NBA Rumors: Are the Chicago Bulls preparing to retool around DeMar DeRozan?

NBA Rumors: Are the Chicago Bulls heading into the offseason with the intention of retooling around DeMar DeRozan?

While there are many unknown moving parts heading into the offseason for the Chicago Bulls, there's one thing that we almost know for certainty. It's that the Bulls are going to enter the summer with the same goal to trade Zach LaVine. Whether or not they'll be able to accomplish it or not is an entirely different story. However, at least the Bulls heading into the offseason intend to move on from LaVine.

But if the Bulls want to move forward from the LaVine era, what direction will the team be going in? It's hard to predict. However, we know this team doesn't want to enter another rebuild and would much rather retool with the help of a LaVine trade rather than bottom out to spark a full-blown rebuild from the ground up.

How they could retool the roster is difficult to outline. However, reading the tea leaves, it may seem as if the Bulls may plan on retooling the roster around DeRozan this offseason. That's because all indications seem to point toward DeRozan working to re-sign with the team this summer.

Would the Chicago Bulls be making a mistake if they re-sign DeMar DeRozan?

It's abundantly clear that DeRozan has found a home in Chicago. And while he may want to stick around with the Bulls, you can't help but wonder if this is the right move for the team and where they're heading. Without LaVine for much of this season, the Bulls, led by DeRozan, are going to finish as the 9th seed in the Eastern Conference.

It's hard to see how the Bulls are going to improve from that even if they are able to add another contributor via a LaVine trade. And with LaVine, the Bulls haven't been able to climb out of this state of mediocrity that they find themselves in. From that perspective, re-signing DeRozan could be viewed as a mistake.

If the Bulls are serious about building a contender, it's probably in the best interest of the team to take a bit of a step back before they take one forward. And re-signing DeRozan is only going to keep the Bulls in this neverending state of mediocrity. They're not going to be good enough to make much noise in the East and won't be bad enough to get a high enough draft pick to find a star talent.

If Chicago wants to break this cycle, they may have to let DeRozan walk in free agency. However, it doeesn't seem as if that's about to happen this summer.