Chicago Has a Bulls-Eye on the East Contenders
D-Rose covers Dime #50
With all the focus surrounding the “Big Three” of the Miami Heat, the Chicago Bulls and their revamped roster seem to have slipped in under the radar.
After a 41-41 finish in the regular season, the Bulls made the playoffs for the fifth time in six years. As the 8th seed in the East, they were eventually sent packing by LeBron James and the No. 1-seeded Cavaliers.
A disappointing season, maybe, but things were soon to look up. The Bulls wasted no time in the offseason, trading Kirk Hinrich to the Wizards on Draft day in an attempt to clear cap space and increase their chances at landing one of the prized possessions of the 2010 free agent class.
With a young and talented nucleus comprised of Derrick Rose, Luol Deng and Joakim Noah, the Bulls set their sights on superstars. They wanted to land the player who would push them over the top, make them championship contenders, and bring glory back to the Windy City. Who they came away with was Carlos Boozer, a 28-year-old veteran, a leader on and off the court who possesses the intangibles to make everyone around him better. Boozer doesn’t have the freakish athleticism of LeBron or the raw talent of Dwyane Wade. He isn’t going to blow the roof off the United Center with a thunderous dunk, or go for 47 one night and take over “SportsCenter.”
But Boozer is going to work. Averaging 19.5 points and 11.5 rebound last season, Boozer provides the Bulls with interior scoring, something that they have lacked for quite a while. To be successful in this league, more specifically the playoffs, you need to be able to get easy buckets. You need score in the paint and get to the foul line and Boozer does just that.
When LeBron and Chris Bosh decided to sign with Miami and join Wade in South Beach, the world’s attention moved to the Heat. People forgot about everyone else, and assumed the East had already been won. Few realized that the Bulls, quietly and under the radar, were assembling one of the best squads in the east. With Rose, Deng, Noah, Boozer, First Team All-Rookie Taj Gibson and newly acquired sharp shooter Kyle Korver, the Bulls have put together a dangerous team.
When you look at great teams, you look for certain pieces: Do they have a great point guard? Can they score on the perimeter? Can they shoot the three? Do they have interior scoring? Can they defend? In my opinion, the Bulls have all these things. Derrick Rose, their 21-year-old point guard, averaged 20 points and 6 assists last year and is considered by many to be one of the top point guards in the NBA. Luol Deng can score on the wing as proven by his 17 points per game, Kyle Korver shot a career high 53 percent from behind the arc, Joakim Noah is regarded as one of the top post defenders in the NBA, and Carlos Boozer is a two-time All-Star who averaged 19 a game. We’re not talking about the “Baby Bulls” anymore — the Chicago Bulls are a legitimate Top-5 team in the NBA, a team that can beat you in many different ways, and a team ready to show the league that they’re all grown up.
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July 19th, 2010 at 6:06 pm
Stunnaboy09 says:
Carlos Boozer. Make people better? Wow Dime that’s a biiiiig reach. The only person that he’s ever made better was Milsap when he went down injured.
If the Bulls still have needs; have little to no bench, more size since they just lost their back up center and more shooters because only Korver can knock down a 3 on this team.
July 19th, 2010 at 6:19 pm
LMNOP says:
1. Lu and Booze have to stay healthy a full season.
2. Rose needs to learn to play the Pick n roll with Booze effectively
3. Rose needs to become a better distributor in general, he can hit the open man for his 6-8 dimes but hes got to be better at using the rest of his team mates
if those 3 things happen they could be a top team in the east, if not, battling the hawks and bucks for the 4th, 5th, 6th spots.
July 19th, 2010 at 6:20 pm
me says:
bosh would been better.
wade or lebron on chicago woulda been a bad move.
Not a fan of boozer. ever since that snake shit he did to cleveland, and i’m not a cleveland fan.
plus he dont play much d and don’t show up in big games.
July 19th, 2010 at 6:20 pm
easy yeezy says:
rose has been working on his 3pt shooting the entire offseason and is expected by a ton of insiders to be a legit 3pt threat this year. it should be noted that his 3pt shot began falling at the end of last year and really clicked.
i expect the bulls to resign flip murray and whem combined with korver, rose and james johnson- it creates a group of players who can hit behind the arc.
boozer is one of the most efficient and skilled low post scorers of his era and worked the lakers over a lot more than he’s given credit for. note: he basically took their entire front line on by himself.
rose averaged 6 assists on the most inefficient offensive team in the league last year, expect his assist totals to rise by 2-3 now that he has some scoring options. 22pts-9a-3reb are FANTASTIC numbers for a PG.
with a bench of taj, omer asik, korver, james johnson and the likely additions of flip murray, another big man and a backup pg (probably acie law)- i think this team could be hella deep.
lakers over heat in 6.
