Chicago Bulls Tyrus Thomas Out 4-6 Weeks. What's Next?

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On Friday afternoon the Chicago Bulls announced that Tyrus Thomas will undergo surgery Saturday to repair a fractured radius in his left forearm. He apparently fractured the forearm while doing chinups at practice.

Now we can formally label his left arm a bust...what about the rest of him?

Thomas came out of LSU after just one year with all of the athletic ability you could imagine. He was a high-flying dunk machine that was ready to fill children's walls with posters of him throwing down on opponents for years.

Then the doghouse became lonely, and Thomas opted to keep it company.

It started with Scott Skiles and has continued with Vinny Del Negro, as Thomas continues to fly through the air for three quarters and then sit on a chair in the fourth. His minutes have increased for three straight years, but his production hasn't followed suit.

Last year, Thomas averaged 27.5 minutes per game, but only managed to average 10.8 points and 6.5 rebounds per game.

This from a guy that had been sold to fans as Shawn Marion Light, destined to jump out of the gym. In fact, Reggie Miller once said Thomas has the athletic ability to average a triple double—in points, rebounds and blocks. But he's barely scoring in double digits.

This year, the Bulls drafted a couple of players in James Johnson and Taj Gibson that bear striking resemblences to the player(s) the Bulls had hoped Thomas would become. Johnson is a bigger, stronger player that can handle the rock and play physical defense. Gibson, meanwhile, has a nice jump shot to go with a big vertical and shot blocker's mentality.

The Bulls don't have a track record of admitting draft mistakes. It took one of the worst trades in NBA history for them to unload Eddy Curry, and they never had the clue to unload Luol Deng or Ben Gordon while their stock had peaked. They're still saddled with huge contracts for Kirk Hinrich and Deng and lost Gordon for nothing this past summer as a free agent.

So where do the Bulls go from here with their former top draft pick? The only place he's established himself in three-plus seasons is the rumor mill; perhaps the Bulls should tune in and finally unload him.

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