CHICAGO (AP) — DeMar DeRozan already had his sights set on next season.
The five-time All-Star was looking forward to 4 a.m. workouts in Los Angeles and putting teammates through “hell” when they join him, particularly Patrick Williams. He wants to build on a standout season and help the Chicago Bulls make the next jump after taking a big step forward. He gets the sense from management they’ll try to do it with their core remaining intact.
“That’s where it starts,” DeRozan said Thursday, a day after the Bulls’ breakthrough season ended with a first-round playoff knockout by the defending NBA champion Milwaukee Bucks. “All the great teams that played for something, that played deep, that competed for a championship, that’s got to be there first and foremost — that continuity. That’s definitely something we’re definitely going to work toward.”
The Bulls no doubt made huge strides, the product of a massive overhaul that began when Arturas Karnisovas was hired out of Denver’s front office two years ago to lead their basketball operation.
Chicago went 46-36 in coach Billy Donovan’s second season and made the playoffs for the first time since 2017.
DeRozan played at an MVP level and finished fifth in the NBA in scoring after being acquired in a sign-and-trade deal with San Antonio last August. The additions of Lonzo Ball and Alex Caruso solidified their backcourt and gave their defense a huge boost on the perimeter. Rookie Ayo Dosunmu also made big contributions.
With Zach LaVine and Nikola Vucevic already in place, the Bulls came in looking like a team poised to make a jump. They got off to a big start and finished with their best record since the 2014-15 team went 50-32 in former coach Tom Thibodeau’s final season, even if the way it unfolded left a bitter taste.
The Bulls led the Eastern Conference for part of the season, only to struggle over the second half. They finished the regular season in a 7-15 nosedive and got knocked out by the…