The Lakers had an opportunity to sign free agent forward DeMar DeRozan before the 2021-22 season. Instead, they opted to trade for point guard Russell Westbrook.
That decision didn’t turn out so well, with Westbrook shooting under 30 percent from three while averaging 18.5 points, his lowest point total since 2009-10, his second year in the league.
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DeRozan, meanwhile, shot over 50 percent from the field while averaging a career-high 27.9 points for the Bulls.
DeRozan, recently a guest on JJ Redick’s podcast “The Old Man & The Three,” revealed that he was excited about the prospect of going to Los Angeles and thought the deal was done.
“To my knowledge, I thought it was a done deal,” the California native said.
“I remember I took a trip to Mexico just to get away because I could just feel the anticipation of everything coming to play. So I was like I’m gonna get away for a couple of days, take my mind off it. And by the time I come home it will be free agency, hey, I’m signing with the Lakers.
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“I’m sleeping one morning in Mexico and I get a call from Kyle Lowry and he said, ‘They just made the trade for Russ, what’s going on?’ I thought the deal was done for you to go to the Lakers?’”
What was going on was that the Lakers shipped Kyle Kuzma, Montrez Harrell, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope to the Wizards for the enigmatic superstar, with draft picks as part of the deal as well.
“I’m just confused,” DeRozan said.
“I look at my phone and say damn, that happened. Well, I guess that’s out the window. You know, in my mind, that was my only option to go to, I was sold on that. I didn’t even entertain anything else, because I’m letting this situation work itself out. So when I saw the trade happen, I knew there was no way for me to go to the Lakers at this point.
“So now it was a scramble mode.”
Instead of joining the Lakers, DeRozan, a five-time All-Star, inked a three-year $AUD130 million deal with the Bulls after a sign-and-trade sent him to Chicago.
The Bulls made the playoffs — losing to the Bucks in the first round in five games — and the Lakers didn’t after winning just 33 games in a disastrous season.
This story originally appeared on the New York Post and has been reposted with permission
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