How This Trade Impacts Chicago Bulls
When the Chicago Bulls signed DeMar DeRozan, many people were surprised by how much money he received. With rumors floating around that he could take a significant pay cut to join a contender, he landed quite a lucrative deal.
DeRozan was one of the best free agents available this season and was linked to numerous teams. For the Bulls to be the ones that landed him, it was quite a feat for them. But, when you take a deeper dive into it, there are concerns about his fit in Chicago.
For instance, where does he play? He has played a lot of power forward for the San Antonio Spurs in recent seasons, but that spot is locked down by 2020 first-round pick Patrick Williams.
If Billy Donovan uses him at small forward, things could get stuffy offensively. DeRozan offers nothing in the way of floor-spacing, so using him as a spot-up option around the arc makes no sense.
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DeRozan played best with the ball in his hands initiating the Spurs offense, but he is likely the third option, at best, for the Bulls in a starting lineup that also has Lonzo Ball, Zach LaVine, Nikola Vucevic, and Williams.
Swapping Buddy Hield into that spot for DeRozan will simplify things. Hield doesn’t need the ball in his hands as much to make an impact as he is a sharpshooter from distance. He would provide the Bulls offense with some much-needed space, opening things up for his teammates to attack the middle.
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Neither DeRozan nor Hield is a great defender, so that the Bulls wouldn’t be losing much in that regard. But the offense would have a much better flow to it with someone that shoots it as well as Hield compared to DeRozan.
Another positive with Hield is his contract. It is deescalating so that the Bulls will be paying him less every season during his deal.
