Bulls All-Star DeMar DeRozan says he has no doubt that All-Star teammate Zach LaVine deserves a max contract this summer, writes Rob Schaefer of NBC Sports Chicago. As an unrestricted free agent with seven years of experience, LaVine is eligible for a five-year deal from Chicago worth approximately $212MM.
“Yeah. Max player, max talent, max everything,” DeRozan said when asked if LaVine is a max-worthy player after the Bulls’ season-ending loss to the Bucks Wednesday night. “He’s one of those players in this league that you don’t see too often. I tell him all the time how envious I am of the things he’s able to do. He deserves everything that’s coming to him for sure.”
DeRozan added that LaVine is extremely competitive in everything he does, on and off the court.
“(He’s) just the ultimate competitor,” DeRozan said of LaVine. “That’s the best way I can sum it up. No matter what it is. I remember, we played tic tac toe on the plane, and I kept beating him and he wouldn’t leave me alone until he beat me. And that’s just him on the court as well.”
Here’s more from Chicago:
- Center Nikola Vucevic said the front office and coaches stressed continuity in his season-ending exit interview following the team’s playoff ouster. “They want to have continuity, that’s for sure,” Vucevic said, per Joe Cowley of The Chicago Sun-Times. “As far as moves they can make, I don’t really know that. That’s their job.”
- DeRozan also believes the team’s core will return next season, but that doesn’t mean management won’t look to improve the roster if the opportunity presents itself (Twitter link via K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago). “Just like we’re competitors, they are as well — for the right reasons,” DeRozan said.
- Forward Patrick Williams says he’s looking to improve his consistency next season and has studied DeRozan’s habits to learn how to prepare as a pro. For his part, DeRozan says he plans to invite Williams and other teammates to work out with him in L.A. this summer (all Twitter links courtesy of Johnson and Schaefer from NBC Sports Chicago).
- Coby White, who’s eligible for a rookie scale extension this summer, said management told him to keep working on his ball-handling and to build up his strength in order to become a better defender, as Schaefer relays (via Twitter).
Absolutely do not bring back Coby White. He regressed completely this year. He wasn’t very good from the perimeter, did not make any of his teammates better. He should be dangled along with that 18th pick to find a big man who can protect the hoop and rebound. This team needs more toughness from it’s bigs. Vucevic was attempting WAY too many 3’s for a guy who did not make enough consistently. Bring back Lavine but they really are tied to him, if it’s not a max offer then he will leave elsewhere. He’s getting better on defense and playmaking but he is not a superstar. You need to have superstars in this league to win, he is more equipped as the 2nd best player on a title team. This team also needs Patrick Williams to be a scorer. I have seen too many games where he wasn’t aggressive for his shot. Overall, they need Lonzo to be 100% healthy. It was just a bad brand of basketball without Lonzo. Very little pace and push and the transition game was virtually non-existent after his injury. If they can address the big man issue and go after some guys like a Favors who can provide the toughness and rebounding, I’m all in. I had this team originally at 45 wins and the 6th seed. It’s time to take another step. Maybe dangle Vucevic/White/18th pick for a guy like Christian Wood and Eric Gordon? We need shooters and big man and it would help Houston get Vucevic on an expiring contract after 2023,
Lonzo
Lavine
Demar
Williams
Wood
Bench: Caruso/Gordon/Ayo/Green/Troy Brown (sigh).
Vooch isn’t the type of big that Houston needs. And I’m not sure why ppl seem to think they would wanna trade Wood at all
I’m not sure the Rockets should trade Wood either but Vooch is the type of center that Houston could use depending on their lottery luck. If they get Smith or slide down in the draft and pickup Sharpe or Griffin he’d be a great short term fit as a guy that clear out space for Green and Porter on the court. Off the court he would serve as a great mentor to Sengün and the rest of the young guys.
Ultimately the Rockets need to draft Holmgren or Banchero or if both are off the board after some bad luck take the best available and try to snag Mark Williams with the 17th.
How has Coby White regressed? I looked at his numbers. He’s pretty good. Better than 10 3ptA/100 POS, better than 80% from the FT line, and even his 3pt% is better than 38. I’d rather keep him over Ball. Ball and DeRozan are two overpriced assets. Ball is always hurt, has character issues, and will never be a good shooter based on hit awful FT shooting. I’ve said this many times. The 3pt shot is king. You don’t win in today’s NBA if you can’t make 3s. DeRozan is a throwback player. I say that because his style of play is obsolete. He doesn’t shoot 3s, yet he takes most of the shots. If Durant demands a trade over the summer, perhaps the Bulls can package Ball and DeRozan along with some draft capital to get him.
As for Patrick Williams, I like him. This last game represents a flash of what he’s capable of doing as a stretch 4. He needs to get stronger, but remember he’s barely 21.
“and will never be a good shooter based on hit awful FT shooting.”
You obviously do not follow the Bulls, or have followed Lonzo the last two years, as his FT% has been much better. Hard to take the rest of your position seriously when you get something so basic wrong, especially in light of him having transformed himself into one of the better shooters in the league.
White is a decent bench guy, but he’s a bad defender and not a playmaker so he needs to be a great shooter to have any real value. And you cannot have him over Lonzo since all of the things the latter provides are things the Bulls badly need. The injuries suck, but he is irreplaceable until they line up a deal to find someone who would bring in the same skillset.
@Bright
I try to choose my words mute carefully and be more thoughtful in my retorts. That being said…wtf??
a) Who cares if DeRozen isn’t an elite 3pt shooter? The great Chi McBride playing Donny Astricky once famously said “Sh*t, I can’t swim, I know I can’t. So you know what I do? I stay my black a$$ out the pool!” DeRozen knows he’s not a good enough looking distance shooter do he limits the amount he takes but takes enough to keep defense honest enough. But what he does excellently is score (28 ppg) and score efficiently (50%/35%/87%) and gives you 5 assists and 5 rebounds a game. The words you’re looking for are “Thank you very much”.
b) Exactly what character issues concern you about Lonzo? I don’t pay a ton on attention to him or gossip columns so I’m curious.
@bright : wtf…only 4 players in nba had better 3s% than lonzo ball this season.last 3 season he made 37%,37%,42%.thats not awfull stat. Idiot.with him and carushow,bulls are number 5th for Defense. Coby over lonzo? Definitely i need ur weeds..
I’ll give you injury prone but Ball shot .423 from 3 with 7.1 attempts per game, that’s near elite. It’s no fluke either he shot .378 last season and .375 the season before. He’s become serviceable at the line shooting .781 and .750 the last 2 seasons. Character issues? He’s always seemed pretty hnle in interviews and Ball has worked his ass off and completely reconfigured his shot. He hustles and plays top flight perimeter defense.
@Tacocat
43% from the 3 is definitely elite. Only 4 other guys shot better.
Never pay B or C level players Max money. It’s the fastest way to paralyze your franchise.
@Richard
Every team has a salary floor they have to meet. To me, as long as the guy continues to perform at the level he’s at, then pay him. The odds of drafting and developing a rookie to Lavine’s level is difficult. With DeRozen, your window of opportunity is in the next 3 to 4 years. Save money elsewhere. They need 2 legit stars and Lonzo.
When the Bulls needed Lavine the most he wasn’t there. he was either Bad or hurt so no way is he worth Max money. As Joshua said in War Games, Sometimes the best move is not to play. How about a nice game of chess. It’s up to you now AK. He made it to the All Star game though. That’s what really matters to him.