This summer in the NBA was dominated by two reported instances of players demanding trades to specific teams—Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard to the Heat, and 76ers guard James Harden to the Clippers.
One [Lillard] did not get his wish, although his eventual move to the Bucks seems to be going swimmingly for Milwaukee. The other, Harden, did; Philadelphia sent him to Los Angeles early Tuesday morning.
The pair of ordeals generated widespread discussion on the nature of player empowerment and the ethics of players targeting trade requests toward one specific team. On Wednesday, Bulls guard DeMar DeRozan weighed in on the latter development.
K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago asked the six-time All-Star whether he had ever considered requesting a trade to a “preferred situation.”
“Nah. My whole life, I’ve always been this way: Control what you can control. This may sound cliché, but I’m big on being professional even in the toughest of times. It’s always easy to run away or find an excuse or blame somebody else or whatever,” DeRozan said. “But sticking through something always teaches you a lesson.”
Though he’s never been known to demand a trade, DeRozan has been moved twice: from the Raptors to the Spurs in July 2018 for forward Kawhi Leonard, and from San Antonio to Chicago in an Aug. 2021 sign-and-trade.
His move to the Bulls in particular paid dividends, rejuvenating DeRozan’s career as he made second team All-NBA in 2022.
“Some people demand trades or demand certain things and they still don’t get what they want,” he said. “For me, I just wake up and try to be the best I can be that day and let it translate over.”
