting to a younger and less expensive roster in hopes of eventually rebuilding into a more competitive team.

Duarte, a 27-year-old swingman with three years of NBA experience, is the latest addition, but it’s uncertain how large his role will be. He appeared in 59 games with Sacramento last season, but averaged just 3.9 points and 1.8 rebounds in 12.2 minutes per night. Duarte is under contract for one more season at $5.9MM and is eligible for an extension through October 21. Chicago will create a $17.6MM trade exception in the deal, according to Bobby Marks of ESPN (Twitter link).

Barnes joins Chris Paul as veteran offseason additions in San Antonio. The 32-year-old is extremely durable, playing in all 82 games the past two seasons. He can handle either forward spot and he figures to get plenty of open looks alongside Paul and Victor Wembanyama. Barnes averaged 12.2 points, 3.0 rebounds and 1.2 assists last season with .474/.387/.801 shooting stats.

The Spurs will use their cap space to absorb Barnes’ $18MM salary for the upcoming season, Wojnarowski and Tim Bontemps write in a full story on the trade. Barnes will make $19MM in 2025/26 before becoming an unrestricted free agent.

Barnes’s contract includes a $3.7MM trade kicker that Sacramento will be responsible for, Marks adds (Twitter link), broken up into $1.85MM for each of the next two seasons. That number could be negotiated down, but only with Barnes’ consent.

San Antonio will likely need to make one or two minor cost-cutting moves (they have Charles Bassey and Julian Champagnie on non-guaranteed contracts) in order to accommodate both Barnes and Paul.

Patrick Williams Signs Five-Year Deal With Bulls

July 6th, 2024 at 2:19pm CST by Arthur Hill

JULY 6: The Bulls have officially re-signed Williams, the team confirmed today in a press release.

JUNE 29: Free agent forward Patrick Williams will re-sign with the Bulls for $90MM over five years, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link). The fifth season will be a player option, tweets Jamal Collier of ESPN.

Williams, 22, was expected to be a cornerstone of the franchise when Chicago selected him with the fourth pick in the 2020 draft. He hasn’t lived up to that billing due to injuries and inconsistent play, but executive Arturas Karnisovas decided to make keeping him a priority as part of his effort to build a younger and more athletic roster.

Williams received a $12.97MM qualifying offer this week, making him a restricted free agent. That means the Bulls could have matched any offer he received, but they opted to bypass that possibility by negotiating a new deal before free agency begins Sunday evening.

A stress reaction in Williams’ left foot cut short his season and forced him to undergo surgery in February. He averaged 10.0 points, 3.9 rebounds and 1.5 assists in 43 games, but he wasn’t able to play after January 25.

A report this week indicated that the Bulls were optimistic about their chances of working out a new contract with Williams. The Thunder were believed to be among the teams that had interest in pursuing him.

Williams will get a healthy raise after earning $9.8MM this season in the final year of his rookie contract. When he and the Bulls discussed a possible rookie scale extension last fall, the forward turned down a four-year, $64MM offer and was believed to be seeking something closer to De’Andre Hunter‘s contract (four years, $90MM), per K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago. This new deal represents a compromise for the two sides.

DeMar DeRozan To Meet With Kings In Sacramento

July 6th, 2024 at 1:18pm CST by Luke Adams

Free agent forward DeMar DeRozan and his representation are traveling to Sacramento to meet with the Kings, according to reports from Shams Charania of The Athletic and Chris Haynes of TNT and Bleacher Report (Twitter links).

It’s the latest signal that there’s serious mutual interest between DeRozan and the Kings, as multiple recent reports have indicated. James Ham of The Kings Beat (Twitter link) says there’s “positive momentum” between the two sides, with the in-person meeting giving them a chance to potentially seal the deal.

