DeRozan, Ball, Caruso All Hoping They Can Do Something Special With The Bulls

CHICAGO (CBS) -- The Bulls' big three offseason additions all met with the Chicago news media for the first time this week.

DeMar DeRozan, Lonzo Ball, and Alex Caruso are all hoping - as DeRozan said – that they can do something special with the Bulls.

The Bulls are hoping these new additions - joining the core of Zach LaVine, Nikola Vucevic, and others - can help them make the leap to the playoffs and maybe more.

For a while, it seemed like no marquee free agents wanted to come to Chicago. But when they got Ball, that got the ball rolling - and DeRozan was quickly to follow.

"Once Lonzo signed, that made it even more appealing, and you can see what they were working towards, and it was something that I wanted to be a part of – and it wasn't too much of a pitch after that," DeRozan said.

"I think that they were the team that stood out that really wanted me for me, and at the end of the day, I want to go somewhere where I'm appreciated and I can play my game," Ball said, "and like I said, I think we have a lot of different players that do a lot of different things, and you know, that's what you want on the team."

Out of the three acquisitions, Caruso may have been a little under the radar. But the 27-year-old guard entering his fifth year should play a big role for the Bulls.

Caruso has championship experience playing for the Los Angeles Lakers, and is known as one of the best defensive guards in the NBA.

"Toughness to me, you know, I think is just doing the right thing every time, you know, whether that's – whatever your job is on any given play for basketball," he said. "You know, care factor is a big part of it, you know – it goes back to the same toughness question – you know, care in every possession; having the mindset of… you've got to score and keep trying to win games – you know, that's something that I can provide day in and day out."

The Bulls summer league team played Sunday night Rookie and Chicago native Ayo Dosunmu had 20 points in the fourth quarter.