Just What Happened to the Chicago Bulls?

Still, after losing to Detroit, no one could yet see what the Bulls had given up in Aldridge and Carney and what a waste of money Wallace would turn out to be. They had achieved a successful season and had claimed their first playoff series victory since No. 23 was around. All was looking up in the Windy City.

Then, management decided to mess things up again.

In the 2007 offseason, the two main stars of the team, Luol Deng and Ben Gordon both turned down fairly generous contract extensions, though neither ever provided a solid reason for doing so. Most merely assumed that the two thought they were worth more to the team.

The front office decided to finally address the long time need of an offensive presence on the block. They signed Joe Smith and drafted Joakim Noah. Not the best answer to the question perhaps, but at least they were trying.

Over the summer, it became painfully obvious that the Bulls were chasing several other stars, such as Kevin Garnett, Pau Gasol and of course, Kobe Bryant. Though John Paxson always denied that the Bulls had been pursuing these stars, it still had a rather negative effect on the team.

It has long been true that when NBA teams are not sure who will still be there the next day, things start to falter. The Bulls were a perfect example of this, as they started the new season with a dismal 9-16 record, despite the fact that there had been no major changes made to the roster or any nasty injuries suffered. The Bulls admitted defeat on the season effectively when they fired Scott Skiles (s smart decision, most agreed) but didn’t bother to find a replacement, instead letting interim coach Jim Boylan take over.

They also made one of the larger trades of the season, again admitting defeat by shipping off Wallace, Smith and others for Larry Hughes, Drew Gooden and others.

Chicago was glad to see the end of this season.

It was possible to resurrect the Bulls, as they still had talent (though admittedly still no constant scoring threat inside), but the team was not finished. They first set about finding a new coach. Proven NBA coaches Mike D’Antoni and Doug Collins appeared poised to take the position. Instead, the Bulls landed upon Vinny Del Negro, a man who has never coached a game in its life.

To be fair, Vinny could turn out to be a great coach, but it's still a rather large risk.

Then, they were extremely lucky to land the first pick of this year’s draft, which of course turned into Derrick Rose, choosing the guard from Memphis over Michael Beasley. It is far too early to see if this was the right choice or not, but I personally believe it to be the wrong choice. I'll explain why in a moment.

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