{"id":426451,"date":"2022-04-04T19:57:53","date_gmt":"2022-04-04T16:57:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/lebron-james-deserves-demar-derozan-blame\/"},"modified":"2022-04-04T19:57:53","modified_gmt":"2022-04-04T16:57:53","slug":"lebron-james-deserves-demar-derozan-blame","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/lebron-james-deserves-demar-derozan-blame\/","title":{"rendered":"#LeBron James deserves DeMar DeRozan &#8216;blame&#8217;"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_84 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a2f4b985c62e\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a2f4b985c62e\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-1'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/lebron-james-deserves-demar-derozan-blame\/#%E2%80%9CLeBron_James_deserves_DeMar_DeRozan_%E2%80%98blame%E2%80%9D\" >&#8220;LeBron James deserves DeMar DeRozan &#8216;blame&#8217;&#8221;<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h1>&#8220;LeBron James deserves DeMar DeRozan &#8216;blame'&#8221;<\/h1>\n<div>\n<aside class=\"single__inline-module alignleft\">\n<\/aside>\n<p>Magic Johnson wanted the Lakers to pursue DeMar DeRozan in the offseason over Russell Westbrook. <\/p>\n<p>The Lakers legend was discussing this season\u2019s roster makeup Monday, during consecutive <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/download-scripts-themes-apps\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"9\" title=\"Download Scripts &amp; Themes &amp; Apps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">app<\/a>earances on ESPN\u2019s morning shows, \u201cGet Up\u201d and \u201cFirst Take.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>After giving praise to the Lakers\u2019 leading scorer, LeBron James, Johnson said the franchise face is to blame for L.A. passing up DeRozan \u2014 who signed a three-year, $82 million deal last August via a sign-and-trade with the Spurs.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe blame that he\u2019s got to take is the fact that DeRozan ended up in Chicago and not with the Lakers. DeRozan wanted to play for the Lakers and when I got the call from his agent, [Aaron Goodwin], I called the Lakers, said, \u2018Hey [DeRozan] wants to come home,&#8217;\u201d Johnson <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=ilo2r9dn94s\">said on \u201cGet Up.\u201d <\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe could\u2019ve made that deal. But when Russell and LeBron started talking, that\u2019s when they nixed that deal and went with Westbrook\u2026\u00a0If you signed DeRozan and you only trade [Kyle] Kuzma for Buddy Hield, we would be playing in the Western Conference championship this year with those two guys.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>DeRozan is a Compton, Calif. native, and attended USC for a year before the Raptors took him No. 9 overall in the 2009 NBA Draft.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1024\" height=\"682\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/04\/DeMar-DeRozan-magic.jpg?w=1024\" alt=\"DeMar DeRozan\" class=\"wp-image-21772576\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/04\/DeMar-DeRozan-magic.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1535 1536w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/04\/DeMar-DeRozan-magic.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all 1024w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/04\/DeMar-DeRozan-magic.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=512 512w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\"\/><figcaption>DeMar DeRozan (11) playing for the Bulls against the Clippers on March 31, 2022.<\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">Icon Sportswire via Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The Lakers acquired Westbrook last summer in hopes of forming a Big 3 with James and Anthony Davis, but their master plan never came to fruition. Injuries kept James and Davis sidelined throughout the season, and Westbrook has struggled on both ends of the floor for the majority of the season.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI called [Lakers <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/general\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"3\" title=\"General\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">general<\/a> manager] Rob [Pelinka] and said, \u2018DeRozan wants to come play.\u2019 So I got out of the way\u2026 I went on vacation and the next thing I hear is we\u2019re not gonna sign DeRozan but trade for Westbrook,\u201d Johnson said on \u201cFirst Take\u201d later in the day. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey had the Buddy Hield trade already done and then backed out of it.\u00a0You have DeRozan and Hield, then you could\u2019ve kept [Alex] Caruso and KCP [Kentavious Caldwell-Pope]. Those guys are defenders. They\u2019re on-ball defenders\u2026 We\u2019d be competing for the Western Conference Finals.\u201d <\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1024\" height=\"682\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/04\/LeBron-James-magic.jpg?w=1024\" alt=\"LeBron James\" class=\"wp-image-21772589\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/04\/LeBron-James-magic.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1535 1536w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/04\/LeBron-James-magic.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all 1024w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/04\/LeBron-James-magic.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=512 512w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\"\/><figcaption>LeBron James reacts during the Lakers\u2019 loss to the Pelicans on April 1, 2022.<\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Hield was rumored to be heading to the Lakers from the Kings in a deal centered around Talen Horton-Tucker. Caruso signed a four-year, $37 million contact with the Bulls last August \u2014 four days after the Lakers traded Caldwell-Pope to Washington as part of a package for Westbrook. <\/p>\n<p>Westbrook is the highest-paid player on L.A.\u2019s roster,\u00a0earning $44 million, ahead of LeBron James ($41 million). The former league MVP and the Lakers reportedly have\u00a0mutual interest\u00a0about finding him a new team in the summer.<\/p>\n<p>Last November, DeRozan himself even said <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/sports.yahoo.com\/demar-derozan-opens-up-about-free-agency-move-i-felt-like-going-to-the-lakers-was-a-done-deal-180945526.html\">he believed he was going to be a Laker<\/a>. