By The Bulls Past Sucsess and Recent Failure
The Chicago Bulls once again are relevant in the NBA. And while the Bulls are considered an all time great franchise. Their recent history hasn’t shown them much success. In the 1990’s the Bulls dominated the NBA. Led by Michael Jordan they won 6 championships throughout the decade and were the gold standard for the league. But since Michael Jordan left the Bulls after the 1997-1998 season the Bulls have had very little success. They would go on to miss the playoffs the next 7 times over the 10 seasons and 6 years in a row from 1998-2004.
The Rise and Fall of Derrick Rose
In 2008 the Bulls drafted Derrick Rose with the first overall pick and it looked like the Bulls found their next franchise player. He was immediately an impact player averaging 17 points 4 rebounds and 6 assists his rookie season and taking home Rookie of the year. By his second season he was already an All Star, and in his 3rd season at age 22 he won league MVP. Making him the youngest player to ever win that award. The future looked bright for the Bulls heading into the 2011-2012, they had just had the most successful season since the Micheal Jordan era finishing the regular season with a record of 62-20 and they had made a deep playoff run. And most importantly they had Derrick Rose the youngest MVP ever and the guy that would be able to lead their franchise to the promiseland.
And then late during game 1 of the Bulls V.S. 76ers Series Dereck Rose landed awkwardly on his knee, he was carried off the court and later diagnosed with a torn ACL. We did not know it at the time but that was the last time we would ever see MVP Derrick Rose. Since that Injury he has never been the same. And even though in the early 2010’s the Bulls did consistently make the playoffs they never made it out of the second round meaning they were never a serious Championship contender. And now they have not made the playoffs since 2017.
Chicago Bulls Acquire Nikola Vucevic
But that is all about to change. This offseason the Bulls have re-tooled their roster and not only have become a playoff team again, they have become a Dark horse championship contender. It all began this past season when at the trade deadline in March the Bulls acquired All-Star center Nikola Vucevic from the Magic for Wendell Carter Jr., Otto Porter Jr. and two first-round picks. Making this move to pair Vucevic with Zach Lavine made it clear that they are being aggressive and are looking to compete now. And in the offseason the Bulls continued to make major improvements to their team.
Lonzo Ball move/Bulls Busy Offseason
They started off their offseason moves by acquiring Pelicans guard Lonzo Ball via a sign-and-trade. The deal saw the Bulls send Garrett Temple, Tomas Satoransky, a future second round draft pick and some cash for Lozno Ball who also agreed to a 4 year, 85 million dollar contract with the Bulls. Ball is a great addition to the Bulls.
Last season he averaged 15 points, 5 rebounds and 6 assists. He is a great passer and an elite perimeter defender. And while earlier in his career he struggled as a three point shooter he now shoots a solid 39 percent from behind the arc. He will be able to facilitate the offense and create more opportunities and hellp increase production for Vucevic and Lavine. He is a great addition and he will without a doubt be the immediate starting point guard for them. The Bulls also signed Alex Caruso from the Lakers. Caruso will help strengthen the Bulls depth and will be a valuable asset coming off the bench. He was a key rotation piece for the 2020 champion Los Angeles Lakers. He also brings some championship experience to a fairly inexperienced Chicago Bulls team.
The DeRozan Move
The Bulls final big addition was DeMar DeRozan who they acquired in another sign-and-trade. DeRozan who is a 4 time All Star and has made the All NBA Team twice. He averaged 22 points, 7 rebounds and 4 assists per game last year. He brings a great Veteran presence and leadership that will help this young team grow. DeRozan will be the third option behind Lavine and Vucevic. Not many teams have a 3rd option that averages 22 points a game. With a core four players of Lavine, Vucevic, DeRozan and Ball along with guys like Patrick Williams, Colbie White and Alex Caruso the Bulls could make some serious noise this season. And challenge teams like the Bucks, Lakers and Nets as contenders for the championship.
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