DeMar DeRozan is set to begin the next chapter of his NBA career as a member of the Chicago Bulls.
Once his signing became official, the four-time All-Star took to Twitter to share his excitement about joining his new team, sharing a video of Chicago's iconic intro video.
Officially signed 😤 #BullsNation @chicagobulls pic.twitter.com/QsGYtxq6AW
— DeMar DeRozan (@DeMar_DeRozan) August 11, 2021
DeRozan, who spent the last three seasons with the San Antonio Spurs, recently spoke to the media for the first time as a Bull, where he touched on a range of topics, but winning was a recurring theme.
On what attracted him to Chicago, DeRozan began, saying "obviously the core, (Nikola Vucevic) being there, Zach (LaVine), the organization, the city, and overall, the whole spectrum of the team and the organization for me.
"And, obviously, once Lonzo (Ball) signed, that made it even more appealing and you could see what they was working towards, and it's something that I want to be a part of. It wasn't too much of a pitch that they had to make after that."
Among the pitch makers was Bulls general manager Marc Eversley, who has a preexisting relationship with DeRozan from their time with the Toronto Raptors. During his media session, DeRozan spoke on that relationship and how it helped along the process, saying "Marc played a part in drafting me to Toronto, he was one of the first guys to see me work out before I was even drafted… I knew with the relationship we had, he wasn’t gonna tell me anything just to tell me. That made it even easier."
DeMar on his relationship w/ Marc Eversley: “Marc played a part in drafting me to Toronto, he was one of the first guys to see me work out before I was even drafted… I knew with the relationship we had, he wasn’t gonna tell me anything just to tell me. That made it even easier." pic.twitter.com/N5D1fTKRYb
— Chicago Bulls (@chicagobulls) August 13, 2021
After missing the postseason in each of the last four seasons, the Bulls have made big swings to get back to contending in the Eastern Conference. At the 2021 trade deadline, Chicago motioned to acquire an All-Star in Vucevic, with whom DeRozan played for one season at USC.
This offseason, the Bulls front office duo of executive vice president Arturas Karnisovas and Eversley have continued the progress, adding Ball and DeRozan via free agency to pair with the All-Star duo of Lavine and Vucevic.
As NBA.com's Scott Rafferty examined, the talent is there, but the potential fit between Chicago's new core is intriguing, to say the least.
DeRozan spoke on this fit, saying "if everybody is on the same page and mentality and wants to win, it doesn't matter about a fit. Because it's all going to come together and make it work because at the end of the day, the common denominator is winning.
"If you have that mentality going into it," DeRozan continued, "everything will be figured out how it needs to be figured out in the process. That's where chemistry is built."
Although DeRozan and the Spurs saw postseason action in the Western Conference's Play-In Tournament this past season, it has now been two years since DeRozan has taken the floor on the NBA Playoffs stage after doing so for six straight seasons.
With preexisting relationships, a focus on building chemistry and an organizational desire to win, DeRozan and the Bulls could put an end to their playoff droughts in 2022.
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