The Kings don’t have the cap room necessary to sign DeRozan, who’s seeking a salary above the full mid-level exception ($12.9MM), but the Bulls are reportedly willing to work with Sacramento or another team on a sign-and-trade deal to get DeRozan a higher salary. Still, Chicago isn’t far below the luxury tax line and doesn’t want to take on much salary in the transaction, so the two teams need a third club to serve as a facilitator and take on a contract or two from the Kings.

Reporting earlier in the day indicated that San Antonio appear to be emerging as that facilitator, and the Spurs‘ trade agreement with the Hornets – in which they’ll move off of Devonte’ Graham‘s $2.85MM partial guarantee – is a signal that they’re opening up cap room for a specific move.

While Harrison Barnes and Kevin Huerter have been mentioned most frequently as trade candidates for the Kings, they’re not the only players who could serve as outgoing salary-matching pieces in a sign-and-trade for DeRozan. A package of Trey Lyles‘ and Chris Duarte‘s expiring contracts could theoretically work, for instance, if DeRozan’s starting salary is in the $20MM range. To accommodate a higher salary, at least one of Barnes or Huerter would likely need to be included.

Of course, even if the Kings, Bulls, and Spurs have an idea of what a three-team trade agreement would look like, Sacramento would still need to secure DeRozan’s commitment, which is presumably the goal of this weekend’s meeting.

Free Agent Rumors: DeRozan, Westbrook, Fournier, Saric

July 6th, 2024 at 10:38am CST by Tristan Tucker

The Spurs have emerged as a potential third-team facilitator as the Kings continue to pursue free agent forward DeMar DeRozan via sign-and-trade, NBA insider Marc Stein reports (Twitter link). Previous reports have indicated that Chicago is willing to facilitate a sign-and-trade but is insistent on a third team being involved so as to not take back much, if any, salary.

On the #thisleague UNCUT podcast (Twitter link), Chris Haynes of TNT and Bleacher Report stated that the Kings, Heat and Clippers are teams exploring avenues to acquire DeRozan via a three-team sign-and-trade. Haynes also mentions San Antonio as a landing spot for unwanted salary alongside Detroit.

We have more free agent rumors:

Russell Westbrook may be more likely to go to the Nuggets through free agency rather than by way of trade, DNVR Sports’ Harrison Wind opines (Twitter link). The Clippers could either buy out Westbrook or send him to another team that would buy him out, clearing the path for him to sign with Denver. For what it’s worth, finding a trade that makes sense for both sides appears difficult.
As was reported earlier this year, Stein indicates in his latest Substack post that free agent swingman Evan Fournier‘s preference is to remain in the NBA rather than to accept a EuroLeague deal. According to Stein, Fournier is expected to receive some NBA interest as free agency winds on.
Greek club Panathinaikos is reportedly interested in adding free agent forward Dario Saric, according to Sportando. The 30-year-old forward averaged 8.0 points, 4.4 rebounds and 2.3 assists while shooting 37.6% from deep as a reserve for the Warriors last season. It would be a little surprising to see Saric make the jump to Europe so soon after free agency begins given his productive season last year and the chance for more NBA interest to trickle in.

Trade Rumors: DeRozan, Kings, Lakers, Grant, Cavs, Finney-Smith, Okoro, More

July 5th, 2024 at 11:05pm CST by Luke Adams

While the Kings are among the teams believed to have some interest in Pelicans forward Brandon Ingram, there has been a growing sense entering the weekend that Sacramento is more focused on free agent forward DeMar DeRozan, league sources tell Michael Scotto of HoopsHype.

Earlier reporting from Adrian Wojnarowski named the Kings as a legitimate suitor for DeRozan, who would need to be acquired via sign-and-trade, with a third team likely taking on salary from Sacramento in the deal.

Sean Cunningham of FOX 40 Sacramento (Twitter link) confirms there’s “mutual interest” between DeRozan and the Kings, while James Ham of The Kings Beat (Twitter link) confirms Sacramento has talked to the Bulls about a sign-and-trade and suggests that a third team has been “lined up.”

