As one of the most notable names in the free player transfer market (NBA Free Agency 2024), DeMar DeRozan has caught the attention of many teams.

The two top names being mentioned are the Chicago Bulls, DeMar’s home team from 2021 until now, and the Los Angeles Lakers, the team that has also spent the same amount of time pursuing DeRozan.

After the Chicago Bulls lost the play-in match and could not set foot in the 2024 NBA Playoffs, DeMar DeRozan’s stay or go story received great attention from fans.

The player born in 1989 said he wanted to stay in Chicago and continue pursuing the Playoffs goal with his teammates: “For the past three years, everyone here (Chicago – PV) has loved me and always welcomed me. The city is great, the team is a great organization.

Considering the recent situation, I think Chicago will be the place I want to return to if given the opportunity. We have many things we haven’t achieved here and hopefully I will have the opportunity to conquer those things.”

But besides that, DeRozan still left the door open to play for the Los Angeles Lakers, his hometown team.

“Born and raised in Los Angeles, I have been a Kobe Bryant supporter and Lakers fan since I was very young. It’s hard to refuse to play for a Los Angeles team, especially a club as rich in tradition as the LA Lakers.

I know there are a lot of things being talked about right now and time will tell everything. We’ll see where things go in the next few months,” DeRozan shared on FanDuel.

DeMar DeRozan can help the Los Angeles Lakers in many aspects, but he is not the answer to the biggest problem the purple-and-yellow team encountered last season.

The Los Angeles Lakers are both one of the teams with the lowest 3-point shooting in the entire NBA and one of the teams with the lowest success rate. The Lakers are 27th in total long-range attempts (31.4) and 24th out of 30 NBA teams in 3-pointers made per game (11.8).

This number decreased significantly in the postseason, falling to the last place among the 16 teams playing in the 2024 NBA Playoffs.

DeRozan is a scoring star, but his strength is medium-range shooting or finishing close to the basket. During his entire career, DeMar had a successful long throw rate of only 29.6% 3PT.

Another barrier between DeMar DeRozan and the Los Angeles Lakers is salary budget flexibility. DeRozan is looking for a high-value, long-term contract.

This is the reason why he and the Chicago Bulls have not found common ground because the club only wants to sign DeMar for 2 more years, with a salary of about 40 million USD per season.

With the Los Angeles Lakers, the yellow and purple team does not have the budget to pay for a big star from the free transfer market. The most likely option is to exchange instead of signing a Free Agency contract.

The middle point to reconcile the interests of both sides could be a sign-and-trade deal created by the Los Angeles Lakers and Chicago Bulls, bringing DeMar DeRozan back to play for his hometown team.

In the season that just ended, DeMar DeRozan averaged 24.0 points (48.0% FG) and 5.3 assists per game in 79 appearances for Chicago, all from the starting lineup.

If DeMar wants to find a team to have a chance to compete for the championship, the Los Angeles Lakers would be a better choice than the Chicago Bulls. This is a big plus besides the factor of playing for the hometown team, which is also one of the clubs with the richest tradition in the tournament.