Chicago Bulls 2009-2010 Quarterly Report

It is about a quarter of the way into the 2009-2010 season, and the Chicago Bulls have seemingly regressed from last year. The Bulls are notoriously slow starters, and still have time to make a playoff push in the East, with a 7-12 record. So far the team has not looked good. The loss of Ben Gordon has hurt the team more than expected, the Bulls rank 28th in the league in scoring. Kirk Hinrich and Tyrus Thomas have both been sidelined with injuries, which hasn’t helped the team. Even with a healthy lineup, the Bulls have struggled to compete some nights. With that being said, since drafting Derrick Rose, the Bulls have failed to effectively build the team around Rose.

It all started with the hiring of Head Coach Vinnie Del Negro. The Bulls should have committed sooner to Mike D’Antoni. Rose would have thrived in D’Antoni’s 7-seconds or less offense (being one of the fastest players in the league). Instead Del Negro gets confused on the sidelines, the confusion seems to rub-off on Rose at times – as the Bulls offense sometimes looks stagnant. The Bulls have problems on the court, some players simply don’t mesh well with Rose. The Bulls shoot .432% from the field as a team (27th in the league), and .311% from three (23rd in the league), and are in the bottom ten for team assists per game at 19.5. The Bulls do have decent stats in team defense, ranking around the middle of the league in most categories. The bottom line is that the Bulls need to improve this season, without jeopardizing the summer of 2010 free agency. The Bulls might be best to let Del Negro finish off the season to see what he can accomplish, but Bulls management should be keeping an eye open for a Head Coach to hire next summer, one who likes to run a fast pace offense and swarming defense. Until then, the Bulls can still make a few trades to better their team this season and keep the franchise appealing for possible free agents this summer.

The Bulls need to add: perimeter shooting, high and low post scoring, and playmakers to help push them back into the playoffs. Here is the 2009-2010 roster priorities for the Chicago Bulls:

• Build around Derrick Rose

• The Bulls have one superstar-in-the-making player on the roster, and that is Derrick Rose. The Bulls will obviously try to find a go-to scoring option in free agency this summer, to pair with Rose, but until then the Bulls must do a better job of getting role-players around him. Rose is a player who plays extremely fast, who gets up and down the court, and pass-first. That means you need players who like to defend, run, and can shoot. It doesn’t hurt to have players who like to streak to the basket either.

• Keep: Joakim Noah, Luol Deng, Taj Gibson, and Kirk Hinrich

• Noah is proving himself to be a double-double threat and a pest on defense. Noah has a winning attitude and a swagger to go with it. He is the perfect garbage man in the middle of the Bulls defense, who does all the dirty work for the teams. Now the Bulls need to pair him with a scoring power forward.

• Luol Deng is a great fit with Rose. Deng is always the trailer running behind Rose and often cleans up a lot of Rose’s takes to the rim on fast breaks. Deng does not hold onto the ball and slow down the offense, and does not take bad shots. He is an effective team player, who puts himself in position to hit a high percentage of shots. Luol Deng is a keeper on this team, but may be best suited as a third or fourth scoring option.

• Taj Gibson has displayed a strong work ethic early on in the season. He is a keeper because he plays hard on both ends, and seems to complement Rose out their on offense. He is best suited coming off the bench for the Bulls – but is starting until they get reinforcements.

• Kirk Hinrich is not going anywhere. He is the ultimate glue-guy on the team. He can defend the one, two, and occasionally the three, and is a team player. He has never complained about his diminished role on the team, and is still a leader in the clubhouse. He plays well with Rose, because he does not need the ball in his hands to be effective.

Just because those are the only keepers, doesn’t mean the Bulls have to trade the rest of the guys right now. It simply means that the rest of the players should not be in the long-term plans for the team. The Bulls can maintain cap space for the summer, and acquire a few players that better fit the team.

• Trade Tyrus Thomas

• Since we don’t know who would accept or not accept a Tyrus Thomas trade, here are a couple of trades involving Thomas that would make sense for both teams.

