USC Men's Basketball: Can Aging All-Star Ex-Trojan Can Nab Big Free Agent Money?

One of the best scorers of his generation, a legend on the hardwood for your USC Trojans faces some questions about his NBA future, both this season and in the years to come.

Now entering his 15th season in the NBA overall and his third with the Chicago Bulls, DeMar DeRozan's future in the Windy City and the league could be a situation worth monitoring this year, according to Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report.

The Chicago Bulls lost more games (42) than they won (40), but the team had to push through several injuries (most notably to Lonzo Ball). At 34, DeMar DeRozan is still one of the league's most talented scorers. While he's not known for his three-point shooting, few players can score like he can in the midrange. DeRozan averaged 24.5 points a game last season and played 150 regular season games through two years in Chicago. Perhaps the Bulls will issue an extension, but if not, DeRozan just needs to continue scoring as he has over his entire career. It would help if the team won more games to raise his stock even further, but Chicago's issues run deeper than any shortcomings DeRozan might have (roster composition, depth, health, etc.). If not the Bulls, DeRozan will have suitors when the time comes.

via Eric Pincus, Bleacher Report

With the franchise on the downswing due to their other former Pac-12 college hoops legend Lonzo Ball struggling with injury, the Bulls still made a win now move by re-signing fellow USC star and teammate of DeRozan, Nikola Vucevic to a new three year deal.

Confusing as the decision may be, it seems like Chicago is content to strive for a middling (but by no means guaranteed) playoff spot with DeRozan and another UCLA alum, Zach LaVine, leading their attack.

Whether or not this experiment will work out for the team remains to be seen (spoiler alert: it won't), as well as DeRozan's place on their team in addition to what a new contract could look like.