DeMar DeRozan Just Tested Positive For COVID-19 And I'm Convinced We Can't Have Nice Things In Chicago
Pretty easy to blog Woj stuff because he covers it in depth so much out of the gate. DeRozan coming off ECPOTW award averaging 30+ and bending his opponents to his mid range will. He's in healthy and safety protocol and can't play tonight. Not sure how long this impacts things due to testing and isolation and HIPAA information we're not privy to. Surely more details come out in the coming hours and days but for now it just means a big shitburger for the Denver game. He's out tonight and there's a lot of people holding Bulls -4.5 and Bulls ML parlayed with the Bills ML. As much as I love these Bulls, that kinda blows.
Objectively - DeRozan has been unstoppable this year. The combination of him and LaVine is legitimately a tier-1 NBA perimeter mix. You could have argued before on paper that it was a good fit, but now you're seeing how easy they get along in real time and how well they play off each other. In all respects though, they're exceeding just about everybody's expectations no matter how positive you were going into the season. There's a lot of love to go around but you have to start with DeRozan and LaVine paired together.
From there, Caruso, Billy, Lonzo, AK, (now) Vooch, Ayo & the bench mob. Everybody gets a taste of the success on this Bulls team. Hear me now and believe me later - this is no fluke. You're looking at a squad that should hang at the top of the Eastern Conference barring major depth issues. Like, for example, say a COVID outbreak. That would suck.
Hopefully this is just a 24 hour thing. I can't imagine COVID having any more success against DeRozan than the rest of the NBA. You legitimately can't stick to this guy once he gets within 15 feet. Fingers crossed he's got his A-game going with the virus. Would hate to see him start slowing down now that we've got all this momentum.
Finally, the DeBallZach unfortunately goes back into hiding tonight which blows because it's undefeated and fucking people up.
Maybe we pivot to a two headed monster? I'll talk to the Big Boys on the trading floor and see what the price looks like. That's such a power sentence when you think about it.
Anyways I'm actually pumped to see what the Bulls look like without him. Obviously not as good as they are with him. But now we have to go out and spread 20 more shots around. Only sensible to make Lonzo your pick to click. There's your analysis.
Get better DeMar. We'll celebrate your award tomorrow on Red Line. You guys can subscribe here.