Chicago Bulls “Dreaming Team”

When a team invests into a player via the draft or free agency, there are always expectations that follow. Sometimes a player can bring a buzz to a team or city and help revive a forgotten franchise. The word “savior” is thrown around an awful lot in the NBA. We have seen it with LeBron James brought the Cleveland Cavaliers from an annually irrelevant team to perennial contenders in the East. Shaquille O’Neal was traded to the Miami Heat and returned the favor with a championship in his second year there. The Kevin Garnett and Al Jefferson trade netted the Celtics a championship the first year KG played with the team. However, sometimes the arrival of a new player never brings pride and prosperity to the team that took a chance on them. Since 1998, the Chicago Bulls have had a crappy team’s worth of players who never lived up to their lofty expectations; but they have also had some players have opportunities to succeed – only to fall short. Here is the Chicago Bulls “Dreaming Team” since 1998, players that for whatever reason could not live up to the hype that came with putting on a Bulls jersey in Jordan’s shadow:

Point Guard – Jason Williams

• Drafted with the second overall pick in the 2002 NBA Draft out of Duke, Jason Williams was one of the most highly touted point-guards coming out of college since Jason Kidd. Williams was in the conversation for the number overall pick even though Yao Ming (one of the most anticipated centers of this era) was also on the draft board. The Houston Rockets Selected Yao because they already had their own All-Star point-guard at the time (Steve Francis) leaving the Bulls with the prize collegiate player. NBA experts and analysts all labeled Williams as a “can’t miss” prospect after an illustrious career at Duke where he earned both the Naismith Award and Wooden Award as College Basketball’s Player of the Year in 2002. He also helped lead Duke to a victory in the National Championship game that year. The nbA was so ready for Jason Williams arrival that they invited him to play on the 2002 FIBA World Championship team. J-Will’s rookie season with the Bulls was filled with ups-and-downs but displayed his potential throughout the campaign. He started out off battling minutes with incumbent point-guard Jamal Crawford. He went on to start 54 games and average 9.5 points, 2.6 rebounds, 4.7 assists and 1.2 steals per game; all while shooting a sub-par .399% from the field. Williams did manage to post a triple-double against Jason Kidd and the New Jersey Nets, flashing some of that game-breaking potential. At the end of his rookie year it was safe to say the expectations for Williams had not yet been reached. Still, most people familiar with the NBA predicted Williams would begin to flourish with a year under his belt. Before fans got the chance to see if these expectations would hold true, Jason Williams crashed his Yamaha YZF-R6 sport bike into a pole on a Chicago street. The crash severed a main nerve in his leg, fractured his pelvis and tore three ligaments in his left knee including the ACL and required physical therapy to regain the use of his leg. A week later the Bulls drafted point guard Kirk Hinrich to replace Williams who most certainly would never play in the NBA again. Many months later, after it was clear Williams would not be returning to the Bulls for some time, he was waived. Jason Williams was not a complete bust, his career still had a ton of untapped potential. Bulls fans will never know what could have been accomplished with Williams at the helm for the majority of this decade. Drafted behind Williams were future All-Stars: Amar’e Stoudemire, Caron Butler and former Duke teammate Carlos Boozer (whom the Bulls also passed on in the second round, opting for Roger Mason Jr.).

Shooting Guard – Kobe Bryant

• I still remember the Kobe Bryant to Chicago rumors like it was yesterday. It was in the fall of 2007 when the a video of Kobe telling to fans to “Get a Bulls jersey”. He was referencing a trade that would land him in Chicago. Kobe has a no-trade clause and became intent on being traded to Chicago; due to his disappointment with the direction of the Los Angeles Lakers. At the time, the Lakers were asking for a package that included: Ben Gordon, Luol Deng, Tyrus Thomas and Joakim Noah. The Bulls and Kobe rejected that trade. Bryant was insistent that Luol Deng was not part of the deal, as he saw Deng as a new-age version of Scottie Pippen. If this deal would have went through the Bulls would have looked something like this in their first year with Kobe:

