Should the Bulls Look to Sell?
By: Jacob Rayyan
The Chicago Bulls may have gone through one of the most unique up-and-down starts to the NBA season that fans have seen in recent memory.
It started when Derrick Rose was traded in the offseason. Many among Chicago’s fan base, including myself, were distraught. We called for the heads of the the executives, demanding that Gar Forman and John Paxon be fired and change the owners of the organization.
It seemed as though the fans judged them too soon. Shortly afterward, the Bulls announced that they were signing Rajon Rondo to a two-year contract. This was good news, as Rondo had just led the Sacramento Kings the year before in total assists as he looked to put his past troubles with the Celtics and Mavericks behind him. Overall, while the fans knew that Rose had the potential to be more explosive, they were okay taking the slow-and-steady approach of Rondo over the risk of continuing to play Rose.
The front office, however, had much more to come. Dwyane Wade, a Chicago native born and raised, had reportedly been struggling with negotiations with the only team he has ever played for in the Miami Heat. Reports slowly started coming in that Wade was looking at other offers from various teams. It was only a matter of time, however, that reports started coming in that Wade was interested in the Bulls. Eventually, the reports began to confirm the incredible; Wade was returning home to the Chicago Bulls on a two-year, $47-million contract.
The Bulls instantly had their three main stars. Jimmy Butler was an emerging star in the league and quickly established himself as one of the best two-way players in the league. Dwyane Wade was a future Hall-of-famer, a three-time NBA champion and, while he was still on the decline, he has shown that he is still able to take over a game in the fourth quarter if he needs to. Rondo is a former All-star and has an NBA championship ring to his name. Rondo had a falling out with the Celtics and the Mavericks, but had shown in the previous season that he was still capable of being a productive player.
The season started out well for the Bulls as they were competing well with an 11-7 record through the first nearly quarter of the season. However, things started to make a turn for the worse after the first two weeks of the season. Suddenly, the Bulls had a hard time defending the paint and predictably, their three-point shooting was lackluster at best.
Many of the ESPN forecasters had predicted that the Bulls would struggle as a team from three-point range. As of now, all the predictions have been eerily true. The Bulls are last in the league in three-point attempts, three-point shots made, and three point shooting percentage as a team. In today’s NBA, many teams live or die by three point shooting. The Bulls, predictably, have struggled. Their season has been tumultuous at best. They have been hovering around .500 for the last few weeks and have shown no signs of improving on their situation.
As the team enters the All-Star break, the Bulls will look to improve on their league-low three-point defensive shooting as they try to make a run and improve their playoff positioning. The Bulls are not quite in the rebuilding mode and should not be looking to trade Jimmy Butler at the trade deadline. If anything, they should look to ship their young talent to a cellar dweller with some talent and make a run with the current team. When this team is playing at their best, they have three playmakers in Rondo, Wade, and Butler. They have big men up front with Cristiano Felicio, Robin Lopez, and Taj Gibson. Lastly, they have the shooters from behind the arc with Doug McDermott and Nikola Mirotic. This team has the talent to succeed and with the right push and motivation should be strong enough to finish in the middle seeds in the East and make a run to try and represent the Eastern Conference in the NBA FInals.
