Bulls vet DeMar DeRozan has never asked for a trade and won’t start now

NEW YORK – Denzel was spot on.

That’s why DeMar DeRozan posted a clip from the movie “Training Day,’’ in which Alonzo Harris – played by actor Denzel Washington – tells Ethan Hawke’s character, “This is a newspaper, right? It’s 90 percent bulls**t, but it’s entertaining. That’s why I read it.’’

A day later, DeRozan decided to add his own words into the mix.

There was a story by Bleacher Report on Thursday, insisting that “rival NBA executives’’ believed DeRozan would ask for a trade at the end of the season if the Bulls couldn’t pull above the hard deck they’ve been flying under so far this season.

And while DeRozan wasn’t about to deny that maybe there’s some executives that actually feel that way, those executives must have also proven to be tone deaf to the last 14 years of his NBA career.

“I take my job as a professional, honestly, and in every type of way,’’ DeRozan told the Sun-Times. “If I sign up for anything, my goal is to finish whatever I sign up for. That’s with anything in life. I signed up to be a father, not just a part-time father. I treat everything I do that way.

“I mean 14 years in my career, I’ve never talked about a trade, asked for a trade, anything. So when I see something like that [story], I try and make fun of it more than anything.’’

Hence, the video he put on his Instagram, which obviously caught some attention.

A: Because DeRozan doesn’t post much on social media, and B: It was clever.

“If they want to make up something, let me try and find something funny to play off of it. That’s all it is,’’ DeRozan said. “I don’t necessarily get caught up in it, but if I can poke some fun at it I’ll do that for sure.’’

Now, if it’s the Bulls that want to move off DeRozan at some point in the remainder of the three-year, $85-million deal he signed in 2021? That’s on them, but he reiterated that he would never demand a trade, no matter the circumstances.

He’s been traded twice, and he knows how difficult that is. Not only for him, but his family. That’s why he felt like the rumor came out of left field.

And while it might bother another player, DeRozan isn’t about that life.

“Obviously when you’re young in the league, don’t know nothing, you hear anything of that nature, and yeah it bothers you because you wonder where it came from,’’ DeRozan said. “The older I am, hell, I’m going to be honest with you – there’s nothing that bothers me. No he say, she say stuff … now, if my mom was saying some stuff [in the media] that would bother me, but no, don’t nothing bother me.

“We live in a world that’s full of opinionated people, and anyone can come up with something. These days I see fake pages acting like they’re Woj [ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski] or something. I just don’t get caught up in that. But if I’m in the mood, I’ll make fun of something like I did [Thursday].’’

What will get interesting is if teammates actually start making their demands to be moved elsewhere public. DeRozan admitted that he’s never been on a team where a player did that, but what if a Zach LaVine insists he wants out? How would DeRozan take that?

“I could never tell a grown man how they should feel about their business because there may be more to it,’’ DeRozan said. “It might not be just basketball. It might be something personal or family related. I never want to discourage anyone or make them feel worse about a situation they’re going through.’’