Editor's note: For the next six weeks, ESPN.com's NBA Insider Chad Ford will break down what last season's lottery teams need to do to get to the postseason in 2003.
Bulls fans, take a deep breath and let out a sigh of relief. Phase IV of Jerry Krause's "Organizations Win Championships" world tour is complete. You can now safely crawl out of your fallout shelters. The Bulls have come out of their second straight draft basically unscathed. There was no last minute deal to land Yao Ming. No sudden swoon when Mike Dunleavy Jr. batted his eyes at the Bulls. They stuck with their guns on draft night and drafted one of the few veterans in the draft. No, Jay Williams doesn't have any NBA playing experience. But compared to kids like Tyson Chandler and Eddy Curry, he's an elder statesman.
It's now been four full seasons since Michael Jordan last wagged his tongue in the United Center and Krause began to unfold his wretched plan of dismantling the world champions and turning them into the Washington Generals. Following Krause's torturous plan is a bit like following Congressional testimony. It changes by the minute.
Phase I introduced us to Elton Brand, a lovable, consistent lug who put up great numbers but grew tired of carrying the weight of Michael Jordan's Bulls all by himself.
Phase II gave us Marcus Fizer and Jamal Crawford. If there was ever a year not to have two lottery picks, it was 2000. If it's possible, those two picks actually set the Bulls back a few years. What isn't always talked about was that Krause actually had his sights set on Darius Miles, but a last minute change of heart by the Clippers threw the Bulls' draft into disarray. Phase II also gave us the summer of spurn. Tim Duncan, Grant Hill, Tracy McGrady, Eddie Jones, even Tim Thomas all said no to Bennie the Bull and Krause was forced to change his game plan once again.
Phase III started off as the summer of the sign-and-trade. Believe it or not, the Bulls were actually in pretty serious discussion with the Sonics about Gary Payton, the Knicks about Allan Houston and Marcus Camby and the Raptors about Antonio Davis. In the end, however, Krause decided that there just wasn't a core talent group capable of leading the Bulls to the promised land. So he traded his best player, Brand, for one of the draft's biggest question marks, Tyson Chandler.
If it was possible to blow up a blast site, Krause did it and assured the Bulls of having a decent shot to grab either Williams or Yao in the draft. A free agent signing of Eddie Robinson turned out to be a disaster, but Krause redeemed himself to a certain extent with a midseason trade for Jalen Rose. Rose added a veteran leader and the Baby Bulls, or, for the more cynical, Jerry's Kids, didn't turn out so bad.
Now, with this draft, Krause has the building blocks in place. He's got roughly $15 million in tradable assets, the attention of a dwindling fan base and a coach that has the respect of his team.
Can the Bulls go from the worst team in the East to a playoff team in one season? ESPN.com poured of depth charts, trade rumors, salary cap information and even sought the advice of a few NBA GMs to give you the five things the Bulls must do to get into the playoffs this season.
Step 1: Work out a sign-and-trade for Rashard Lewis
The Bulls desperately need a polished small forward to bind their high-octane backcourt to the big athletic frontcourt. Lewis is a perfect fit. He's young, athletic, but also has a few years of experience under his belt. His outside shooting is something they've desperately searched for and he'll be great on the break. What would Lewis cost the Bulls? At a minimum, Fizer and Crawford. Fizer and Crawford are solid players in their own right, but they'll be terrible fits on the new look Bulls. Fizer still has upside, but he has no future on the Bulls now that Chandler and Curry are running the show. The Bulls' attempt to turn him into a small forward was a joke. He could, however, give the Sonics that inside muscle they had hoped Vin Baker would bring. Crawford is always intriguing because of his height and ability to play the point. However, with Williams, Rose and Trenton Hassell taking the majority of the backcourt minutes, Crawford won't get the time needs to develop. The Seattle native would be a great fit on the Sonics, however. With Payton in the last year of his contract, Crawford could join a young nucleus of Fizer, Desmond Mason, Vladimir Radmanovic and Calvin Booth that would give the Sonics great cap flexibility and a solid base to build on for the future. If the Sonics are unwilling to deal, the T-Wolves could part with Wally Szczerbiak for that package and the Magic would likely dump Mike Miller in a heartbeat, even if the deal just included Crawford.
Step 2: Convince Travis Best to re-sign
The Bulls could go with a more veteran back-up point guard like Tim Hardaway, Terry Porter or Avery Johnson, but no one will give them the offensive firepower off the bench that Best does. Best has competed at the highest level and will have plenty of opportunities to play while Williams learns the ropes. The trick will be convincing Best not to bolt for greener pastures. It may mean that the Bulls overpay a little to keep him on board, but he is, no pun intended, their best option to mentor Williams in the backcourt.
Step 3: Use Charles Oakley as trade bait to land Popeye Jones
Krause's vision of Oakley mentoring Chandler and Curry last season was clearly flawed. Oakley didn't have the demeanor or patience for the Bulls' rebuilding project. To make matters worse, the Bulls quickly learned that Oakley no longer had the bite to back up his bark. But the idea of getting a few veterans to anchor their young stars is sound. There are plenty of intriguing veteran big men out there. Danny Manning, Grant Long, Chris Gatling, Kevin Willis and even players like Bo Outlaw, P.J. Brown and Robert Horry are all options here. But if Krause really wants to play it safe, and still land a player who can still give them productive minutes, he should work out a deal with his old friend, Michael Jordan, for Jones. Jones was the glue that held the Wizards together last season. He hustled, crashed the boards, dove for loose balls and was always positive, despite the Wizards' death spiral at the end of the season. The Wizards will hate to lose him, but Jordan and Oakley pined to play together through most of last season, and won't pass up the chance to give Oakley one last shot.
Step 4: Use the mid-level exception to lure Scott Williams back
The Bulls will have plenty of interesting players to throw money at. If they couldn't land Lewis, Devean George would be a nice pick-up. But right now, what the Bulls need is more veteran role players. It won't be easy, but Krause could take the final step of bridging the past to present by bringing Williams back. Williams ability to play both forward and center, combined with his rebounding prowess, inside toughness and willingness to take on any assignment is a perfect fit for Chicago. If Williams won't come, Gatling is the type of super sub every playoff caliber team needs.
With those four steps, the Bulls opening day roster would look something like this:
Point Guard: Jay Williams, Travis Best, Roger Mason Jr.
Shooting Guard: Jalen Rose, Trenton Hassell, Fred Hoiberg
Small Forward: Rashard Lewis, Eddie Robinson
Power Forward: Tyson Chandler, Popeye Jones, Lonny Baxter
Center: Eddy Curry, Scott Williams, Dalibor Bagaric
The great news is all of these steps should put the Bulls payroll at $50 million, safely under the NBA luxury tax.
That leads us to the final step ...
Step 5: Scrap the triangle offense
Phil Jackson and Tex Winter are gone, Jerry. Your new players aren't really suited to the methodical, half-court offense of Bulls lore. Williams, like Crawford before him, will struggle with the restrictions and the de-emphasis it puts on point guards. You have athletes who love to run the floor and a point guard who is willing to push the ball. Chandler and Curry are still learning the basics, adding the triangle to their learning curve is just slowing things down. Let Cartwright do his thing and sit back and gloat a little bit. With a little luck here and there, the Bulls have their first shot in five years at the NBA playoffs.
Chad Ford writes the daily NBA Insider column for ESPN Insider. To get a free 30 day trial, click here.