However, there continues to be competition from rival suitors for the 34-year-old’s services, Ham adds. As John Hollinger of The Athletic writes, it also won’t be easy to construct a three-team trade that gets DeRozan the type of salary he wants, ensures the Bulls don’t take back much money, and has the Kings sending out enough assets to Chicago and a third team to incentivize them to make the deal.

Although there are other teams who could open up a little cap room, Detroit and Utah are the only two teams with significant space still available, and the Pistons are rumored to be keeping their room open for trade opportunities, so it wouldn’t surprise me if Chicago and Sacramento have been talking to Detroit in relation to a possible DeRozan deal.

Here are a few more trade rumors and notes from around the NBA:

The Trail Blazers and Lakers have had conversations about Jerami Grant, but if the Blazers are going to send him to Los Angeles, they’d want both of the future first-round picks the Lakers can trade (2029 and 2031), along with matching salaries, according to Sean Highkin of Rose Garden Report. The Lakers have been unwilling to meet that price and Portland isn’t in any rush to move its top forward, so the talks haven’t gotten far, Highkin writes, noting that – outside of Rui Hachimura – the Blazers wouldn’t have much interest in the players L.A. could put in a package for Grant.
After Zach Lowe reported earlier today that Nets forward Dorian Finney-Smith is a possible trade target to watch for the Cavaliers, Scotto confirms that Cleveland likes Finney-Smith and has monitored him since Brooklyn acquired him in 2023. Scotto adds that Cavs restricted free agent Isaac Okoro is viewed as a potential sign-and-trade candidate (in general, not specifically for Finney-Smith).
Nuggets forward/center Zeke Nnaji and Sixers free agent KJ Martin are two trade candidates to keep an eye on, according to Scotto. Nnaji is beginning a four-year, $32MM contract after not playing a regular role in Denver last season, so his value on the market would be limited. As for Martin, his small cap hold could allow the Sixers to get creative by signing-and-trading him in order to take back more salary than they would be able to accommodate with the cap room they’ll have left over once their major signings are complete.
Speaking of the Sixers, they’re on track to add Paul George as a straight free agent signing rather than in a sign-and-trade, according to Marc Stein at Substack. That comes as no surprise, since acquiring George via sign-and-trade would hard-cap Philadelphia at the first tax apron, potentially limiting the team’s flexibility for the rest of 2024/25.

Trade Rumors: Markkanen, DeRozan, Young, Cavaliers

July 5th, 2024 at 4:09pm CST by Rory Maher

The Jazz continue to listen to trade offers for Lauri Markkanen, according to ESPN’s Zach Lowe (subscriber link), who hears from sources who say the Heat are among the teams interested in the star forward.

As Lowe writes, Markkanen’s situation is complicated because he’s on a below-market contract that will pay him $18MM in 2024/25, which is the final season of his contract. That makes a standard contract extension – which can’t start above 40% of his current salary – unlikely. Rival teams may not be willing to give up a major haul of assets with no guarantees that the 27-year-old would stick around beyond next season.

Utah could potentially get more value in return for Markkanen in several months if the team renegotiates and then extends his contract. However, that scenario is also tricky.

As Marc Stein details (Substack link), Markkanen becomes eligible for a renegotiation and extension on August 6, but he won’t be trade-eligible for six months if he signs a new deal. That means if he signs the extension on the first day he’s eligible to, he would only be eligible to be traded for one day during the season: February 6, the day of the deadline. If the extension is signed on August 7 (or later), Markkanen would not be eligible to traded during the upcoming season.

While it’s not surprising that the Heat have shown interest in the Finnish star, Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald casts doubt (via Twitter) on the feasibility of the team actually acquiring him. As Jackson notes, Utah has placed a high asking price in previous talks with Miami, which lacks future first-round picks to offer.

One team interested in Markkanen seems confident that he’ll eventually be traded, per Stein. Utah’s own 2025 first-round pick is top-10 protected, so the Jazz could be incentivized to tank ahead of a strong draft class. Utah has also struggled to acquire a second star to build the roster around him.