-Point Guard – Kirk Hinrich

-Shooting Guard – Kobe Bryant

-Small Forward – Luol Deng

-Power Forward – Andres Nocioni

-Center – Ben Wallace

-Top Reserves: Chris Duhon and Thabo Sefolosha

The Bulls roster would have gone six or seven deep. However, it would have been enough to contend in the weak East. The previous season the East sent an over-matched Cleveland team to finals the to get swept by San Antonio. With Kobe Bryant on the Bulls that would attract solid veteran players to sign with the team for the chance to play with a contender; the same way San Antonio, Boston and Phoenix have done through the years. The Lakers were never on board with this deal and it never went through despite being virtually a “done-deal” throughout media outlets across the nation. The Bulls surely would have thrived had they nabbed Kobe Bryant. He and Kirk Hinrich would form one of the best defensive backcourts in the league. Luol Deng would be the slashing, mid-range shooting sidekick to Kobe’s lead. Andres Nocioni and Ben Wallace both would have provided the gritty work and garbage points, all while pestering opposing teams on defense. Chris Duhon and Thabo Sefolosha would be adequate role players off the bench. The Bulls would have eventually traded for or signed other key components to the team, possibly landing them to multiple NBA Finals appearances. It turned out to be one of the biggest rumors to circulate this decade and believed by most to be a foregone conclusion; in the end it turned out to be just that – a rumor.

Small Forward – Tyrus Thomas

• The Bulls drafted LaMarcus Aldridge second overall and traded him for Tyrus Thomas in the 2006 NBA Draft. The 2006 draft class was considered to be one of the weakest of the decade with no real superstars available. The Bulls needed a big-man that could score but decided to gamble on the player with the most “potential”. Tyrus Thomas was deemed that player. He had breathtaking athletic ability, being able to block shots with ease and dunk the ball at will in college. Many NBA scouts compared him to a Shawn Marion fused with Tracy McGrady type of player, but that never materialized. The Bulls would love Thomas to sprint the floor and use his jumping ability down-low to create mismatches. Tyrus sees himself more as a small forward though. On offense he has the tendency to float around the mid-range area waiting to shoot the ball; rarely does he slash to the lane or look to bang the boards for put-backs. So far Thomas’ career potential has been a slightly more athletic Stromile Swift. It is unknown whether or not Thomas will ever capitalize on his god-given gifts and beak free of the bad habits that has plagued his overall performance in the NBA. Thomas’ arrival to the Bulls in 2006 was suppose to be part of the reinforcements the Bulls needed in the playoffs, after playing the championship winning Miami Heat team to the brink of elimination the year before. The team did go on to sweep the Heat in the 2007 playoffs, only to lose to the Detroit Pistons the next round. Thomas did not play a significant role on the team’s success that season, averaging only 13.4 minutes per game in the regular season and only 12.2 minutes per game in the playoffs. The Bulls almost had a player they needed in LaMarcus Aldridge. Aldridge is a power forward who can shoot the mid-range jumper effectively and shows up every night to play. The Bulls also missed out on drafting Aldridge’s Blazer teammate and All-World shooting guard Brandon Roy. They opted not to draft Roy because they were set at shooting guard with Ben Gordon. Tyrus Thomas is another Bulls player who will never live up to the high expectations placed on him when he came to Chicago.

