DeMar DeRozan on Zach LaVine: 'Max player, max talent, max everything'

That’s a lot of dough. And in the opinion of All-Star teammate DeMar DeRozan, LaVine is worth every penny. “Yeah. Max player, max talent, max everything,” DeRozan said when asked if LaVine is a max-worthy player after the Bulls’ season-ending loss to the Bucks Wednesday night. “He’s one of those players in this league that you don’t see too often. I tell him all the time how envious I am of the things he’s able to do. He deserves everything that’s coming to him for sure.”
Source: Rob Schaefer @ NBC Sports

What’s the buzz on Twitter?

KC Johnson @KCJHoop
DeMar DeRozan called his first season with the Bulls “perfect.”
And despite the series loss to the Bucks, there’s plenty to like in the franchise’s big picture.
Column for @NBCSChicago: nbcsports.com/chicago/bulls/… – 11:44 PM Darnell Mayberry @DarnellMayberry
DeRozan on if LaVine’s a max player: “Yeah. Max player. Max talent. Max everything. He’s one of those players that you don’t see too often. I tell him all the time how envious I am of the things he’s able to do. So the deserves everything that’s coming to him, for sure.” – 10:57 PM Rob Schaefer @rob_schaef
DeMar DeRozan on what he learned about Zach LaVine playing with him this season: “(He’s) the ultimate competitor”
DeRozan then launched into an anecdote about he and LaVine playing tic tac toe on the team plane: “I kept beating him. He wouldn’t leave me alone until he beat me” – 10:42 PM Julia Poe @byjuliapoe
DeMar DeRozan on Zach LaVine as he enters free agency: “Max player, max talent, max everything. He’s one of those players in this league that you don’t see too often.” – 10:38 PM Julia Poe @byjuliapoe
DeMar DeRozan says he doesn’t plan to talk to the front office about specific needs for the Bulls, but he will spend the offseason talking to other players around the league about coming to Chicago. – 10:33 PM Rob Schaefer @rob_schaef
DeMar DeRozan, reflecting on his first season with Bulls: Perfect. Couldn’t have went a better way. It’s been a great year, to say the least. Front office, teammates, the city, it’s been more than I could have asked. Dream come true. – 10:29 PM Julia Poe @byjuliapoe
DeMar DeRozan on how he feels now about his decision to join the Chicago Bulls: “Perfect. Couldn’t have went a better way. … Everything has been something more than I could imagine.” – 10:29 PM KC Johnson @KCJHoop
DeMar DeRozan on his first season in Chicago: “Perfect. Couldn’t have went a better way. It’s been a great year to say the least. Just being around the front office, teammates, city. Everything has been something more than I could’ve imagined.” – 10:29 PM Darnell Mayberry @DarnellMayberry
DeMar DeRozan on what the Bulls can learn from their series against the Bucks: “Everything.” pic.twitter.com/JK2b17iPEc – 10:29 PM Julia Poe @byjuliapoe
Billy Donovan felt DeMar DeRozan played a “great game” tonight despite scoring 11 points on 10 shots.
DeRozan spent most of the night triple teamed. Donovan believes he would have had much more than his seven assists if the team shot better. – 10:08 PM KC Johnson @KCJHoop
Billy Donovan: “Give them credit. They obviously outplayed us.”
Donovan also heaped praise on the way DeMar DeRozan played tonight. Said he could’ve had huge assist game if more shots had gone down. – 10:04 PM Darnell Mayberry @DarnellMayberry
Final: Bucks 116, Bulls 100.
Nikola Vučević: 19/16/6
Coby White: 17/3/4
Patrick Williams: 23/1
DeMar DeRozan: 11/2/7
The Bucks win the series 4-1. – 9:51 PM Jim Owczarski @JimOwczarski
The first free throws of the game for DeMar DeRozan come with 5:34 to go in the third quarter.
#Bucks lead the #Bulls 79-60. – 9:02 PM KC Johnson @KCJHoop
Regarding DeRozan’s 1 FGA in 12 minutes. He said yesterday “I trust my teammates” and knew Bucks’ defense would load up on him even more with LaVine out. – 8:07 PM Julia Poe @byjuliapoe
The Bulls trail 34-18 at the end of the first quarter.
Bucks shooting 60%, Bulls shooting 33.3%. Giannis Antetokounmpo has 15 points.
DeMar DeRozan only took one shot (a miss from outside the left elbow) in the first half. – 8:04 PM Jim Owczarski @JimOwczarski
DeMar DeRozan now has more turnovers (2) and fouls (2) than shots for the #Bulls – 7:56 PM KC Johnson @KCJHoop
Shorthandedness effect: Bulls using the rarely-seen lineup of Coby White, Troy Brown Jr., Derrick Jones Jr., DeMar DeRozan and Patrick Williams in an elimination game. – 7:55 PM Jim Owczarski @JimOwczarski
Ayo Dosunmu will start for the #Bulls in the backcourt with DeMar DeRozan while Javonte Green slides into the frontcourt.
Alex Caruso and Zach LaVine are out tonight. – 7:05 PM Chuck Swirsky @ctsbulls
Bulls starters. G – Ayo Dosunmu (#12)
G – DeMar DeRozan (#11)
F – Javonte Green (#24)
F – Patrick Williams (#44)
C – Nikola Vučević (#9) – 7:04 PM Rob Schaefer @rob_schaef
Two health-related updates from Billy Donovan’s pregame:
– Zach LaVine is “pretty sick” in COVID protocols
– Alex Caruso didn’t get far in concussion protocols. Symptoms flared up when medical started him on bike. He has a “pretty significant headache” – 6:38 PM Darnell Mayberry @DarnellMayberry
The Bulls are on the road tonight, for an elimination Game 5, against the defending champion Bucks & playing without second-leading scorer Zach LaVine and glue guy Alex Caruso.
Nobody believes the Bulls can win.
So I asked Billy Donovan what gives him belief the Bulls can win: pic.twitter.com/qOCWcAURBG – 6:30 PM Jamal Collier @JamalCollier
Billy Donovan said Zach LaVine was feeling “pretty sick” when he checked in on him. – 6:05 PM Mike McGraw @McGrawDHSports
Donovan says Zach LaVine is feeling under the weather as he deals with health & safety protocols. Alex Caruso tried riding stationary bike last night and experienced headache, which ended chances to play in Game 5. #Bulls – 6:04 PM Julia Poe @byjuliapoe
Zach LaVine is “pretty sick” in COVID protocol, per Billy Donovan. – 6:04 PM KC Johnson @KCJHoop
Billy Donovan said Zach LaVine is “pretty sick” in the health and safety protocols. – 6:03 PM Kurt Helin @basketballtalk
Report: Zach LaVine to have offseason knee surgery nba.nbcsports.com/2022/04/27/rep… – 6:01 PM Joe Cowley @JCowleyHoops
Alex Caruso and Zach LaVine will miss Game 5, but LaVine also has other issues to deal with. According to a source, LaVine has downplayed the level of discomfort in his left knee all year, and will have surgery immediately after the season.
Read it:
chicago.suntimes.com/bulls/2022/4/2… – 12:18 PM Kurt Helin @basketballtalk
For must-win game, Bulls officially list Zach LaVine, Alex Caruso as out nba.nbcsports.com/2022/04/27/for… – 11:57 AM Alex Kennedy @AlexKennedyNBA
Milwaukee Bucks guard Jrue Holiday was named the NBA’s teammate of the year for the second time in three seasons.
Dallas Mavericks center Boban Marjanovic finished second in voting and Chicago Bulls wing DeMar DeRozan was third. basketballnews.com/breakingnews/b… – 10:41 AM Jamal Collier @JamalCollier
Bulls list both Zach LaVine (health and safety) and Alex Caruso (concussion) as OUT for tonight’s Game 5 vs Bucks – 10:23 AM Mike McGraw @McGrawDHSports
Zach LaVine (health & safety protocols) and Alex Caruso (concussion protocols) both listed out for Game 5 tonight on latest injury report. They were questionable yesterday. #Bulls – 10:00 AM KC Johnson @KCJHoop
Bulls officially downgrade Zach LaVine and Alex Caruso to out vs. Bucks. – 9:35 AM

