The Miami Heat put together a big offseason, headlined by acquiring former Toronto Raptors star point guard Kyle Lowry in a sign-and-trade deal. However, they wanted to swing even bigger this offseason and NBA rumors were connecting them to quite a few different players. Miami was trying to reunite Lowry with former Toronto running mate DeMar DeRozan.
Unfortunately for the Heat, DeRozan ended up deciding to sign with the Chicago Bulls. That decision was made mainly due to the contract that the Bulls were willing to offer him that the Heat could not.
DeRozan spoke out about choosing the Bulls over the Heat in a quote shared by Shams Charania of The Athletic.
“For sure, definitely take it as disrespect,” DeRozan said of the rumors. “Definitely take it as disrespect. But you see all the crazy stuff going on. You can’t just jump out there and be like, ‘Nah, I’m not doing that. I’m not doing that.’ You just gotta kinda trust the process and the business and everything you was going through, and Chicago was always a team that was on my radar in free agency and everything. So I knew my whole approach the whole time, but you do get frustrated through the whole process of things.”
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Signing with the Bulls makes a ton of sense for the veteran shooting guard. He received a much bigger contract than he would have gotten from either the Heat or Los Angeles Lakers. DeRozan is also forming a talented team with Zach LaVine, Nikola Vucevic, and Lonzo Ball leading the way.
Last season with the San Antonio Spurs, DeRozan ended up averaging 21.6 points per game to go along with 6.9 assists and 4.2 rebounds. He shot 49.5 percent from the floor overall and knocked down 25.7 percent of his three-point attempts.
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While reuniting with Lowry on the Heat would have been a cool situation for the fans to watch, DeRozan made the decision that makes the most sense. Joining the Bulls with a huge role and a big contract was an easy move.
At 32 years of age, DeMar DeRozan is entering the final stage of his NBA prime. Making the most of that opportunity was the obvious choice.
Expect to see DeRozan put together a big season for the Chicago Bulls. The Miami Heat may have missed out on him, but they really didn’t have much of a chance to begin with.