July 19th, 2010 at 6:31 pm
mess says:
Top-5 team in NBA? Really?
July 19th, 2010 at 6:32 pm
Diggity Dave says:
Bulls are first rounder fodder. Enjoy.
July 19th, 2010 at 7:13 pm
Arrogant says:
yall crazy saying they arent deep… um Taj was a starter last year and posted good numbers… Korver will open the floor up… most teams dont even have a six man and yhe bulls have two good players coming off the bench… and they arent even done signing players..
No one in the east has a better starting 5 other than miami(thats really a starting 3) and possibly boston( and its over for their championship hopes, they are too old.)
The bulls now how a team where players can work off each others strengths, with shooters, post players and drivers. add in they are going tto be great on defense u cant really argue about them being top 4 in the east
July 19th, 2010 at 7:16 pm
fallinup says:
A tad premature to have them top 5. And I’m a Bulls fan here. MIA, LAL, DAL, SAS, OKC, ORL, BOS, just off the top of my head that I think are top tier… no way the Bulls can be better. Especially without even knowing how Booz holds up. How Korver gels. And yes, the Bulls still have a few holes.
I’m not jumping on the Boozer ship unless he can give me a healthy season and playoffs.
July 19th, 2010 at 8:37 pm
Heckler says:
the bulls will be good, we all know that. but they aint even top 5 in the east.
can tom thibby actual coach?…or is he the new mike brown? all defense and no offense?
who is going to defend the perimeter for this team? korver? brewer? rose? I DONT THINK SO.
if derrick rose sits out a game or has foul trouble, who can initiate the offense? theres no more hinrich nor ben gordon.
milwaukee had a better record with less talent than the Bulls last year, and they re-upped in the offseason. and if the Bulls arent gonna overtake Miami, Boston, Orlando, Atlanta nor Milwaukee, where do you see them finishing? certainly not top 5.
July 19th, 2010 at 8:47 pm
pacetola says:
so brewer is NOT a legit perimeter defender? Heckler you have no idea dude. he’s a big athletic defensive specialist, my dude. and the Bulls would’ve finished much higher than the bucks if it hadn’t been for the injuries or Noah and Rose so take it easy. they were the top rebounding team last season and their offense would’ve been much better if they could convert the second chance buckets that will be redeemed with boozer. oh yea, who’s another double digit boards guy so that 1# ranking aint goin nowhere. Thib will handle things very much fine i have as much confidence as you have doubt
July 19th, 2010 at 9:01 pm
Stunnaboy09 says:
Bro Brewer is a legit perimeter defender. And if Thib can turn Rondo into the bets defensive PG in the league he’ll make Rose a monster on D.
They still need a bench though, Taj is solid but JJ is still inconsistent and besides Noah they got no height. They have to find a guy who can score and initiate the offense off the bench- T-Mac would fit perfectly here.
Even if Rose is tearing his J up in summer, since the balls in his hand and his first instinct is to drive aint seeing him using it that often. That only leaves JJ (who defines inconsistency) the only 3 point threat besides Korver. Bulls should BEG Washington for Hinrich back or try and trick Memphis into giving them Xavier if they don’t wanna pay him.
July 19th, 2010 at 9:11 pm
Robert Gavrel says:
YOU ALL ARE ON CRACK BULLS WILL WIN THE NBA CHAMPIONSHIP NEXT YEAR BECAUSE THEY WILL HAVE THE NUMBER ONE DEFENSE IN THE LEAGUE!!!
July 19th, 2010 at 10:19 pm
Right on says:
Taking Hinrich back would be redundant. He is the same player as Brewer with a better 3 pt shot. I seriously think AI would be a great pickup. It seems the man has finally conceded to playing a bench role, and he’s still a legit scoring threat that has a couple years left in his tank.
July 19th, 2010 at 10:30 pm
Octopus Jonny says:
@10…and the Bucks would have finished even better had Bogut not swung off the rim like a damn ape. The Bucks were inches away from the 2nd round with half the talent they have this year. The Central Division goes through Milwaukee now, mark it bitches.
