“It was a sigh of relief to sign with Bulls” DeMar DeRozan reveals about struggles in finding a team in last free agency made him depressed
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DeMar DeRozan on Draymond Green Podcast
DeMar DeRozan and Chicago Bulls proved to be one of the most ‘clicked’ pairing one in the recently concluded 2021-22 season. Despite leading the East for a majority of the regular season, they unfortunately ended up 6th in the standings. In the postseason too, defending champions Milwaukee Bucks bulldozed them in a 5-game series, forcing an early exit for the Bulls. While the season ended in disappointment, DeMar DeRozan certainly looked pleased with his decision to join the team, and recently opened up about the depressed state he was in during free agency before coming to the Chicago Bulls in a sign-and-trade a year ago.
On Green’s podcast, DeRozan detailed the depths of uncertainty that the process created for him when he didn’t initially sign with any team. Multiple reports were given at the time DeRozan landed with his hometown Los Angeles Lakers. But the LA team went all in for Russell Westbrook, cooling off the possible addition of DeRozan.
Former Raptors franchise player found himself a forgotten hero, after being traded in July 2018 to the San Antonio Spurs, and opting to part ways after 2 seasons. He led the Spurs in scoring, and assists, but was seen least effective in the league. And after selecting a free agency last summer, he started to get worried about the future.
I didn’t know what the f**k was gonna happen – DeMar DeRozan explains the free agency agitation before signing with the Bulls
DeMar DeRozan was a huge part of the Toronto Raptors’ success before they traded him for Kwahi Leonard. The Raptors won the Championship very next season, but their 4-time All-Star suffered a huge blow to his reputation in the league. With a sub-par San Antonio Spurs team, DeRozan did perform extensively well, but couldn’t make a deep run in the playoffs. So he opted to make move again to win his 1st ring.
Not being aware of which city will be his new home, or who could be his next teammates, was nerve-wracking. DeRozan held up well, as this was the first time he mentioned being down during free agency. He showed no signs of discomfort at the time.
DeRozan recalled a new layer of eloquence to the process during his appearance on “The Draymond Green Show.” He said, “It didn’t go as planned. That kind of brought so much doubt in it for me and put me in a dark place because I started to question like, ‘Alright, where am I going now? What player am I going to be?’”
DeRozan told Green. “So many of these questions started to creep in and a lot of people didn’t realize, big names kind of always sign in the first day or two. I think I went a couple days into free agency with still such a question mark. Was I going to go somewhere with a one-year deal? Was I going to take the minimum? The narrative… put me in a (expletive) place, honestly”.
Smiling back at the time he felt himself down he added, “I remember through that whole time — it was three, four days in a row — I didn’t leave out the room. I didn’t see the sun set. I didn’t see the sun come up. I was depressed. It put me in a depressed mindset because I didn’t know what was going to happen.”
Rumors around the 2020 Champions were strong enough to add to his dilemma. Also, other players making moves gave him more butterflies. He mentioned the double mind as he said, “Was I going to come to LA? That fell through and didn’t happen. You seeing guys sign other places. Everybody hitting me, like, ‘What you going to do?’ And there were certain moments where I had no (expletive) clue what I was going to do.”
The transition paid off in the end for the former USC star. DeRozan is now the shining star in Chicago alongside Zach LaVine and company. DeRozan was on the All-Star games again, and he helped the Bulls to the playoffs last season after a four-year absence. Though they lost in the first round, their efforts were noticed.
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Kunal Chawda
(600 Articles Published)