IT'S AN INSUFFERABLY hot day in early August, and Billy Donovan and the Chicago Bulls' coaching staff are gathered in Las Vegas for NBA summer league. Just a few days prior, the team had signed 31-year-old DeMar DeRozan to a three-year, $85 million contract, and the four-time All-Star had made the trip to join the team from his home in Southern California.
Donovan, whose Bulls had finished 11th in the East behind a 19th-ranked offense and an 11th-ranked defense, had questions -- and he wanted his new star guard to help answer them.