Here are some more trade rumors from around the NBA:

The Kings appear to be the frontrunner to acquire DeMar DeRozan in a sign-and-trade with the Bulls, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, who made the comments on SportsCenter (Twitter video link; hat tip to RealGM). However, Wojnarowski said a third team would likely to be need to be involved to absorb salaries, as Chicago is reluctant to add to its payroll. A six-time All-Star, DeRozan remains the top free agent left on the market.
According to Lowe, the trade market for Hawks point guard Trae Young “is as chilly as it has ever been.” Sources tell Lowe that the Spurs and Lakers — two teams linked to Young — haven’t expressed much recent interest in the three-time All-Star. Lowe says San Antonio appears unmotivated to help Atlanta regain control of its own first-round picks in a deal for Young.
Lowe hears rumors of Darius Garland potentially requesting a trade from the Cavaliers following Donovan Mitchell‘s extension have “quieted,” which confirms a report from his ESPN colleague Brian Windhorst. According to Lowe’s sources, the Cavs are still on the hunt for a 3-and-D wing, with Nets forwards Cameron Johnson and Dorian Finney-Smith worth monitoring, though Cleveland only has one tradable first-round pick (2031). Stein has also heard that center Jarrett Allen will likely be difficult to acquire after Kenny Atkinson was hired as head coach, which means the Cavs could have the same core together entering next season.

Free Agent Rumors: DeRozan, Kings, Spurs, Morris, Bridges, Jones

July 3rd, 2024 at 9:59pm CST by Luke Adams

Following up on a report from Marc J. Spears stating that Sacramento is a “dark horse” suitor to watch for DeMar DeRozan, Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald confirms (via Twitter) that the Kings and Bulls have had discussions about a possible sign-and-trade deal involving the free agent forward.

The Spurs have also emerged as a possibility for DeRozan, Jackson adds. The 34-year-old previously spent three seasons playing for Gregg Popovich in San Antonio from 2018-21.

While Jackson (Twitter link) isn’t entirely ruling out the Heat for DeRozan, he notes that the club’s cap situation makes it impossible to give the forward the kind of contract he’s seeking, so the front office seems more likely to preserve its assets in case a better trade opportunity arises — as a first-apron team, Miami would be in a better position to acquire a player who is already under contract than a free agent like DeRozan via sign-and-trade.

Here are a few more free agent rumors and notes from around the NBA:

The Sixers have expressed interest in the possibility of a reunion with free agent forward and Philadelphia native Marcus Morris, multiple sources tell Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer. However, the 76ers aren’t the only team eyeing Morris. The Pistons, Hornets, Cavaliers, Mavericks, Heat, and Timberwolves have all expressed some level of interest too, Pompey writes.
It’s unclear where Miles Bridges will end up, according to Rod Boone of The Charlotte Observer, who says that the Pistons‘ interest seems to have dwindled following their front office and coaching changes, while the Sixers were “never in” on the free agent forward. The Hornets and Bridges publicly expressed interest in a new deal earlier in the offseason, but they’ve had over two weeks to talk and still don’t appear to have momentum toward an agreement. “I think they end up signing and trading Bridges,” a rival executive told Boone.
The Clippers continue to have interest in bringing back Kai Jones, but the free agent big man has an ankle injury that will prevent him from suiting up for Summer League, a source tells Law Murray of The Athletic (Twitter link).
The Pistons are one of the only teams that still has significant cap room available and they’ll need to at least reach the minimum salary floor before the season begins. Omari Sankofa II of The Detroit Free Press (subscription required) suggests a few potential free agents targets for Detroit, including Malik Beasley and Gary Trent Jr., while James L. Edwards III of The Athletic considers trade scenarios that might make sense for the club’s cap room.