More on this storyline

How important is getting into that postseason environment with this group and making a deep run with these guys before your upcoming contract negotiations? Zach LaVine: For me, it’s not even about my contract. I’m a competitor. I want to go to the playoffs and play on the big stage. Contract, everything, that all comes. But I look at it day by day. You can’t get to April in a day. You’re gonna have to play and compete each and every day to get there, and then once the playoffs come, we gotta go do our thing. You know I’m really excited. I’m really excited to be on that stage, because I haven’t been there yet. -via Bleacher Report / February 25, 2022 The Bulls have quickly elevated to the top of the East, with shrewd trades and signings — and keeping LaVine as a rare holdover. This regime keeps its strategy a mystery, but Zach LaVine is making a case for a max contract — which he won’t definitively say but won’t deny, either. “I think we all get what we deserve at the level we play at, for our team and around the league. I think I stack up with everybody at that level,” he said. “We’ll let the chips fall. Is the the goal? I don’t know if it’s the goal, but I should be getting what I deserve. I’ll let them tell me what that is and we’ll go from there.” -via Yahoo! Sports / February 19, 2022 He’ll be a free agent in July — an unrestricted free agent. A big playoff run could erase any remaining doubts, if there are any. “Free agency is gonna be a big milestone for me,” LaVine told Yahoo Sports. “It’s my first time going into it really being unrestricted free agent. I dealt with it being restricted before so it’s a whole new experience. I’m excited for the season with the Bulls. But you know, moving forward, it’s gonna be a whole new experience for me.” -via Yahoo! Sports / February 19, 2022