Friends of mine on Facebook wrote update status stating they were not doing anything except watching ESPN to see who was going to what team.  Chris Bosh, one of three big names in the free agency market, tweeted he was also watching ESPN to see what moves were going to happen.  Then he tweeted he was going to Chicago to here their pitch,  I got excited.

Anyway, four players were signed during the first day of the open market.  All of them were over paid.  David Stern must have been handing out winning scratch off lottery tickets to these players because they’re not worth the contracts they graciously accepted.

One of these over paid players was in the Bulls Home top ten countdown of free agent options for the Chicago Bulls.  Fortunately,  he was tied for the 10th spot.  Rudy Gay, #10A, resigned with the Memphis Grizzlies for a five year deal worth $80 million.  Gay is extremely athletic and has the potential to be an all-star, but he is not worth this much money.  Memphis paid him as a franchise player,  too bad he isn’t.  He is a great number two or three option, but not the center of a winning team.

Rudy Gay

The other three deals are mind boggling.  Darko Milicic was signed by the Minnesota Timberwolves for $20 million throughout four years.  The Toronto Raptors spent $34 million on Amir Johnson for five years and the Milwaukee Bucks gave Drew Gooden a five year deal for $32 million.

These teams locked up role players to say the least.  Johnson has tons of ability, but does this mean give him a big contract on potential? I understand the Raptors will lose Bosh, but Johnson isn’t the answer.  His contract will probably be the worst of the summer.

Drew Gooden

Gooden is the typical NBA journeyman.  He will fit in well with the Bucks because they have nothing in the paint except Andrew Bogut.  Gooden will rebound and play average defense.  But he is not worth $6 million a year.  Plus,  as his career has shown, he will be traded by December.  He has been with eight different teams in eight seasons, not counting his return trips to Orlando and Cleveland.

Milicic is the biggest bust in draft history, well, besides Kwame Brown.  He was selected second in the 2003 draft that included Lebron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh.  Milicic has been the ultimate let down.  In his seven year career, he averages 5.6 points and 4.1 rebounds a game.

Other deals locked up but not official include John Salmons resigning with the Bucks and Joe Johnson is staying with the Atlanta Hawks for a max contract.

I asked the question to you,  who would be a better for the Bulls, Kerr or Paxson.  Kerr dominated Paxson, getting 36 of the 52 votes.  I wonder if Kerr would beat Gar Forman, like he did Paxson. 

Steve Kerr was a back up point guard for the Bulls in the mid-to late 90′s and helped win a few championships with his sniper three point shooting.  Paxson did the same thing in the early 90′s. 

He did make some questionable trades like Shawn Marion to the Miami Heat for Shaquille O’Neal, but he made up for it by getting a second round draf pick, Sasha Pavlovic who is a solid back up player, $500,000 and a soon to retire Ben Wallace when he traded O’Neal to the Cleveland Cavaliers. 

This season, he made room in the team’s payroll to sign one of the big name free agents this summer. Paxson traded away a bad character guy in Tyrus Thomas to the Charlotte Bobcats  for two expiring contracts and a future first round pick.  He then traded John Salmons and a couple of second round picks for two expiring contracts.

Anyway, those were Chicago’s staples of success in the 90′s. Most Chicago Bulls fans were acquired in the Jordan era and some have jumped off the band wagon since he left. The team still goes on and new players and goals come into place. The 2000′s had a few real bad years and some promising ones; some decent play makers and some horrible ones.

With that said, lets take a look to see what the Chicago Bulls have done for the past decade with a summary of each year including, all-stars, draft picks, big news, coaching changes and final results.

2000-2001

The decade began with the Bulls trying to landa free agent star to build a team around. Tim Duncan, Grant Hill, Tracy McGrady and Eddie Jones were the players teams were looking at with high interest. None of them came to Chicago.

On the Bulls website, Reinsdorf is quoted to say it wasn’t Chicago but the other places were more compatible with what they wanted in their career.

The free agents they did get, Brad Miller and Ron Mercer, were viewed as role players. They helped the cause but they didn’t feel a team could be built around them.

Either way, the Bulls didn’t get the free agents they hoped for and relied on the draft to help the roster. They had two solid sophomores returning in 99-00, including,  co-rookie of the year Elton Brand (shared it with Steve Francis) and Ron Artest.

The Bulls had the youngest average age in NBA history with 22.9. The most experienced player on the team was 5 year veteran Fred Hoiberg who did little to nothing. Between the draft and d day trades they received 8 players.

