The Los Angeles Lakers had a disastrous outing last season. Their off-season move to pair Russell Westbrook with LeBron James and Anthony Davis ended up failing spectacularly, and they failed to make the playoffs. But before this move was made, the Lakers had nearly signed a five-time All-Star to team up with Bron and AD instead.

Before the Westbrook move was made, the Lakers were heavily linked to DeMar DeRozan. He is a California native and wanted to come to the Lakers. And his team at that time was the San Antonio Spurs, and they were interested in trading DeRozan away.

But the Lakers pulled the plug on the trade and switched their sights to Russell Westbrook. DeRozan was later traded to the Chicago Bulls.

The move for DeRozan was in an advanced stage and many thought it was a foregone conclusion. Lakers legend Magic Johnson was even in contact with DeRozan and had visited him as well. Even DeRozan thought he was gonna end up going to the Los Angeles Lakers.

DeMar DeRozan was sure he was going to join LeBron James and the Lakers

DeRozan was on ‘The Old Man & Three’ podcast and addressed what happened at the time. He said, “To my knowledge, I thought it was a done deal. I remember I took a trip to Mexico just to get away…”

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“I’m asleep one morning in Mexico. I get a call from Kyle Lowry. And he said, ‘They just made the trade for Russ. What’s going on? I thought the deal was done for you for the Lakers.’ And I was like, ‘I’m confused.’ I’m looking at my phone like, ‘Damn, that did happen. Well, I guess that’s out the window'”. 

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DeRozan was sure that he was going to the Lakers and when it didn’t happen, he was shocked. And after that, he started looking at other options. He eventually signed with the Chicago Bulls, where he undoubtedly had one hell of a season. He was in the conversation for MVP all season long and the Bulls made the playoffs. Had their season not been hampered by injuries, the Bulls could have had a different ending to their run.

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The Lakers meanwhile never got off the ground, and they had to deal with injuries to LeBron James and Anthony Davis. And by the end of it, they even failed to make the play-in tournament. They are looking like they are sticking with the same core as last season.

How do you think the Lakers and DeRozan would have done last season had the deal gone through? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.