We’d all been waiting for it… that one moment when a free agent deal comes through that just leaves you absolutely slack-jawed.
Usually the strongest bursts of irrational exuberance come right out of the gate, but not this year. Even with a historic tsunami of contract agreements in the opening hours of free agency, none bowled us over with a truly stupendous overpay.
That is, until the Bulls made a deal for DeMar DeRozan. This was the moment we’d been waiting for, and while we were staring expectantly at the Knicks and Kangz to entertain us, it instead was the Bulls who came out of left field and surprised us.
The agreement on Tuesday will pay DeRozan the fairly staggering sum of $85 million over three years, and cost the Bulls a first-round pick and two second-round picks, and surrendering big man Thaddeus Young. Al-Farouq Aminu’s fungible $10 million contract also goes to San Antonio as part of the deal.
Let’s break it down:
What is DeRozan worth?
DeRozan can certainly score, and he passes well enough to operate as a de facto point guard at times, but he turns 32 this week, doesn’t shoot 3s and is a subpar defender.
BORD$ valued him at $16.2 million for this year, with that figure obviously declining in the out years as he gets further into his 30s. Even a rosy outlook would have his value over a three-year deal topping out at about $40 million. There’s a chance this could be one of the worst value contracts in the league by 2023-24.