FA/Trade Rumors: Sixers, Heat, DeRozan, Warriors, Markkanen, Lakers, More

July 3rd, 2024 at 2:14pm CST by Luke Adams

Signs are pointing toward Paul Reed being traded or waived rather than returning to the Sixers, according to Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer, who notes that waiving Reed or using his pseudo-expiring $7.7MM contract as a trade chip would allow the team to maximize its cap room. Pompey adds that Philadelphia has had discussions with free agent forward Haywood Highsmith, while Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald tweets that the 76ers have also “poked around” on Caleb Martin.

Although the Heat remain in the mix for both of their free agents and could technically make Martin and Highsmith big offers, they’ve told people they don’t intend to surpass the second tax apron due to the roster-building restrictions that second-apron teams face, says Jackson (Twitter link). That limits Miami’s ability to make a competitive offer to either player.

Despite the Heat’s financial restrictions, Jovan Buha of The Athletic has heard from league sources that Miami is viewed as the “slight” favorite to land DeMar DeRozan. The team doesn’t have the spending flexibility to make it work without additional moves, but DeRozan likes the idea of playing for the Heat and the two sides have remained in touch, tweets Jackson.

Here are a few more rumors and notes related to the trade and free agent markets:

The Warriors and Spurs are considered the most serious suitors for Jazz forward Lauri Markkanen, according to Chris Haynes of Bleacher Report (video link), who says Golden State has been the most aggressive team in its pursuit of Markkanen.
Appearing on SportsCenter on ESPN (Twitter video link), Adrian Wojnarowski said the Lakers aren’t interested in using their tradable draft picks just to move off contracts, but would be open to including draft assets for a quality player. However, they’re not pursuing a deal for a high-salary impact player, since they’re skeptical the three-star model is feasible under the new CBA, Wojnarowski explains.
While a report on Monday suggested the Nets are open to reuniting with Lakers guard D’Angelo Russell, sources tell Brian Lewis of The New York Post that’s not expected to happen.
In an appearance on Sactown Sports 1140 (YouTube link), Sam Amick of The Athletic said that he’s skeptical the Kings will land Markkanen or Pelicans forward Brandon Ingram, noting that Sacramento still appears to be taking a hard line in its desire to keep Keegan Murray off the table in trade talks. “I don’t know how long the list of guys is that they would give Keegan up for, but it’s not anybody currently available on the market,” Amick said.

FA Rumors: DeRozan, Kings, Hield, Warriors, Martin, Heat, Hezonja

July 3rd, 2024 at 9:19am CST by Luke Adams

Assuming DeMar DeRozan doesn’t sign with a cap-room team, it will almost certainly require a sign-and-trade to land him, per Chris Haynes of Bleacher Report (video link). As Haynes explains, DeRozan has no interest in settling for a mid-level offer.

“For the teams that might be calling or gauging interest in DeMar taking a full mid-level exception, which is around $13MM, I’m told that is not even being considered right now,” Haynes said on Tuesday.

The Bulls won’t bring back DeRozan, but they’re open to working with him on a sign-and-trade to help him get where he wants, Haynes confirms. Still, negotiating that sort of deal will be a challenge, given that some of the forward’s suitors (like Miami) aren’t in a great financial position to make a sign-and-trade. I’d also expect Chicago will be reluctant to take back much salary, since the team projects to be about $13MM below the luxury tax line, though that number is fluid and would move up or down if other moves are made.

Appearing on ESPN’s NBA Today on Tuesday (Twitter video link), Marc J. Spears of Andscape identified the Kings as one “dark horse” suitor to watch for DeRozan. Sacramento has reportedly made Harrison Barnes, Kevin Huerter, and draft capital available in trade talks (in general, not for DeRozan specifically) as the team looks to upgrade its roster around Domantas Sabonis and De’Aaron Fox. Previous reporting has indicated that the Bulls like Huerter.

