Are Chicago Bulls Locked into a Two-Year Title Window?
“Title expectations” is a concept floated over, under and around the Chicago Bulls in a most vague way. The team is talented, savvy and rich with the continuity of Tom Thibodeau’s intense defensive program, so it's always considered in the conversation of championship contenders.
But for how long?
Upon looking at the team’s short-term offseason prospects, age and other factors, a two-year window seems to be its circumstance. The 2016 offseason is when Joakim Noah’s contract expires, and also when Pau Gasol will be turning a hefty 36 years old. If the Bulls haven’t gotten their best shot at a championship in with this crew by then, it will probably be too late.
This isn’t to say Chicago will fail to stay on the championship platform—just that some substantive roster moves will be needed to remain there. A healthy, re-signed Noah or a comparable player needs to be on the team. Jimmy Butler—who’s headed for some prickly free-agency negotiations this July—needs to be in town. Derrick Rose needs to be a healthy, MVP-level force again.
The team will also, potentially, need to go into the luxury tax to re-sign the surging Butler. That all depends on how much the salary cap jumps in connection with the league's new TV deal. But going into the tax is a likely prospect, and owner Jerry Reinsdorf will have to swallow that financial pill to keep a contender together. He's said he'll pay up for a title contender despite avoiding the tax for years, but his word is only good when he backs it with actions.
The Bulls—with luck, generosity and shrewd management of bodies and contracts—can keep it together for a while longer. But the time we can be sure of is this season and next; this is the window the Bulls are built to squeeze through. The signing of a twilight-bound Gasol makes that clear.
As does the roller coaster of tension between Thibodeau and his front office, which always suggests the coach could flee when his contract expires in 2017—or earlier—if his team mistreats him enough or falls below a certain competitive standard.
Thibodeau’s organization has handled him roughly at times, with the ugly dismissal of prize assistant coach Ron Adams marking the biggest violation of good will between the two sides. Adams eventually talked to K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune about the incident, saying, "It's still a bit mystifying to me, and I don't understand it. And if the intent was to be hurtful to me and my family, it succeeded."
Whether or not there was foul play—and whether or not tension still remains between the Bulls coach and the front office—these can't be words Thibs likes to hear from his friend. As Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times puts it:
"Vice president of basketball operations John Paxson and general manager Gar Forman generally have shown an ability to make the right decisions at the right times, but playing chicken with an elite NBA coach such as Thibodeau isn’t good for business.
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As is the case with most contenders, the Bulls’ current machine isn’t built to last forever. On top of age, health and financial concerns, there are also some key parties that just don’t get along. So it’s appropriate that the Bulls also seem—by design or not—particularly equipped to take advantage of the slow process LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers are going through.
The Bulls can run through an open East while the young Cavs stumble through growing pains, but those hurdles will shorten for Cleveland in the long run as maturation rises through its ranks and it accrues more postseason experience under rookie coach David Blatt. The Cavs are an experimental outfit right now, but it won’t be that way forever—eventually they’ll be in the Bulls’ way.
Chicago can relax knowing the Bulls have their eyes on right now, though. That’s why even their rookies (Nikola Mirotic and Doug McDermott) were brought over specifically as guys who could contribute quicker than development-heavy prospects.
Butler doesn’t mince words when asked about the short-term view. “Hell yeah, it’s a championship team,” he recently told USA Today’s Sam Amick. “We’re going to win that (expletive).” A sense of urgency is not lost upon the Bulls’ surging, All-Star-level guard, who seems as eager to raise his playoff acumen as he is his money in this contract year.
The same goes for the rest of his team. Rose’s new, careful maintenance plan with his tenuous body is all about being spry for the do-or-die spring, as is the team’s top-down approach to increased rest for its starters. All eyes are on the finish of the NBA Finals.
It’s an exciting time to be a Bulls fan. More than any time since the '90s, this is a team with explicit intentions, and expectations, to win an NBA championship. Enjoy the window while it lasts.
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