East Notes: Bulls, DeMar DeRozan, Raptors, Hawks

Bulls

Small forward DeMar DeRozan refuted a report that indicated he could ask for a trade if things don’t improve for the Bulls.

“I take my job as a professional, honestly, and in every type of way,” DeRozan told Joe Cowley of the Chicago 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.”

DeRozan added he tends not to let rumors and reports get him down.

“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,” he said, per Cowley. “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.

• A separate report earlier this week suggested that DeRozan and guard Zach LaVine, while getting along personally, have had on-court chemistry issues. We have that full story here.

Raptors 

The Raptors have had an uneven start, but they halted their second winning streak in two games on Friday, by topping the Cavaliers, who had won five straight. They’re now 3-0 against the Cavs this season.

“We just wanted to play with speed and be aggressive from the start, make them take tough shots and go out and gang rebound,” forward OG Anunoby said. “If we play with energy and play with force, good things will happen.”

• The Raptors (15-18) snapped the Knicks’ winning streak at eight on Wednesday at Madison Square Garden. So not only have they won two in a row against two of the NBA’s hottest teams, they accomplished both on the road.

Hawks

Guard Dejounte Murray said the Hawks looked as focused as ever during Friday’s home win over the Pistons.

“In the NBA, anybody can be beaten on any given night, so it just shows that we wanted it,” Murray told reporters. “We executed, we took care of the ball, we played together and we won a great game.”

• Forward John Collins reportedly remains available in trade talks, just as he was during the offseason. We have the latest on Collins right here.