Chicago Bulls Draft Night Blues, or How Hope Has Fled the United Center

Back in 2006, when our Chicago Bulls tried (and failed) to push the Detroit Pistons to the limit (or as close to the limit as you can go without a Game Seven) I made a prediction. It was not a great prediction by any stretch, but I predicted that the Bulls would win 50 games the next season.

I fully admit I was wrong, but I was made wrong by many different factors, not the least of which was that the vastly overrated Luol Deng and Ben Gordon (who is not overrated) didn't sign contract extensions, and John Paxon helping to destroy team chemistry by not squashing immediately rumors that the Bulls were attempting to acquire Kobe Bryant, among others.

But it was a draft trade made way back in April that pretty much doomed the Bulls to the situation they find themselves in, with a bad head coach who doesn't help the team win, a franchise player who doesn't have much of a franchise to lead, and a supporting cast that couldn't win if Doug Collins was coaching against them and pulled his players off the court.

LaMarcus Aldridge. LaMarcus Aldridge is a demon who plays hard and comes to play, period. Contrast that with the whiny, self-satisfied awfulness of the man he was traded for, Tyrus Thomas.

Now, in Thomas' defense, he plays with Derrick Rose, who could become a superstar if he has the right elements, including a guy who could coach his way out of a paper bag, and a bunch of stiffs, while Aldridge plays with the ice-cold stunner Brandon Roy and others.

But, Thomas was drafted to play power forward. Keep this in mind: since Horace Grant, the Bulls have never had a true PF become a star (unless you count Elton Brand, and I'm kind of afraid to). Dennis Rodman...well, I was never sure what position he played, but then again, size isn't everything.

Since the Blazers grabbed Aldridge, he has steadily improved. To me, Aldridge is one of the most underrated players in the NBA. It's easy to put all the Blazers' success on the greatness of Roy, but Old Man Oden isn't the guy everyone expected. His health becomes an issue almost immediately. Also, he's just not that good yet, if he ever will be.

Aldridge doesn't whine to the media when something doesn't go his way. He doesn't have pretensions of being better than he is. He goes out and gets the job done. It says a lot about him that he has never showed up on a police blotter, which is surprising considering despite disbanding that team years ago the Blazers are still thought of as the JailBlazers.

To put it into perspective, the baseball version of Aldridge would probably be Harold Baines in his prime. To this day, I can't tell you what Baines sounds like. And the guy was still playing, what, five years ago?

Sometimes I, as a Bulls fan, wish Thomas would show up on something. When Joakim Noah is calling you out, when Joakim Noah is twice the player you are, that should scare you. When Tyrus remembers to play defense once he returns from his injury,  I'll choose Chicago State to win the NCAA tournament. That's how rare it is.

A few more things. I never said Rose was a mistake pick. Rose is a damn good player surrounded by morons and those Chain Chomps from Super Mario Brothers. Vinny Del Negro is the Chain Chomp, your guess on who the morons are. But I wanted Beasley. I thought he'd be better than Rose. Shows my knowledge, huh?

THOMAS was a mistake. Five years from now, Thomas will be warming a bench somewhere in the Western Conference. Aldridge will probably be the best power forward in the Northwest Division.

What galls me more than anything is that this could all have been avoided. This team's inside presence is Joakim Noah and Aaron Gray. For comparision, the team currently at the top of the NBA's power rankings, the Los Angeles Lakers? Their inside presence is Andrew "future multiple time all-star" Bynum and Pau "I don' shoot 'nough" Gasol. Sometimes being an NBA fan makes you want to renounce sports for good.

The Bulls gave up on Elton Brand, a shadow of his former self currently but still a damn good player at the time before the injuries and the Clippers beat him down, for Tyson Chandler, whose offensive game is...uh, not good.

They had Drunky the Clown, also known as Ron Artest, who is a distraction, which is probably the nicest term I can refer to him as. Jay Williams had a date with a motorcycle and can currently be seen on ESPN thinking, "My god, how stupid was I?"

So all in all, the Tyrus Thomas situation doesn't surprise me...but if the Bulls win the draft lottery next year, I shudder to think what'll happen. Can't you just see the Bulls passing on a guy like Evan Turner or Devin Ebanks or someone else to take some guy who'll forget how to play basketball the minute he signs his name on the dotted line?