1. Bulls send Tyrus Thomas to the Housten Rockets for Carl Landry and Kyle Lowery. It makes sense for both teams. All of the players are in the last year of their deal so the numbers match up. The Rockets could take a chance with a project player like Tyrus and try to turn him into a force playing alongside Yao in the future. Landry would be a tough, hard-nosed post player for the Bulls, who could benefit from playing next to Noah and with Rose. Lowry would be a throw in in the deal, but could end up seeing minutes with the Bulls.
2. Bulls send Tyrus Thomas to the Washington Wizards for Randy Foye and Dominic McGuire. Both teams are struggling right now and could use some tweaking to their rosters. The Wizards have a lot of players who need to have the ball to create for themselves to be good. The chemistry is not clicking in Washington. Foye is not seeing much action, and they would benefit from having a defensive player like Tyrus to roam the court. The Bulls could use Foye’s scoring ability off the bench, as he could be a poor-man’s version of Ben Gordon for the remainder of the season.

• Trade John Salmons

• Salmons is a nice player, but he has never adjusted to his starting role at shooting guard. Here are some trades the Bulls might consider, if either of the Tyrus Thomas trades above go through.

1. Bulls send John Salmons to the Phoenix Suns for Leandro Barbosa. Both players have two years left on their deals at about six million dollars per year. Salmons could put the Suns in better position in the post season, having a big two guard who can defend, to come off the bench for them. He could even spell Gran Hill at the small forward position, to save Hill’s legs for the post season. Barbosa only sees about twenty minutes a game this season, and could be awakened with a change of scenery. The Bulls could then start Hinrich at the two (like a new era Jeff Hornacek) next to Rose, and have Barbosa as the scoring 6th man.
2. Bulls send John Salmons and James Johnson to the Charlotte Bobcats for Boris Diaw. This trade would allow the Bobcats to slide Gerald Wallace to power forward, who basically is a power forward (averaging over ten boards a game). Then have Stephen Jackson and John Salmons playing either the two or three. This would provide flexibility in Charlotte’s lineup. As for the Bulls, we would have a skilled power forward I Diaw to fill in at the four-spot and help the ball movement on offense.

Trade scenario one is the best option for the Bulls. If both trades effectively went through from scenario one, the Bulls would be left with the same amount of cap space for this summer’s free agency, and their lineup would look like this:

- Point Guard – Derrick Rose               – Backup PG – Kyle Lowery
- Shooting Guard – Kirk Hinrich        - Backup SG – Leandro Barbosa
- Small Forward Luol Deng                 – Backup SF – James Johnson
- Power Forward – Carl Landry         - Backup PF – Taj Gibson
- Center Joakim Noah                           – Backup C – Brad Miller

This roster would propel the Bulls in the playoffs. The team would have an improved field goal percentage with Landry scoring effectively down low, and better three-point shooting with Barbosa on the perimeter. The Bulls would also still be solid defensively, if not better. If this trade can’t get worked out the Bulls may consider trade scenario number two. It isn’t as appealing as scenario one, but still will keep the Bulls with the same cap space for this summer. Trade scenario two would make the Bulls look like this:

- Point Guard – Derrick Rose            – Backup PG – Jannero Pargo
- Shooting Guard – Kirk Hinrich     – Backup SG – Randy Foye
- Small Forward – Luol Deng            - Backup SF – Dominic McGuire
- Power Forward – Boris Diaw         – Backup PF – Taj Gibson
- Center – Joakim Noah                      – Backup C – Brad Miller

This new-look roster wouldn’t be as good as the first option, but would still give the Bulls a better team. Diaw would be a nice fit, he can pass and shoot, and Foye would be a good scoring option off the bench. I think this would provide the Bulls with a little more scoring, and better team chemistry.

The Bulls have not lived up to expectations at this point in the season. If Gar Forman takes these priorities into account, the team will succeed. Either of the trades suggested would give the Bulls a better competitive advantage, without sacrificing the cap space for free agency this summer (2010).

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