Biggest Offseason Needs for the Chicago Bulls

The Chicago Bulls finished the season in a very underwhelming fashion. They were eliminated from the playoffs in game 6 of the Eastern Conference semifinals, courtesy of the Cleveland Cavaliers. With no more basketball to occupy the franchise’s time, the attention now shifts to improving for the 2015-16 campaign.

It’s tricky to look at this club on paper and figure out what is needed to improve. The roster is well-rounded and deep, but their erratic regular-season performance coupled with a complete flop in an elimination game suggests the whole is less than the sum of its parts.

Truth be told, it is that very same makeup that is actually the problem. If this were still the 1990s, this team would be able to run with the best of them. In 2015, the league plays a little faster, and no one can get away with bucking the trend outside of the San Antonio Spurs.

Chicago's balance hindered them from establishing a true identity. This team was built to do a little bit of everything, but instead of picking a specialty and leaving everything else as a supplementary facet, head coach Tom Thibodeau tried to make all the pieces work at the same time.

The folly of that approach has been evident all year via their inability to jell into a cohesive unit. Now general manager Gar Forman and vice president John Paxson must chart a clearer course going forward and rework their roster.

Another Offensive Big

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Pau Gasol was a great addition to the Bulls’ frontcourt. The 14-year veteran gave the team a legitimate post-up scorer who could also pass and shoot the mid-range jumper. Even with freakishly athletic contemporaries like DeMarcus Cousins and Anthony Davis, Gasol lead the NBA with 54 double-doubles, all them from the points/rebounds combination.

Good things happened when the 34-year-old big man suited up, and winning was tough if he was not available to play.

Gasol missed Games 4 and 5 of Chicago’s second-round series against Cleveland. The frontcourt contribution for those contests was paltry.

The fourth game was low-scoring affair for both clubs, but of Chicago’s 84 points, Joakim Noah and Taj Gibson mustered only 14 of those. These guys did somewhat better in the following game when they each scored 10 points, but it should be noted it took Noah 40 minutes to do that.

There is a glaring dearth of low-post scoring yields when Gasol is absent. Both Noah and Gibson regressed in 2014-15. Even if the hope is for the core guys to bounce back next season, steps need to be made in order to ensure there is a dependable talent who can hold his own on the block.

In fact, it is the makeup of the current personnel that keeps this from being a more pressing priority. The possibility of this crew having a great bounce-back campaign next season is probably enough to make management stand pat on this issue. While that is not a far-fetched possibility, erring on the side of caution couldn’t hurt, either.

Bigger Reserve Point Guard

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Forman has done pretty well in recent years in finding serviceable but diminutive point guards to come off of the bench. Last season featured the revivification of D.J. Augustin; 2012-13 included the simultaneously entertaining and frustrating Nate Robinson. These players did very well when it came to scoring; however, their size was often a disadvantage when guarding the ball.

All in all, these guys performed well for Thibodeau and used their resurgence to sign with other teams for more money. This season’s pint-sized point guard was Aaron Brooks. Like his predecessors, he was a scoring boon and defensive liability.

During the regular season, Brooks averaged 23 minutes per game; that number dropped to 11 minutes for the postseason. Chicago played teams with much bigger point guards in the Milwaukee Bucks and Cavaliers. The matchup shortcomings were seemingly too much for Thibodeau to risk being overly exploited, so the former Oregon Duck did more watching than playing.

That decision worked out to the team’s detriment, as Brooks was never able to find an offensive rhythm and wound up hurting the team on both ends of the floor.

Seeking value for reserves is smart team management, but it is evident those players need to be at least serviceable in all facets of the overall scheme. Brooks is an unrestricted free agent this summer. If the latest history is any indicator, he is on his way to a higher payday with another franchise. Whoever takes his place needs to be sizable enough to present physicality similar to Rose’s.

There is no wait-and-see upside here. The only other guard who played consistently in the relief capacity was Kirk Hinrich. His abilities showed a severe decline, and it is highly unlikely he’ll be able to make significant contributions anymore. This is a matter that may require some attention this summer.

Second-Unit Defensive Ace

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Keeping the focus on the second unit, the bench needs a designated defensive stopper. This is a peculiar need because the team had one in Hinrich, but his best days are definitely behind him. Tony Snell seems like an ideal candidate; however, he hasn’t seen the court consistently enough to establish his professional identity.

Gibson has long held down the role of being the bench’s paint protector, but there hasn’t been a perimeter defender to help him since Ronnie Brewer.

Obvious talent like LeBron James aside, the Eastern conference has its fair share of athletic, skilled wings. It would help Chicago tremendously if they could give guys like Bradley Beal and DeMar DeRozan more than one look when being guarded. This would go a long way in bringing back that defensive toughness the team used to be known for.

The Bulls just experienced two rounds of playoff basketball getting torched by the likes of Khris Middleton and JR Smith. Jimmy Butler did a nice job of containing his assignment, but there was no one else available to give meaningful help locking down the perimeter. One more competent wing defender could have made the difference between advancing and going home.

A New Head Coach

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Landing Thibodeau as the team’s head coach back in 2010 was arguably the best thing to happen to the Bulls in the post-Jordan era. He brought the franchise back into relevancy and had sports analysts mentioning them when discussing possible title contenders.

When measured against past coaches of the organization, Thibodeau is third in all-time wins and second in win percentage. He has won Coach of the Year and helped develop a Most Valuable Player, Defensive player of the Year and Most Improved Player.

So how can one say it is time for a coaching change? The answer lies in the playoff numbers.

For all of the great things Thibodeau has done during the regular season, none of it has translated into playoff success. Granted, the Bulls have reached the postseason in each of his five years, some of those years under extreme duress, but the club always seems to peter out in May.

Overall, Thibodeau has a 23-28 playoff record. His biggest accomplishment was reaching the Eastern Conference Finals during his inaugural season. He hasn’t been past the second round since then. While it is tough to question his basketball acumen, it is easy to see Thibodeau does not get it done when it counts.

There have always been rumors about the tense relationship between the sideline and the front office. This season seemed to produce the most buzz about the worsening rapport. Now that Chicago's year is over, all signs point to a changing of the guard.

KC Johnson of the Chicago Tribune seems to think so, and he recaps the year-long climax, including mention of the New Orleans Pelicans and Orlando Magic being the most likely suitors.

Thibodeau still has two years left on his current contract. It does not seem prudent to just fire him when there is a chance to get something in return. Johnson thinks any kind of compensation would be minimal since the league knows how bad things are and would keep that contempt as leverage.

It is a very complicated situation, but if a new direction is to be charted, it needs to happen sooner rather than later.

A Murky Immediate Future

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Despite the huge letdown that was the 2014-15 season, there are some reasons to have hope for the future.

Rose finally seems to have turned a corner concerning his health. Yes, he needed second surgery to remove part of his previously damaged meniscus, but he had some huge playoff games that signaled a return to MVP form is imminent.

European sensation Nikola Mirotic demonstrated he has all of the tools to succeed on basketball’s biggest stage. Gasol proved even at the ripe age of 34, there is still a good amount productive basketball left in his tank.

On the other hand, it seems like big changes are on the horizon. There are so many uncertainties weighing down this franchise that it is hard to get any kind of bearing as to which direction it is headed.

How much is it going to take to retain Butler?

Is Thibodeau really gone?

If so, who is replacing him?

Those are just a few of the many questions the basketball world has about the Bulls. The good news is that answers will be forthcoming. The bad news is that none of them will be immediately known. Chicago fans can only hope whatever the solutions may be that they at least keep this team in winning form.