Here are a few more free agency updates from around the NBA:

Buddy Hield doesn’t have an agreement in place with the Warriors yet, but the two sides are “tracking toward” a deal, according to Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports (Twitter links), who says that a sign-and-trade would likely see the Sixers receive second-round draft capital in return. If Golden State doesn’t send out additional salary, the club would have to absorb both Hield and Kyle Anderson into a trade exception created by sending Klay Thompson to Dallas, or complete all three of those moves as one multi-team mega-deal in order to maximize Thompson’s outgoing salary as a matching piece (John Hollinger of The Athletic briefly explored this more complex possibility on Tuesday night).
While Caleb Martin‘s return to the Heat is still considered unlikely, it shouldn’t be entirely ruled out, according to Barry Jackson and Anthony Chiang, who suggest in a pair of stories for The Miami Herald that the team’s interest in re-signing Martin hasn’t waned as long as the price is right. Jackson and Chiang also say that Miami remains in the mix to sign Haywood Highsmith, though his return is “far from guaranteed.”
The Heat had initial discussions with DeMar DeRozan on Tuesday and expect to follow up on Wednesday, but there have been no indications that the club will “move mountains” (ie. shed significant salary) in order to land him, Jackson tweets.
Although Real Madrid has officially announced its new five-year contract with Mario Hezonja, the veteran forward has an NBA-opt out until July 20 with a modest buyout figure and has received interest from “numerous” NBA teams, according to Donatas Urbonas of BasketNews.com. The 29-year-old, who was the fifth overall pick in the 2015 draft, appeared in 330 NBA regular season games but has been out of the league since 2020.

Latest On DeMar DeRozan

July 2nd, 2024 at 1:19pm CST by Luke Adams

There’s mutual interest between the Heat and free agent forward DeMar DeRozan, a pair of sources with knowledge of the situation tell Barry Jackson and Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald.

DeRozan is one of the top players left on the marketplace, having come in at No. 6 in our list of top 50 free agents. He led the NBA in total minutes played in 2023/24, averaging 24.0 points, 5.3 assists, and 4.3 rebounds per game with a shooting line of .480/.333/.853.

Despite the mutual interest, there’s not a clear path for Miami to offer DeRozan the sort of contract he’s seeking. As Jackson and Chiang write, the Heat are currently a first-apron team, so the best they could do would be the $5.2MM taxpayer mid-level exception. A sign-and-trade deal isn’t an impossibility, but it would require them to shed salary, since a team that acquires a player via sign-and-trade becomes hard-capped at the first apron, so it could get complicated.

DeRozan isn’t expected to return to the Bulls, but Jackson and Chiang hear that “several” teams remain in play for the six-time All-Star. One of those clubs is the Lakers, as we previously relayed. ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski confirmed L.A.’s interest during a SportsCenter appearance on Tuesday (YouTube link), but reiterated that it won’t be easy for the Lakers and other over-the-cap suitors to negotiate a sign-and-trade deal.

“I think there’s interest in DeMar DeRozan, but the kind of contract that he might want just is not going to be available,” Wojnarowski said. “It’s not left out there in the marketplace. The Bulls are more than willing to work on a sign-and-trade agreement to get him the years and money that he might want, but with the new salary cap rules, those are much more difficult for teams to do.

“… In DeMar DeRozan’s case, and it may not be as appealing to him, but it may look like a one-year deal somewhere, let the market reset next year. Because if you do a sign-and-trade, it’s got to be at least three years and now you’re locked into a three-year deal at a number you may not like.”

DeRozan’s free agency this summer is somewhat reminiscent of his 2021 free agency. When he hit the market three years ago, teams like the Lakers and Clippers were viewed as suitors but didn’t have the financial means to make him a competitive offer. It briefly looked like he might accept a discount to return to his hometown, but he ultimately landed with the Bulls on a three-year, $82MM deal via sign-and-trade.

It seems less likely this time around that a suitor will emerge to make DeRozan a huge three-year offer. Still, it’s worth noting that settling for a one-year contract in the hopes of securing a larger payday next summer – as Woj suggests – would be risky move for a player who will turn 35 next month.