July 19th, 2010 at 11:26 pm
Arrogant says:
Heckler is crazy thinking the bucks will be better than the bulls… the have a ok roster but not tappin what the bulls have… rose all season has been working on his j, and began torchin mid ranges better the second half of the season… his 3 will be there this year and they just signed cj watson to backup and he can light it up… everyone will have a chance to shine because u have to pick ur poison with this team,
July 19th, 2010 at 11:32 pm
jzsmoove says:
boozer and leader does not belong in the same sentence.
July 19th, 2010 at 11:47 pm
Jay says:
Boozer is yet another big man whose production is bloated thanks to an amazing pass-first point guard. Granted, DRose is amazing in his own right, but he’s not Deron Williams and the Bulls offense is not the Jazz offense. That offense showcased Boozer’s skills because he has a midrange game and is relatively agile coming off picks, but considering Rose isn’t the shooter or the passer that Deron is, Boozer won’t have nearly as productive a season or career in Utah.
July 20th, 2010 at 12:15 am
Daniel says:
I think the Bulls are NOT a top 5 in the NBA but w/ the addition of Ronnie Brewer they just became top 5 in the East. The Bulls are deep on that bench. Hopefully the coach is all he is supposed to be. Boston loved him. I think they should have gone with Byron Scott but the racist Bulls won’t hire a black coach and don’t bring up Cartwright. Anyway, I’m a Bulls fan. Born and raised in the Go. This year is a litmus test. If they are expecting to compete for a title this year, good luck. Not going t happen. But if they play hard enough, they can play for top 3 in the East. That’s the best I can give them. They can compete. I know they will be good defensively. Offensively, they can’t hit those walls anymore and with this roster, I don’t see much of that anymore.
July 20th, 2010 at 12:51 am
Chise says:
Real talk… This bucks/bulls debate is a good one. Outside of Miami, milwaukee and Chicago had the best off-seasons. Anyone sleeping on the bucks is crazy, and Chicago really isn’t that far outside the top tier. The best teams in the league (on paper) are the lakers, heat, celtics and magic but outside that top tier you have a cluster of the atlanta’s, dallas’, milwaukee’s and chicago’s of the NBA. Crazy how the east is back right?
July 20th, 2010 at 1:01 am
ctkennedy says:
if derrick rose becomes a top 10 player in the league then they the second best team in the east….against the magic they win every matchup but center..howard got that but he the easiest top 10 player to guard in the league..celtics dont care about their record for the regular season..they just want to be healthy for the playoffs..the hawks best player joe johnson got to prove to me that he aint allan houston 2.0..very good player without another level to him
July 20th, 2010 at 1:14 am
BasketBallFan says:
You guys fail to realize this team made the playoffs with Noah benched for around 20 games. They made the playoffs without having depth and with Rose also down for the count on a few occasions. True Hinrich is gone, but we have another lockdown defender in Brewer, a post presence that was lacking in Boozer, and an outside shooter in Korver that also has been lacking since Gordon left. Do you guys not remember the incredible series that was played against Boston with just the outside shooter added to the scenario?
Now to the people who say Rose needs a backup, CJ Watson has been signed as of today. He is very competent at the position and an effective scorer anywhere on the floor. With Pargo or a summer or D-League 3rd string in tow, that position is sewn up.
We still have the option of signing another 2 in Shannon Brown. We still have room to sign more backups for both Noah and Boozer. Korver can be on the floor at the 3 if needed. The guy IS 6’7 and can pass with the best of them.
The bottom line is, the writer is correct in his assumption. The Bulls do have vast potential in making the top 5 in the league this year. If you’re a true fan, like many of you say you are, you will encourage this outcome with the new building blocks they’ve set instead of tearing it down before it even gets a chance.
Remember Lakers 2004? All-Star team that was defeated by a little team called the Detroit Pistons? That team’s dynamics seems to have been repeated with the Bulls in a younger and better way.
Keep your eyes open folks. You’re going to be in for a good ride.
July 20th, 2010 at 1:16 am
Stunnaboy09 says:
Hmm Bucks actually match up with Chitown and have 2 potential stars in Bogut and Jennings and with Skiles theya re always going to be a top defensive team. Only question is now that they have CDR, Maggette, Sanders they actually are a backup PG away from challenging Boston for the 3 seed out East.
The Bulls solely rest on D.Rose development. They are putting all the pressure on this kid and I hope he reaches his KJ like potential soon or Bulls still in that first round fodder zone.
