Following a 49-33 regular season and a playoff run that included sweeping the defending champion Miami Heat out of the first round and losing a tough six-game series to the Detroit Pistons in the second round, the Bulls look to make the next step and return to dominance.
A season which started with eight new players, a 3-9 start, “head-band gate” by Ben Wallace and P.J. Brown requesting a trade, ended as by far the best season the Bulls have had since the Jordan era ended nine years ago.
However, all season long, the Bulls were hindered by their inability to score inside. If John Paxson and Scott Skiles are to build this team to dominate, they’re going to need a big man who can score. Without an inside presence, they will be no match for the powerhouses in the West, including Phoenix, San Antonio, Dallas and Utah.
The Bulls lost out on the Greg Oden-Kevin Durant sweepstakes, getting the ninth pick in the draft, courtesy of the Eddy Curry trade with the Knicks. This was expected, however, as they only had a 1.9 percent chance of winning the draft lottery. This summer, the Bulls will only have their mid-level exception to spend under the cap, $5.5 million, as Kirk Hinrich’s five-year, $47.5 million extension kicks in, and Ben Wallace is being paid $15 million a season for three more years.
Due to the NBA changing their draft rules, making it so Americans have to be one year out of high school, and foreign players 19-years-old, this is one of the deepest drafts ever because it has held phenomenal talents like Oden and Durant in college to gain more playing experience.
Because the Bulls will not have the money to make a splash in free agency, they will only be able to get a semi-decent veteran who can score inside. At pick nine in the draft, Yi Janlian from China, Joakim Noah from Florida, Spencer Hawes from Washington and Marc Gasol from Spain are expected to be available. None of these guys are expected to be major impact players like Oden or Durant, but unlike Wallace, they can score inside, which is what this team needs.
Although it may seem that it is impossible to make a trade for Kevin Garnett or Pau Gasol, it is not. I recently asked Chicago Tribune basketball writer Sam Smith how the Bulls would make the salaries match if they were to trade for the likes of Garnett or Gasol, as I looked at the payroll, and Wallace and Hinrich were the only players who could make a deal work. He said that I was right, they’d have to be included, but to do it without giving them up, they can still do it. He said they would have to do a sign-and-trade with P.J. Brown, and package some expiring contracts such as Chris Duhon and Victor Khryapa.
As for the current roster, there is plenty to do. Tyrus Thomas must develop a mid-range jumper. Luol Deng and Ben Gordon are due extensions, which Paxson says he will start working on in August, as he did last year for Hinrich. Thabo Sefolosha must continue to develop. Hinrich and Ben Gordon need to be more consistant with their play. Andres Nocioni must stay healthy. The Bulls coaching staff is going to need to monitor Hinrich’s minutes next season, as he is going to be playing for Team USA again this summer, despite the team’s wishes he not. Management has said they would prefer him to take it easy over the summer and lift, but they are not going to demand he not play.
While a lot of work is to be done, this team is very close to returning to dominance.