| | By Eric Karabell
ESPN.com
Chicago fans say they are getting tired of this. And can you blame them? Seventeen wins? The year before that the Bulls won 13. It must be so tough for Bulls fans to go through all this losing.
|  | | Artest's emergence to top-notch defender and capable scorer was surprising. |
Puh-leeze! Fans in at least 25 other cities feel no pity for the Bulls and those who watch them, since this is a franchise that had the world's best player for more than a decade and twice secured three consecutive NBA titles. If Elton Brand and friends have to visit the lottery for, oh, the next decade, it probably wouldn't be enough for fans in New York, Indiana, Utah and many other cities.
Problem for those teams is, the Bulls may not stink next year, or the year after. Say what you will about the social graces of Jerry Krause, but take a look at the team he's put together and you can see he's no dummy. It may take a year or so, and acquiring a center would be nice, but with co-Rookie of the Year Brand teaming up with newcomers Marcus Fizer and Jamal Crawford, holdover Ron Artest and at least one pretty good free agent (Tim Thomas?), the Bulls will have a brighter future long-term than half the Eastern Conference. Eventually.
With that premise, we give you the Bulls in our fourth offseason team spotlight. We have our opinions, which are below, and thanks for writing in and letting us know yours. Check out the Bulls user comments page to see what you said.
Why the Bulls were 17-65: It's easy to see why the Bulls didn't win very much. Only Brand and Artest played all season and averaged double digits in scoring. Nobody but Brand crashed the boards and nobody at all really shot threes. But the ineptitude was partly by design. Did anyone expect Will Perdue to score? Michael Ruffin? Rusty LaRue?
The Bulls knew they'd be bad -- and make no mistake, with the franchise's worst record ever in a full season, they were -- but it's still a bit odd to look at this franchise, only three years from a title, as bringing up the rear in the NBA (technically, the Clippers were worse, but you get the point). However, with some nice pieces to the puzzle already in place and plenty of money to spend in the offseason, Krause didn't care about losing a few games. "Obviously, we set the thing up where we knew we were going to have a tough year this year," Krause said after the season. "We knew we were going to suffer some."
Indeed they did. The Bulls trotted out a number of players alongside Brand and Artest who might otherwise not have been in the NBA at all. Of those who deserve to be watched, Chris Carr showed some promise and defensive prowess, Corey Benjamin was given decent minutes and performed capably and Fred Hoiberg -- yes, the Mayor -- had some very big games when he started at shooting guard. Ruffin is raw but is a rebounder. Veterans Hersey Hawkins, Randy Brown and Perdue aren't the worst spare parts to have around if you're a playoff team. But on a bad team, they're out of place. Only Brown, now Crawford's mentor, is expected to return.
|
Current projected top 6
|
|
PG
|
Jamal Crawford
|
|
SG
|
Ron Artest
|
|
SF
|
Marcus Fizer
|
|
PF
|
Elton Brand
|
|
C
|
to be determined
|
|
6th
|
Corey Benjamin
|
Team MVP: Brand. And get used to the name. He got 20 and 10 as a rookie and is getting better. The East's Mailman. Team LVP: Man, take your pick. Perdue has shortcomings, sure, but the fact he managed to average only 2.5 points a night is something. Surprise! Brand was the top pick in the draft, so expectations were high yet fulfilled. But Artest being able to score 12 points a night and distinguish himself as a top-notch defender probably was a bit above what people were thinking from the No. 16 pick. Up and comer: The Bulls got five players from the recent draft, and Fizer, assuming he doesn't run into Brand too much, and Crawford, assuming he can beat out Randy Brown, should be good ones.
What they need: If you were watching the draft, and you saw Texas center Chris Mihm just fall into Krause's hands with the No. 7 pick, you figured the Bulls were all set. A frontline of Mihm, Brand and Fizer, and then spend your free-agent dough on an Eddie Jones and a point guard. But in what was frankly a stunning move, Mihm was dealt to Cleveland for the next pick in the draft, Michigan point guard Crawford, and cash. There's nothing wrong with Crawford; he has the size, range and defensive ability to be good quickly, but the Bulls would've looked better in the short term with the top collegiate 7-footer.
So basically what we're saying is that the Bulls still need a center. Eight of the Bulls that finished last season are currently free agents, and none are locks to come back. That group includes centers Dickey Simpkins, Chris Anstey and Perdue, an uninspiring trio which got the bulk of the time in the middle this past season. Simpkins, at 6-9 and hardly much of a scorer or defender, started 47 times at center.
If the Bulls find a big man closer to 7-feet than Charles Barkley's size, and no great one who is currently a free agent comes to mind, the only other major need would be in the backcourt as a shooter. Crawford is, after all, just a rookie. Artest can play the two-guard, but is better suited to play small forward and is still developing his outside game. But among free agents so far, only Tim Thomas, who is also really a small forward, has shown much interest in joining the Bulls. MJ, where are youuuuu....
What the plan is: The Bulls don't expect to win the NBA title this season, and a playoff berth is likely at least another year away. The Bulls would love to spend some money this summer, but so far things aren't looking real positive. Tim Duncan and Grant Hill never really considered the Windy City, Tracy McGrady made his Florida intentions known early, and rumor has it that Michael Jordan helped to dissuade Eddie Jones from heading to the Midwest. Whether MJ did that or not, Jones was looking to Miami anyway. Thomas is no stud, but he did break through with Milwaukee last season, scored consistently, showed off his outside shot and got to the rim often. Maybe a Thomas signing clears the way for a Fizer deal for a shooter. You never know. The Bulls really need to sign a younger version of Hersey Hawkins.
There has been a lot of talk about Portland sending Jermaine O'Neal, the raw center that the Bulls love, for some package that might include Crawford or Fizer. If the Bulls can end the summer with O'Neal at center, Brand and Thomas at forward, and Artest and anyone better than Randy Brown at guard, doubling the team's win total from last season isn't out of the question.
Bottom line: The Bulls had a great plan to spend all their money this offseason, but if they can't spend on the players they really want, and not old veterans like Hawkins, we recant our opinion on Mr. Krause. As of this writing, it's looking like their big free agent plans are a bust. Doesn't anybody want to play in the Windy City?
Direction heading: Without a doubt it's up, but then again, winning fewer than 17 games with this team would be tough. Another brutal season and coach Tim Floyd may not be so safe.
| |
ALSO SEE
Offseason spotlight: Bulls users comments
ESPN.com's Offseason Spotlight Index
|