Power Forward – Tyson Chandler

• T he 2001 draft was the first draft to have a high school player drafted number one overall (Kwame Brown). It also featured a slew of other high school prospects, looking to strike gold in the NBA. The Bulls got the guy they were eying all along in Eddy Curry (more on him when we reach the “Center” position), then went ahead an did the unthinkable. Out of left field, Bulls GM Jerry Krause traded their franchise player and consistent 20-10 threat in Elton Brand, for the unproven high school star Tyson Chandler. Krause did not view Brand as a “championship caliber power forward” but for some reason saw Tyson Chandler as one. Chandler was constantly being compared to Kevin Garnett before playing the NBA. There was only one problem, Chandler could not shoot and was painfully awkward with the basketball. Krause had convinced himself that Chandler would be an elite power forward in the NBA on both ends of the floors, Bulls fans would soon find out he was wrong. Chandler never showed any confidence in his offensive game, usually freezing up whenever he touched the ball. He even struggled to stay on the floor due to lapses in judgment on defense. In the end of his Bulls stint, he was traded for an aging P.J. Brown. Chandler never lived up to his hype and is now on his third team since entering the league. The Bulls gave up an accomplished player in Elton Brand, to roll the dice on Tyson Chandler. Like many other gambles the Bulls have taken, it did not pay off.

Center – Eddy Curry

• In the 2001 NBA Draft the Bulls officially began a youth-movement, building around a pair of 7-footers directly out of high school. Eddy Curry was the prospect the Bulls were in puppy-love with. Curry had everything going for him. He was from Chicago, he was dubbed as “The Next Shaq” by many NBA scouts, and he could score in the low-post (something the Bulls have notoriously lacked throughout the history of the franchise). A front court of Elton Brand and Eddy Curry would be one of the biggest in the league – but not necessarily the most productive. Curry never scratched the potential he came to the NBA with. He has always been a decent low-post scorer, but was never good at anything else. There is a laundry list of things Eddy Curry refused to do during his stint with the Bulls, such as: not running the floor, not jumping for rebounds, being overweight and out of shape, committing stupid fouls and careless turnovers. Curry was and still is the definition of a lazy NBA player. The Bulls at least made a good deal when they traded Curry to the New York Knicks (they got the number two overall pick out of the deal in 2006). He now plagues the Knicks with the same type of problematic play. The Bulls missed out on a number of other highly talented NBA prospects in the 2001 draft. They passed on: Jason Richardson, Joe Johnson, Tony Parker and Gilbert Arenas (twice). The problem with the Bulls was that they were drafting on need (a big man) instead of taking the best player available. Eddy Curry was nothing but a complete disappointment in Chicago and shattered many fans dreams.

6th Man – Marcus Fizer

• The 2000 NBA Draft was one of the more forgettable ones in the past decade. The draft class was not very deep. To get an idea of how thin the talent was, Kenyon Martin was the first overall pick. The Bulls had there hearts-set on drafting Darius Miles, but the Los Angeles Clippers drafted him one spot ahead of the Bulls. The Bulls went with there backup plan and drafted Marcus Fizer out of Iowa State. The selection was fitting, the Bulls head coach at the time was Tim Floyd whose previous job was the head coach at Iowa State. Fizer was often compared to a less-athletic version of Charles Barkley. Experts got part of that comparison correct, he was not nearly as athletic as Charles Barkley was. Unfortunately, Fizer never turned out to be a quarter of the player Barkley was. He was a poor defender who did not appear to have the hardest work ethic. Questions about his commitment came into play and Fizer eventually found himself out of the league. He did have an occasional flash of offense on some nights, but ti was not enough to be part of a winning team. He never really looked like a basketball player to me. The Bulls also drafted Jamal Crawford in that draft, who also never panned out for the Bulls (although has had a decent career elsewhere around the league). The Bulls missed out on the opportunity to draft the likes of Hedo Turkoglu, and Michael Redd.

More often than not players do not reach their career potential in the NBA. The Bulls, and their fans seem to place insurmountable expectations on players coming to the team. Those expectations are often brought on because Bulls fans always compare everyone on the team to Michael Jordan, one way or another. Ever since Jordan left, no Bull has fully lived up to their potential or reached the desire goals of Chicago fans and media. But what are those goals, winning six championships and six NBA finals MVP’s? If that is the case, no Bulls player will ever reach that plateau. At the end of the day, these players made my Chicago Bulls “Dreaming Team”, because Bulls fans had dreams of these players bringing the team back to prominence in the NBA. For the reasons stated, none of the players lived up to their hype for the Bulls.

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