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cI felt like going to the Lakers was a done deal and that we were going to figure it out. I was going to come home,\u201d DeRozan told Yahoo Sports. \u201cThe business side of things just didn\u2019t work out. A couple of things didn\u2019t align. It didn\u2019t work out. It\u2019s just part of the business, part of the <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/game\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"7\" title=\"Game\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">game<\/a>. My next option was definitely Chicago. So, looking back at it, it worked out well.\u201d <\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1024\" height=\"682\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/04\/Magic-Johnson-Cookie.jpg?w=1024\" alt=\"Magic Johnson Lakers\" class=\"wp-image-21772604\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/04\/Magic-Johnson-Cookie.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1535 1536w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/04\/Magic-Johnson-Cookie.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all 1024w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/04\/Magic-Johnson-Cookie.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=512 512w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\"\/><figcaption>Magic Johnson and his wife Cookie at the Governors Awards on March 25, 2022.<\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The Post\u2019s Marc Berman previously reported\u00a0the Knicks were one of the teams DeRozan was most interested in joining before he committed to Chicago.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Johnson expressed his disappointment in the Lakers, who entered Monday in the 11th spot in the Western Conference with four games left in the regular season. Westbrook\u2019s failure to find his rhythm within the injury-plagued roster heavily contributed to the Lakers\u2019 season-long struggles. <\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, DeRozan is playing history-making basketball in Chicago, putting up career-high numbers in scoring. <\/p>\n<p>As of April 3, the Lakers have a<a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/projects.fivethirtyeight.com\/2022-nba-predictions\/\">\u00a00.7 percent\u00a0chance of making the NBA Playoffs<\/a>, according to FiveThirtyEight\u2019s projections. The play-in tournament begins April 12 and concludes April 15. <\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1024\" height=\"682\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/04\/LeBron-Davis-Westbrook.jpg?w=1024\" alt=\"Lakers\" class=\"wp-image-21772627\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/04\/LeBron-Davis-Westbrook.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1535 1536w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/04\/LeBron-Davis-Westbrook.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all 1024w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/04\/LeBron-Davis-Westbrook.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=512 512w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\"\/><figcaption>LeBron James (l.), Anthony Davis (3) and Russell Westbrook (0) on the bench late in the Lakers\u2019 loss to the Nuggets on April 3, 2022.<\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">Los Angeles Times via Getty Imag<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Lakers head coach Frank Vogel has also been at the center of speculation about his job security amid the LA\u2019s disastrous season. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe can\u2019t point the fingers just at Vogel,\u201d Johnson said on \u201cGet Up.\u201d \u201cRussell, you got to take responsibility and say, \u2018I didn\u2019t play well for four, five months.\u2019 AD, you have to stay healthy\u2026 Maybe next season, they have to look at you and be like maybe you need to be somewhere else\u2026 Somebody\u2019s got to take the blame. Someone\u2019s got to be the fall guy and that\u2019s probably going to be Vogel.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>Johnson added that he \u201cfeels sorry for LeBron,\u201d because of the type of season the 37-year-old is having. James is averaging 30.3 points, 8.2 rebound and 6.2 assists this season. <\/p>\n<p>Last month, James passed Karl Malone for second on the NBA\u2019s all-time scoring list, trailing only Lakers legend Kareem Abudl-Jabbar.<\/p>\n<p>James sat out Sunday\u2019s 129-118 loss to the Nuggets with a nagging ankle injury. The 31-47 Lakers play the West-leading Suns in Phoenix Tuesday.\n                        <\/p><\/div>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMLG0nwswvr63Aw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">For forums sites go to <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/forum.buradabiliyorum.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Forum.BuradaBiliyorum.Com<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/news\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"2\" title=\"News\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">News<\/a> articles, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/news\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">News category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2022\/04\/04\/magic-johnson-lebron-james-deserves-demar-derozan-blame\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;LeBron James deserves DeMar DeRozan &#8216;blame&#8217;&#8221; Magic Johnson wanted the Lakers to pursue DeMar DeRozan in the offseason over Russell Westbrook. The Lakers legend was discussing this season\u2019s roster makeup Monday, during consecutive appearances on ESPN\u2019s morning shows, \u201cGet Up\u201d and \u201cFirst Take.\u201d After giving praise to the Lakers\u2019 leading scorer, LeBron James, Johnson said&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":426452,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/04\/Magic-derozan-lebron.jpg?quality=75&strip=all&w=1024","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[70897],"tags":[127543,30779,127575,223,71190,94954,3674,80150],"class_list":["post-426451","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-4-4-22","tag-chicago-bulls","tag-demar-derozan","tag-lebron-james","tag-los-angeles-lakers","tag-magic-johnson","tag-nba","tag-russell-westbrook"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/426451","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=426451"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/426451\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/426452"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=426451"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=426451"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=426451"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}