Building the All-Time Chicago Bulls Team

Did you ever wonder what the ultimate Chicago Bulls team would look like? I did. So I went and did a bit of research and came up with it. Do you think that Michael Jordan might be on there?

Rather than just take the players who had the best careers with the Bulls, I thought I'd try a bit of a different approach. I chose the best individual seasons form the different positions. The one caveat is that each player is only used once. 

On the following slides are the best seasons form each position, and the backups. 

Point Guard: Derrick Rose, 2011

Like you didn't see this coming? Derrick Rose became just the third player since the merger to score 2,000 point and 600 assists in winning the league's MVP. It was the best season ever by a Chicago Bull not named Michael Jordan. Not much of a brain tease here. 

Backup: The 1967 version of Guy Rodgers who led the league in assists with 11.2 per game and averaged 18 points. Rodgers also finished fourth in the NBA with 4.9 Defensive Win Shares that season. 

Shooting Guard: Michael Jordan, 1991

The difficult part here wasn't figuring out who to chose but which season to chose. I ended up settling on the 1991 season, the first year that Michael Jordan won a championship and the first for the franchise as well. That campaign, Jordan averaged 31.6 points, 5.5 assists and 6.0 rebounds, 2.7 steals and 1.0 block.

When you couple that season with the postseason he had (32.0 points, 8.4 assists and 6.4 boards), you can argue it was the greatest total season in NBA history. His PER was the highest ever for a player that won the finals.

Backup: Reggie Theus in 1983, who scored 23.8 points and added 5.9 assists per game, good enough to make the All-Star game.  

Small Forward: Scottie Pippen, 1994

Scottie Pippen is the subject of a lot of conversation about where he would have been if he hadn't been with Jordan. Who cares? With Jordan he formed one of the greatest tandems in the history of the game. However, Pippen's best season probably came in 1994, when Jordan was on hiatus.

That year Pippen scored 22.0 points, averaged 8.7 rebounds and 6.3 assists. Defensively, he averaged an impressive 2.9 steals per game.

Backup: The 1971 version of Chet Walker, who averaged 22.0 points, 7.3 boards and 2.2 assists in addition to leading the NBA in free throw shooting while making the All-Star game. 

Power Forward: Horace Grant, 1992

This was a tough choice as there are a lot of very good power forward options to chose form. Not making the list are Charles Oakley and Elton Brand, though either could almost as easily slide into this list.

The readers have made it easier on me. Because of the consensus, Dennis Rodman, who initially didn't make the team, has moved into the top spot. 

In 1996 Rodman averaged 14.9 rebounds and was on the first team All-Defense team. Every team needs a glue guy and Rodman might be the best glue guy in history.

Backup:  I settled on the '92 version of Horace Grant for the starter. Grant scored 15.1 points on .578 field goal shooting and added 10.0 rebounds per game that year. Not bad at all for a third option. 

Center: Artis Gilmore, 1978

For a number of years Artis Gilmore was the best player, not only on the team, but the best player in Bulls history. His best season probably came 1978, when he 22.9 points and 13.1 rebounds, as well as being one of the best defensive players in the league, making the second team All-Defense team. 

Backup: Tom Boerwinkle had the next best center season for the Bulls in 1971, averaging 13.8 points, 4.8 assists and 10.1 points per game. Contrary to popular belief, Boerwinkle did not have a squirrel friend named Rocky who hung out with him.