With the fourth pick of a weak draft, the Chicago Bulls drafted Marcus Fizer. His rookie year he average 9.5 points and 4 rebounds. The 24th pick of the draft, Dalibor Bagaric, never got off the garbage time squad. In a draft day trade, the Bulls acquired Jamal Crawford from the Cleveland Cavaliers for Chris Mihm. Crawford shared minutes with Hoiberg and and second year guard Bryce Drew while Fizer sat on the bench waiting for Brand to give him minutes.

The young inexperienced Bulls fell to a depressing 15-67 record, the worst in Chicago Bulls history. They broke a string of bad team records. The two that sticks out the most would have to be a 25 game road losing streak and the home sell out streak stopped at 610.

Brand led the team with 20 points and 10 rebounds per game. The few bright spots were; Marcus Fizer named to the 2nd All Rookie team. Brand (as a sophomore) and one of the many rookies Khalid El-Amin played in the rookie game at All Star Weekend.

2001-2002

The past season had looked like a rebuilding project only thought to add a few more wins than 15 and advance the skills of Brand, Artest andMiller. This did not happen as all three of them were dealt away. The switch was turned from rebuild with youthto new direction with veterans as the season dragged on.

First the Bulls used their fourth pick in the draft to select center Eddy Curry straight out of high school. Then in what most fans called a shock or disappointment, the Bulls traded Elton Brand, (the nucleus of last years team) to the L.A. Clippers for another high school center Tyson Chandler. In the second round of the draft the Bulls took Trenton Hassel.

The Bulls struggled again with their young athletic squad, finishing the season with a 21-61 record. With these bad performances piling up, Head Coach Tim Floyd resigned on Christmas Eve with a 49-109 overall record in four seasons. Bill Berry filled in for four days until former starting center for the Bulls, Bill Cartwright took over.

In February, the Bulls took a makeover route to acquire experience. In a massive 7 player trade, the Bulls sent Miller, Artest, Ron Mercer and Kevin Ollie to Central Division rival Indiana Pacers for Jalen Rose, Travis Best and Norman Richardson.

After the trade, Rose was pronounced a team captain and leader in attempts to build a structure of the young players on the Bulls. Rose, in a interview on the Bulls team website, said he was happy with the trade and ready for the challenge.

“I’m excited about it,” Rose said. “I embrace the opportunity. Every kid dreams about standing in this position talking about having an opportunity to take a team to a championship level.”

The transition seemed to work out as the Bulls had their first 3-game winning streak in two years.

Bill Cartwright was extended as head coach for 3 years and Fizer played in the All-star rookie game as a sophomore. Also, Hassel was named as rookie of the month. Rose led the team with 24 points and 5 assists a game. Miller grabbed the most boards with 8.4 a game.

2002-2003

There was massive amounts of hope for the 7 player trade to bring the Bulls to a respectable position in the league and maybe even a winning season.

With the 2nd overall pick in the draft, the Bulls picked up Duke point guard Jay Williams who was known for his offensive awareness and a high octane scoring punch. The Bulls also added Roger Mason Jr. and Lonnie Baxter in the draft. Chicago’s free agency adventures landed them 9 year veteran Donyell Marshall.

With Williams and Rose in the back court, the Bulls had a one-two combo who could match athletic ability and skill with any other duo in the league. Picking up Marshall brought a 3-point shooter with a solid NBA body who could play the 3 or 4.

The lottery draft picks, trades and free agent contract signers did not help. The Bulls continued their losing ways. They started the season 2-0 for the first time since 96-97. After the 2 wins, the Bulls crumbled, winning one more game in the next 39. They did get it together throughout the end of the season but it was too late as they finished with a 30-52 record.

Having 4 losing seasons and becoming an old man (64), Jerry Krause retires as executive. He was responsible for building the championship Bulls during their two 3-peats in the 90′s and was named NBA executive of the year twice.

Team owner, Reinsdorf, had worked with Krause for many years and said he was sad to see him go in an interview on the Bulls website.

“Jerry Krauseis one of a kind,” Reinsdorfstated. “He brought with him a vision of how to build a champion and he proceeded to create one of the most dominant champions of all time. No basketball fan in America can begin to imagine the World Champion Chicago Bulls without his imprint.”

Former Bulls point guard John Paxson was named as Executive Vice President to succeed Krause a week later. He helped the Bulls win their first 3-peat, then retired as a player in 1994. Paxson was then hired as an assistant coach andhelped the team to a NBA record 72-10 season. After coaching along side Phil Jackson, he resigned to pursue a career in radio broadcast for the Bulls. Paxson has been involved with the Bulls since 1985 as a player, coach and now a suite.

In an interview with Bulls.com, Paxson proclaimed what Chicago has meant to him and how happy he is to manage the team.

“I am really excited to accept this challenge andlook forward to working with the basketball operations staff,” said Paxson. “The Bulls organization has meant a lot to me over the years and getting the chance to help lead the team back to the upper echelon of the NBA is a true honor.”