July 20th, 2010 at 2:16 am
high release says:
Bulls look like a bunch of B and C listers who are gonna try and get their own. New coach, new system too.
Bucks look like a bunch of B and C listers who play as a system. Guys know what is expected of them, and it’s stable. Bad Porn is a wild card.
I know which came out on top last year.
July 20th, 2010 at 3:03 am
RonNation says:
chicago makin a run for the all nodefense team
July 20th, 2010 at 7:00 am
Trey bing bay says:
This team is a lot like the Utah team last year. Rose = Deron, Boozer = Boozer, Joakim = Milsap, Korver = Korver, Taj Gibson = Kirelenko. So yeah i’d say this Bulls team will be about the same as the Utah team but probably not as good because I rate Deron over Rose and they are better coached.
July 20th, 2010 at 9:54 am
Matt says:
Trey bing bay kinda beat me to it, but the bulls in 2010-11 are like the Utah Jazz in 2009-2010, except watered down and playing in the weaker conference.
Boozer left a team that was tied for 4th in the west for the team that was 8th in the east the past two seasons. Every position at the Bulls is weaker than the Jazz. On potential, Rose might be up there with Williams, but please, Deron Williams is a top 3 guard in the league, Rose isn’t even in the top 3 in his conference.
Korver can shoot the three, but don’t expect 55% again from him this year, he sat out half the year and then came back on fire, that pace isn’t extended to an entire season.
Brewer is an above average outside defender and one of the best inside cut men in the league, but he can’t shoot from the perimeter, so shots have to be created for him.
Miami, Atlanta, Orlando, Boston (maybe) and I personally think Milwaukee are all better teams
After all, if the the Utah Jazz took 5th in the west with Boozer and Korver and Brewer(half the season), Its not like an inferior team adding those three players will become a top 5 team in the league next year.
July 20th, 2010 at 9:55 am
Chris says:
It’s no way the bucks are better than the bulls this year I take boozer and rose over Jennings and bogut anyday… The bulls are definitly q top 5 team in the east and most likely a top 5 team in the NBA
July 20th, 2010 at 10:56 am
GG says:
Bucks will finish 3 or 4 in the East. Bulls get 4 or 5. Rose is a beast and I’m a fan of his, but the Boozer signing is overrated, he DOES NOT make anyone around him better and he is always hurt. Over payed no doubt. Korver was a good signing, they needed a shooter.
The Bucks have a complete roster that now goes deep as hell. They’re actually building a team that is deep and is gonna be around a long time to compete. They kinda remind me of the ’04 Pistons (Hammond) with their depth and defensive potential and chemistry (barring Maggette screwin it). They’re huge and athletic now. BJ is gonna be better and him and Bogues (if he stays healthy) will be a force to reckin with for a while. CDR was a great pick up, Sanders has a lot of potential, The Prince can shut down anyone.
No sure how I feel about Maggette, but we’ll see how he meshes. Gooden just needs to rebound which is all he’s done his whole career. I would take BJ and Bogues over Rose and Boozer anyday. Plus Thibideau does not seem like the kind of guy who can be a head coach in the L, but guess we’ll see. All I know is I’m pumped for the Chi VS Mil basketball rivalry in the Central.
PS: People gotta quit overhyping Miami, it’s not gonna be easy like everyone who watches ESPN thinks it will be, and they won’t win a title this year for sure.
July 20th, 2010 at 11:17 am
Sporty-j says:
I like my Heat in 4 lol… If they would have gotten Reddick and resigned Brad Miller they would have been top 10.
July 20th, 2010 at 4:02 pm
gary says:
Bulls are a strong team with a strong bench. Much stronger than last year and stronger than 2008′s team that took Boston to seven games.
They just need to address who their 3rd Center or Wing will be. Watson, Korver, JOhnson, Gibson, Asik, is a great Bench. There are questions about JOhnson, but he played well while deng was out last year.
Thibs will teach them all about defense and shooting.
It will be a great team. I see this team coming in Forth in the east.
July 21st, 2010 at 10:50 am
bucks fan says:
nice article, i completely agree. cant wait till the season starts. i dont think rose ever wanted LBJ or wade to be on the bulls roster.
rose is gunna be one of the greatest players cuz he gunna prove he can do it without leaving his squad behind
unlike some supa starts… u ther LBJ?
July 21st, 2010 at 3:33 pm
Three Stacks says:
They need T-Mac.
July 21st, 2010 at 3:33 pm
Three Stacks says:
circa 2001