DeMar DeRozan was one of the best players in the league during his first season with the Bulls, but his plan wasn’t always to play in Chicago.
We already learned that the Lakers totally lowballed Alex Caruso during free agency negotiations, which promoted the defensive-minded wing to sign with the Bulls.
Back in November, Chris Haynes reported DeRozan thought it was a “done deal” he would sign with Los Angeles as well. Now, we have heard directly from the source just how severely the Lakers botched the chance to sign the Los Angeles-born star.
DeRozan was a guest on JJ Redick’s The Old Man and the Three podcast.
DeRozan explained that he was in Mexico and expected to sign with the Lakers when he returned home to the United States. But while he was on his trip, DeRozan received a text from Kyle Lowry, who told him that the Lakers traded for Russell Westbrook.
The five-time All-Star was confused by the trade, and immediately realized it meant that Los Angeles was no longer an option for him:
“To my knowledge, I thought it was a done deal … In my mind, that was the only option for me to go to. Like I was so sold on that. Done deal. I didn’t even entertain anything else because I’m letting this situation work itself out.”
He revealed that he was so “hellbent” on going to the Lakers that he had pushed all his other options to the side. Because of this, he said he had to go into “scramble mode” to find his new home.
DeRozan would have fixed many of the issues that Los Angeles had last season, but the front office opted to make the move for Westbrook, and the rest is history.
While there is no guarantee he would have had as much success in Los Angeles as he did in Chicago, it is safe to assume the Lakers would have enjoyed a much better season if they hadn’t changed course at the last second by spurning DeRozan.
