The Bulls were having a nice offseason, acquiring Lonzo Ball and Alex Caruso.
Now, Chicago is sending Thaddeus Young, Al-Farouq Aminu and picks to the Spurs in a sign-and-trade in order to pay DeMar DeRozan $85 million over three years.
Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN:
Full Bulls-Spurs sign-and-trade for DeMar DeRozan on a three-year, $85M deal includes Young, Aminu, the 2025 first-round pick and the 2022 and 2025 seconds to San Antonio.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) August 3, 2021
More than $28 million annually is a MASSIVE salary for DeRozan, 31. And the Bulls are surrendering picks to pay him so much. (The protections on the first-rounder are essential to fully evaluating this deal.)
Maybe it will work on the court.
It’s possible to imagine Ball and Zach LaVine as the primary creators in transition with DeRozan running the lane. Then, LaVine and DeRozan (and underrated lead ballhandler and passer) could be the primary creators in the halfcourt with Ball spotting up.
That halfcourt construct will require the right spacing around DeRozan, an extremely reluctant 3-point shooter. Nikola Vucevic fits at center, and maybe Patrick Williams or even a re-signed Lauri Markkanen would work at forward. It’s on Chicago coach Billy Donovan to manage the staggering and roles nearly perfectly.
Defense will also be a challenge with Vucevic, DeRozan and LaVine starting.
Those are too many hurdles for such a costly player.
And Young was really good off the bench last season. San Antonio can definitely use the versatile big while still trying to win now.
Unlike Young, Aminu will not be missed in Chicago.