Chicago Bulls wing DeMar DeRozan reportedly felt like the Los Angeles Lakers were in “disarray” when he was making his free-agency decision this past offseason.
DeRozan eventually went to Chicago in a sign-and-trade with the San Antonio Spurs, and he has thrived, making the All-Star team as a starter this season.
“I talked to someone from DeRozan’s camp,” Ohm Youngmisuk said. “When DeRozan was in town in L.A., and he basically stuck it to the Lakers. The impression that I got from his camp was that DeRozan felt that the Lakers were in sort of disarray. They didn’t really have a vision. They didn’t know what they were doing.”
Los Angeles ended up trading for Russell Westbrook, and the experiment hasn’t worked out like the team expected.
Los Angeles is currently the No. 11 seed in the Western Conference, and it has just a 31-47 record for the season. The Lakers have struggled to mesh together, and it has led to the team needing to close the season strong to even have a chance to make the league’s play-in tournament.
As for DeRozan, it appears he made the right move by choosing to go to Chicago.
The veteran wing is averaging 28.0 points, 5.3 rebounds and 5.0 assists per game while shooting 50.3 percent from the field and 35.5 percent from beyond the arc this season.
DeRozan has thrived alongside Zach LaVine in Chicago, and he’s averaging the most points per game in a single season in his career.
Los Angeles will need to change the perception around its franchise this offseason so it becomes a more attractive destination to free agent targets. The fact that the Lakers turned DeRozan, who is from California, away with their lack of planning is concerning for the franchise moving forward.
