DeMar DeRozan still has no idea what will happen at Thursday's NBA trade deadline.
Then again, the Bulls' forward admittedly has no idea what he's going to do on Monday, let alone what his front office plans to do with the future of the roster.
DeRozan reiterated his opinion after the disappointing loss to Sacramento on Saturday.
“I'm a bad planner,” DeRozan said. “This is probably my big pet peeve. Some people like to write down what they have to do for the week in their diary. That would drive me nuts. If I get caught up thinking about future things, I'll drive myself crazy. I try to take it one day at a time “One day and I'm ready for anything that happens. I don't get caught up in the things you say or say.”
It's a trait that probably helps in the stress department, but it now also works under much different conditions.
It was one thing when DeRozan said it for the first time last week in Charlotte. After all, the league-wide feeling back then was that the Bulls were just looking to move Zach LaVine and his max contract, hoping to keep the rest of the core intact in order to make a play.
That has changed. Oh, how I've changed.
The organization announced Friday afternoon that LaVine will undergo surgery on his right foot, sidelining him for four to six months. There is no trade Thursday, and likely won't happen this coming summer with the injury uncertainty.
DeRozan expressed concern about LaVine, acknowledged that they played a lot of good basketball without him this season, and stressed how important it is for the younger players — especially Coby White — to continue to progress as they have throughout their first 50 regular season games. Season matches.
“The level that Kobe has been at in his game, the ability that each one of those guys have when they're healthy can make it a team thing, so you don't have to rely on one guy every night,” DeRozan said. “We've gotten to that more and that's the focus this year, on sharing the ball, moving the ball, getting everyone involved so we don't have to rely on one guy to win the game.”
But will they rely on DeRozan come Thursday?
It appears that LaVine's injury will force Executive Vice President of Basketball Operations Arturas Karnisovas to stop his Plan A and start working on Plan B.
A plan that could include trading DeRozan and his expiring contract.
How did you get to this point?
It's actually quite simple, considering that Lonzo Ball and LaVine are guaranteed to make $65 million next season after missing 288 games since January 14, 2022.
It is LaVine's contract that provides the biggest barrier to flexibility, which is why it has been difficult to move him when the guard is healthy.
If Karnisovas decides to stay the course and not make a move it could lead to some tough decisions this summer, letting DeRozan go for nothing or losing out on restricted free agent Pat Williams. Letting go of Williams is not in the plans, especially with the jump White made from year four to year five, meaning DeRozan would be the logical choice.
While he knows everything is on the table, DeRozan also feels that this current team is not done working together and already has a left push that he feels could lead to some special things.
“There are a lot of teams that are fighting for something,” DeRozan said. “We are (also) fighting for something.”
