There’s a certain amount of knowledge that comes out of playing 1,000 NBA regular-season games.
Lesson No. 1 that DeMar DeRozan lives by? Stay out of front office business.
The veteran made that very clear on Monday, as DeRozan reached that 1,000-game milestone in helping the Bulls beat the visiting Atlanta Hawks 111-100 at the United Center.
“That’s a lot of [bleepin’] games, isn’t it?” DeRozan joked of hitting that mark.
What he was very serious about, however, was letting his front office figure out what they want to do with a Bulls team that has now won 11 of its last 17 games, climbing to 22-24 on the season.
With the Feb. 9 trade deadline approaching, and teams in the Association already starting to make moves, there might be a lot to figure out.
“I’ve never done that,” DeRozan said, when asked if he would talk to executive vice president of basketball operations Arturas Karnisovas regarding which direction they could be heading. “Never in my career did that. I just control what I can control and that’s me going out there and competing and trying to win games. And I’m going to do that to the best of my ability.”
On a night where there wasn’t a lot of efficient offensive possessions, DeRozan did just that, leading the Bulls with 26 points, shooting 11-of-21 from the field.
Not that the victory came easy. With the 2022-23 Bulls it seldom does.
Whenever it felt like the Bulls had broken the Hawks (24-24) in the final quarter, there would be an Atlanta mini-spurt. Not enough to overcome the deficit, but definitely enough to keep the threat alive.
A John Collins alley-oop dunk with 6:37 left actually brought the Hawks to within three, but Zach LaVine had an immediate answer, hitting a three-pointer and then making two free throws. DeRozan then nailed a three to stretch it back out to 11, but here came the Hawks.
A Collins three-pointer and a Trae Young lay-up, and it was a game again.
Until it wasn’t.
The Bulls finally put the nail in the coffin in the final few minutes, with a LaVine jumper and then a Patrick Williams three-pointer that served as the dagger.
Just like that the Bulls had their third-straight win, and Williams had his first double-double of the season with 18 points and 10 rebounds.
“I think we’re getting [in a groove] as a team,” Williams said. “This time of the season, it’s that time to get into a groove and really solidify the identity you been building the first part of the season.”
As far as the direction of the team and the trade rumors that are expected to heat up, coach Billy Donovan had a very simple suggestion for any of his players that were curious of their standing. Just ask.
“If the players see or hear things about themselves, there’s an open door policy,” Donovan said. “Those guys can go up there and talk to [Karnisovas]. I know a lot of times the closer you get to that date Feb. 9, the more things get thrown out there, the more things happen and then you’re playing games, and you’ve just got to as best you can have players that are not going to get distracted by what may or may not happen.
“I do think every team in some way or another is being impacted. And I do think there’s a human element to, ‘Hey, my name’s all over the internet about being traded. My name’s all over the internet about going here or going there, doing this, doing that.’ The one thing Arturas has done a good job of is, ‘Hey listen, I’ll tell you exactly what’s going on, exactly what conversations have been.’ I think that hopefully puts players at ease.”
