The Worst Is Yet To Come...But In The End They'll Come Out Smelling Like a Rose

Following the Chicago Bulls recent loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder rookie head coach Vinnie Del Negro had this to say, "Their effort was better. That is not acceptable".

I'll tell you what is not acceptable: the talent level of the current Bulls roster, the strange substitution patterns and rotations of coach Del Negro, and losing a home game to the Thunder.

Oklahoma City won on the road for only the second time this season when they beat the Bulls 109-98 in overtime Saturday night at the United Center.

The loss snaps a two-game winning streak for the Bulls and could be the start of the Bulls solidifying their place in the lottery bound line.

With home games coming up against Portland, San Antonio, Cleveland, Atlanta, and Toronto, and road contests versus Toronto and New York, it may be Jan. 25 before the Bulls win another game, when they visit Minnesota. Even that game is no guarantee for these Bulls, who managed to lose at home to the T-Wolves earlier this season.

The worst of all of this, at least if you're a Bulls fan, is that there is no hope in sight. Yes, the promising play of rookie phenom Derrick Rose has got fans chattering, but last time I checked, it takes five guys to fill out a lineup.

This year's roster, along with the season, is unsalvageable; the only thing Bulls fans should be hoping for is lots of playing time to develop Rose, and a high lottery pick.

Next year, however, does not look any more promising. Ben Gordon, who other than Rose is the only guy on the Bulls roster who actually has some value and talent, is almost certainly gone in the offseason as a free agent, leaving a gaping hole at shooting guard to fill.

The Bulls frontcourt is almost laughable. Drew Gooden is a serviceable role playing big man in this league. He is not the supposed to be the center piece to your frontcourt. He is also a free agent at the end of the season, and will most likely not be back.

General Manager John Paxson hit some big shots as a player for the Bulls, but as GM, he's been firing air-balls. Trading Tyrus Thomas for LaMarcus Aldridge has not worked out how he'd hoped. Joakim Noah, 2007's lottery pick, has zero basketball skills, and his swap of Rodney Carney for Thabo Sefolosha has proved to be a poor move as well.

Then this offseason he had to make a choice between resigning Luol Deng or Ben Gordon. Paxson severely overpaid to keep Deng, despite injury concerns, and a reputation for disappearing down the stretch.

Deng has done nothing this season to dispell any of those notions.

So let's see where that leaves. Next season the Bulls will lose Gooden and Gordon, and currently have eight players who will be under contract that year. This list includes Larry Hughes, who's biggest value right now is his large contract that expires in 2010 and Andres Nocioni, a guy who was once a fan favorite, but now does little more than take poor shots and play bad defense.

Despite his shortcomings, Nocioni still has some trade value in the league, and if Paxson can off load him for an expiring contract, he should do it without hesitation.

Rose will start at point and Deng will be penciled in at small forward. I say penciled in, because chances are he'll be out with an injury and someone will have to start in his place. Kirk Hinrich should start alongside Rose, and Tyrus Thomas and Joakim Noah would make up the starting front line.

Rose-Hinrich-Deng-Thomas-Noah.

Sure seems like a lottery bound line-up to me.

So the future seems pretty dark Bulls fans, but here's the silver lining.

Losing this year will add another high lottery pick. Paxson made the right choice this year selecting Rose over Beasley. The question is, can he do it two years in a row? The 2009 draft is much weaker than this past year's, and it will be tough, but with so many holes to fill, it shouldn't be hard to upgrade the Bulls center or power forward position.

With another season of losing, comes another high lottery pick, but even more important than that, is the fact that the Bulls should have major cap space that summer to go after one or possibly two of the leagues premiere free agents who will be available. Names like LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh, and Amare Stoudemire highlight a long list of high profile free agents.

The key to executing this plan is keeping the current payroll in check. No trades that bring back bad contracts and no signing of mediocre stop-gap type players in 2009. It needs to be an all-or-nothing plan. The price to pay for this is two seasons of losing.

Foresight would tell you that two bad seasons for the chance to build a legit dynasty is a small price to pay. Unfortunately, most fans get so caught up in the now, and want quick fixes to stop their favorite team from losing games to teams like the Thunder that they fail to see the bigger picture.

So here is the big picture spelled out for everyone. The Bulls stink this year. They will be even worse next year, but thanks to a lucky lotto ball bounce that netted Derrick Rose, and a great free agent class in 2010, it won't be too much longer before the words "title contender" and Chicago Bulls become synonymous again.