Why Derrick Rose and the Chicago Bulls Should Be Looking at Dwight Howard
When Carlos Boozer was making his rounds in NBA free agency, everyone was waiting to see what he would do in his first season with the Chicago Bulls.
Those desires had to be postponed because Boozer turned a corner in his home, tripped over a bag and landed on the outer edge of his hand. As true or false as that story may be, his delay from the Bulls’ early season was very real.
Until the Dec. 1 game against the Orlando Magic, Boozer had zero playing time.
Not to worry, though.
With Carlos out of the picture, Taj Gibson was able to get a steady pace of minutes in a lineup that was supposed to be Boozer-dominated as the big man. Gibson averaged 26.6 minutes in October and November, then dropped to 21 at the dawn of Boozer’s return.
The only problem with that scheme is that in the postseason, when Boozer was replaced with Taj, Chicago’s defense moved with a smoother and more dangerously subtle pace than usual.
Gibson’s pressure on Atlanta and Indiana’s players trumped a majority of Boozer’s contributions to the team’s rebounding, as well as their scoring. To be honest, Boozer fell two steps short of his potential the entire way through the playoffs, especially up against who he nicknamed "The Big Two."
There should never be a time in a conference finals series when your big man is only scoring in single digits, and it is statistically proven that Chicago’s record is 17-4 when Boozer scores 20 or more points, pre-Miami.
Even when he did decide to show up to play a fraction of the game, none of Boozer's minutes were of quality. The two times against the Heat when he had a double-double—also instances where he scored 20 or more points—he scored a combined four points the last five minutes of each game.
So now that the 2011 Eastern Conference finals have been written, the Chicago Bulls must look for pieces to surround Derrick Rose that will be consistently dominant.
Who better than Dwight Howard?
Everyone wants to speak of his need to play alongside another superstar in their prime. Where does a better option lie? Rose is climbing toward the peak of his career, and his wide range of scoring options allows him reasonable duration in the league.
Not to mention he has the heart of a lion, as he played through injuries in the Indiana Pacers series, yet still managed to average 27.6 points in the five games played. Rose needs an inside scoring threat as he puts the finishing touches on his perimeter-shooting ability.
Howard is the perfect fit to an already well-crafted picture.
That is, once Chicago’s front office figures out how to make Orlando let go.
Not only would the combination be mesmerizing by the numbers, the branding potential of each player would skyrocket tremendously. This is only pure speculation, but I assume the record set by the elder Chicago Bulls for most wins in a season would be broken by the new-age stars of the franchise.
It would take some adjustments viewing Howard in a Bulls’ jersey, but I think we would all be OK after the first couple of blowout wins against other star-studded casts such as Miami, L.A. and OKC. Coach Tom Thibodeau would thrive in the shadow of the pair, not only because of how offensively threatening Howard is in the paint, but because of how driven each player is defensively.
For his size, Howard is able to get back into transition defense with the best sprinters in the league, and finishers cringe at the thought of facing him under the basket and around the rim. He may not have the signature behind block like LeBron James has crafted, but his layup and dunk challenges are just as impressive.
Not to mention Howard has the capability to finish at the rim with loads of men clawing at his body to foul him.
Rose may pride himself on being able to succeed with only one superstar in the franchise, but there is only so long that idea will thrive. He must face the music and understand that to accomplish much of anything in the league today, there needs be at least a plus-one.
Why not Dwight Howard?
