With the calendar turning over into December, the NBA is moving closer to taking center stage in the sports world. Even with the NFL playoff races heating up, basketball has found a way to dominate some of the headlines.
The inaugural In-Season Tournament has been a wild success, giving players and fans a reason to care deeply about games in November and early December. After that comes to a close next week, the NBA rumor mill is going to heat up.
There are already a few teams trending toward being sellers, with the Chicago Bulls potentially being the first. A player’s only meeting after an opening night blowout loss at the hands of the Oklahoma City Thunder was an omen for what is to come.
NBA NEWS & RUMORS: DeMar DeRozan, New York Knicks, Miami Heat, Chicago Bulls Updates
To this point, the Bulls have been what many people expected them to be. They aren’t good enough to contend with the true juggernauts in the Easter Conference, but they are too good to be considered a team that can vie for the No. 1 pick in the NBA Draft Lottery.
However, that could change in the coming weeks and months as the Bulls seem poised to finally pull the plug on their half-hearted attempt at being a playoff team and enter a rebuild. That would include trading away players such as DeMar DeRozan.
DeRozan is playing out the final year of his current contract as the two sides failed to agree on an extension. Losing him for nothing in free agency in the summer of 2024 is a worst-case scenario for the franchise.
To avoid that and recoup at least some value, he is someone who will likely be placed on the trade block sooner rather than later. If DeRozan is going to be moved, he has two franchises in mind he would like to land with according to Sam Amick of The Athletic; the Miami Heat or New York Knicks.
“When it comes to possible destinations, the Heat and Knicks are known to be preferable to DeRozan if he winds up getting moved” Amick wrote.
NBA NEWS & RUMORS: DeMar DeRozan, New York Knicks, Miami Heat, Chicago Bulls Updates
For DeRozan, his two preferable destinations make sense. The Knicks are one of the fastest-rising teams in the Eastern Conference with a strong core led by Jalen Brunson and Julius Randle. They could certainly use a two-way wing player that would push RJ Barrett back to his natural spot at shooting guard.
Alas, DeRozan’s fit could be a tough one. A mid-range maestro, DeRozan would certainly alleviate some of the pressure in the halfcourt offense as someone who can create for himself and be a playmaker. He would bring more size to the table than someone such as Quentin Grimes, but his lack of 3-point shooting and sometimes suspect defense may not be a fit for Tom Thibodeau.
If the Knicks are going to make a move that isn’t for a superstar, it should be to address their lack of power forward options behind Randle. For the Heat, DeRozan would seemingly fit into the Heat Culture they have created.
A hard-nosed competitor, he would alleviate the pressure on Jimmy Butler as sometimes the only go-to player on offense that can create. Teaming up with Kyle Lowry again and competing for a title together is something many NBA fans would love to see as well after their time together with the Toronto Raptors.
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