Does DeMar DeRozan Have Another 2021-22 Season In Him For Chicago Bulls?

The Chicago Bulls’ decision to acquire DeMar DeRozan from the San Antonio Spurs in a sign-and-trade deal worth nearly $82 million over three years last offseason raised a lot of eyebrows. While DeRozan was still an effective player on mediocre Spurs teams, not many people thought he was worth that kind of money heading into his age-32 season in 2021-22. Some people around the NBA even called it the worst move of the offseason.

DeRozan promptly shoved all that criticism back in the haters’ faces, putting forth a career season by recording a career-best 27.9 points per game to go along with 5.2 rebounds and 4.9 assists per contest. He shot 50.4% from the field and a career-high 35.2% from 3-point range. He earned All-Star honors and made the All-NBA Second Team for his sterling efforts, which featured incredible clutch performances throughout the season.

DeRozan helped power the Bulls to the first seed in the Eastern Conference 60 games into the season, capped by a historic stretch of eight straight games with 35-plus points on at least 50.0% shooting. The veteran slumped slightly to end the season as Chicago fell down the standings to sixth, but even during that stretch he had a heroic 50-point game in a thrilling overtime win over the Los Angeles Clippers. He delivered one last monster performance in the Game 2 win over the Milwaukee Bucks with 41 points, though the rest of that first-round series was forgettable with the banged-up Bulls so overmatched.

Looking ahead to the 2022-23 season, Chicago is relying on continuity, internal development and better health to take another step forward. Part of that involves DeRozan playing at an extremely high level yet again. Does he have another season like he just had in him?

It’s admittedly going to be tough for DeRozan to replicate what he did in 2021-22. The crunch-time performance was truly remarkable, with the All-Star’s 157 points in the clutch second in the NBA behind Joel Embiid’s 158. DeRozan got those points in 17 fewer minutes and on 14 fewer shot attempts. He shot a ridiculous 53.5% in these situations (just a tick under 50.0% on 2-point shots outside of the restricted area) and made two 3-pointers, which were consecutive game-winners at the buzzer that were a high degree of difficulty.

If you look at DeRozan’s numbers in the fourth quarter overall, he blew away the competition with 612 points on 54.6% shooting (51.4% on 2-pointers outside the restricted area). Giannis Antetokounmpo had the second-most fourth-quarter points in the NBA with 528.

So, yeah, it’s asking a lot for DeRozan to put forth that kind of season again. FiveThirtyEight’s new 2022-23 NBA projections are bearish on his prospects of having another huge season, though he shouldn’t fall off a cliff because he’s a master of his craft who can get to his spots and hit tough shots with the best of them. But if he even takes just a small step back offensively (defense is another story), would the Bulls be able to cover for it?

The hope is a healthier Zach LaVine and Lonzo Ball (still major questions about his health) will be able to do just that. This is also where significant internal development from guys like Patrick Williams, Ayo Dosunmu and Coby White comes into play. As awesome as DeRozan was last season, if the Bulls can spread the wealth a bit more, especially in crunch time, they might be able to make up for any potential dip in his play.

Or maybe DeRozan pulls off the magic all over again. Based on what we saw last season, it shouldn’t be totally counted out. Either way, the Chicago Bulls need DeMar DeRozan to show out again in 2022-23 in order to beat the tepid expectations many have for them in this upcoming campaign.