It’s a shame nobody can see me as I write this piece, because I literally have my face in my hands at the thought of Gar Foreman and John Paxton trying (yet again) to rebuild the Chicago Bulls. The “dynamic duo” of Foreman and Paxton have continuously gotten Chicago into some controversial deals, as every year since the end of the 2014-2015 season, the Bulls’ front office has clearly been attempting to shake up the team in some way or fashion, but just as clearly, their efforts have failed miserably.
Let us recall the firing of our beloved coach Tom Thibodeau after the 2015 season, every Bulls fan was shocked and enraged with the outcome, especially because the Bulls had just finished a great season with 50 wins in the regular season along with a great playoff performance against the Bucks and Cavaliers. That’s not even mentioning the fact that the Bulls could have advanced to the Eastern Conference Finals and thus, possibly the NBA Finals had it not been for some questionable calls in Game 4 of the Semifinals (all true Bulls fans understand what I’m talking about, but after all, it’s for another day).
Eventually, during the 2016 offseason, the Bulls front office decided to trade our hometown hero, 2011 MVP, 2009 ROY, or most simply put, Derrick Rose. The trade was shocking and it hurt true Bulls fans, as we had watched the young man grow and prosper under Coach Thibodeau. The city of Chicago lost a true hero that day, and the kid that would one day return our franchise back to its glory days of the 90’s was gone. Although we were able to acquire Dwayne Wade and Rajon Rondo, they still were not the same as what Rose had once been.
Now, during today’s 2017 offseason, the Bulls look so much different than they did just a few weeks ago. If trading away Rose wasn’t a big enough blow to fans already, the Bulls decided to trade away our star, Jimmy Butler. Butler, along with our 16th pick in the draft this year, were traded to the Minnesota Timberwolves in exchange for Zach Lavine, Kris Dunn, and their 7th pick in the draft this year. In essence, the Bulls gave Minnesota the key to the Playoffs next season in exchange for a dump on the front porch of every Bulls fans’ homes. Before you criticize my comparison, just think with me for second…
Lavine tore his ACL and had to miss the second half of last season so his chances for a re-injury are higher now (this tale sounds pretty familiar right Bulls fans?). Dunn didn’t do too much this previous season, but I’ll admit, he has high potential to shine in a big market like Chicago. And finally our newest member, Lauri Markkanen, has yet to play in the league so we have no idea what he is capable of yet. All in all, Minnesota got a much better deal out of this than the Bulls did. I find it funny too because now that Minnesota has a big three in Towns, Wiggins, and Butler, many free agents like Taj Gibson and Jamal Crawford have begun to migrate over as well. In fact, the Timberwolves are now my third favorite team due to the fact that they essentially recreated part of the 2015 Bulls team (they even have Thibodeau as their head coach).
For Chicago however, we as fans don’t have much to look forward to this upcoming season. Although the East continues to worsen as players migrate West (minus Hayward), the Bulls will have very minimal talent to lead them back to the Playoffs. The Bulls already released Rondo, so the last piece of true talent that remains from last season is our veteran leader, Dwayne Wade. The so called “rebuild” that the Bulls are currently in seems to be going nowhere and as a true fan, I am not looking forward to the next few seasons. Our only real chance is that one of these young guys comes out of nowhere and surprises the franchise with a new star in the making. I have many doubts for the Bulls, but hopefully something good can come from all of this renovation. Once again, prepare yourselves Chicago. It’s gonna be a painful and bumpy couple of seasons.