As a rookie, Williams recorded a triple-double with 26 points, 13 assists and 14 rebounds. This feat helped secure him as a very valuable player for the Bulls. Williams averaged 10 points and 5 assists through out the season. Rose once again led the team with 22 points and 5 assists a game. Marshall made his big body useful grabbing 9 rebounds a game.

In December, Williams was named rookie of the month and was on the All Rookie 2nd team at the end of the season . He also played in the rookie game at All Star Weekend with Tyson Chandler.

2003-2004

The 2003-2004 season was much like the year before. Trades and draft picks built a roster with young athletes and experienced veterans. There was excitement that hadn’t been around the Bulls since they won championships. Unfortunately, the rest of the season shaped up the same as well. Promising players were no longer in the red uniforms and the men who tried to teach them the game were no longer standing on the sideline.

Kirk Hinrich, from Kansas, was added to the roster with the 7th pick. Hinrich, a decent defender and offensive set up man was collected after Williams was listed as out for the season after a summer motorcycle accident. Also, Hinrich would take some ball handling duties from Rose to lighten his load.

Then in a free agent move bringing the fans murmur of enthusiasm to a roar; Scottie Pippen was once again a Chicago Bull. Pippen played for the Bulls for 11 years and was a key piece to the six championships. He was also named as one of the 5o Greatest NBA Players and was a 7-time All-Star. Nearing the end of his career.

Pippen, in an interview on the Bulls website, said came back to his original stomping ground to help the team turn around their losing ways and grow a proper mental aspect for the game.

“I think I know how to win games in the NBA. It may sound simple, but both winning and losing can become a mindset, and I won’t accept losing—ever. Whether it’s on the floor, in the huddle, at practice or just demonstrating a winning leadership, I plan on helping this team win,” said Pippen.

The pick-ups didn’t seem to change anything on the scoreboard. The Bulls started to a 4-10 season. The record helped shove another coach out the door as Cartwright was pulled off the sidelines. His replacement would be ex-NBA player Scott Skiles.

Skiles was a point guard for 5 different teams between 1986-to-1996. Skiles currently holds the NBA record for most assists in a game when he dished out 30 during a game in 1990. The same year he was named the most improved player of the year. After his playing career had ended he was an assistant coach for the Phoenix Suns before he took a two year break from the league. The head coaching job for the Chicago Bulls was a challenge pursuing enough to get him back on the sideline.

Now it was time for the big trade. The Bulls sent Jalen Rose, Donyell Marshal and Lonnie Baxter to the Toronto Raptors for Antonio Davis, Chris Jefferies and Jerome Williams.

The Bulls struggled to a 23-59 record. But as last year hoped for the positives to accumulate to next year. The few things that did look like a contender was being formed is when Jamal Crawford dropped 50 points in a game and Hinrich turned out to be an assist machine. His 7 assists a game ranked him number 7 in the league and helped him become the only rookie to post a triple-double. He was named to the All Rookie First Team and played in the rookie All-Star game.

Crawford led the team with 17 points a game and added 5 assist. The new Bull, Davis, and Tyson Chandler both grabbed 8 rebounds a game.

2004-2005

The end of the 2005 season was the best in 6 years as they finally made it to the play-offs. Skiles defensive focus turned out to be a change the underachieving Bulls had needed.

Paxton helped out Skiles on the other side of the ball by drafting UCON’s net scorcher Ben Gordon with the third pick. Then acquired Duke’s one and done Luol Deng in a previous arranged trade. In the second round, the Bulls selected another Duke player in point-guard Chris Duhon.

Then Paxson signed and traded last years leading scorer, Jamal Crawford. Paston saved money and got some experienced big men out of the deal. Crawford and Jerome Williams were dealt to the New York Knicks for Dikembe Mutombo, Othella Harrington and to make sure there was still a Williams on the team, Frank Williams.

Shortly after the trade, honored veteran and one of Chicago’s most loved athletes, Scottie Pippen chose to retire after 17 years in the NBA.

The Bulls also picked up Argentina’s Andres Nocioni. A foreign prospect who had played for 4 oversea teams but never a squad in the NBA.

0-9 was the Bulls starting record that sent those chilling memories of past wasted seasons but Skiles and the Bulls proved they were not the under showing team they had once been. In January they went a league best 13-3 and by the All-Star break in February they were at a .500 record.

The defense was the main component for these victories. The team held 26 consecutive opponents under 100 points to set a positive franchise record. All the records set previously in the decade were all negatively showing bad performances.

Deng and Gordon were named to the All Rookie first team. Gordan was the first rookie to ever be named NBA Sixth man of the year and rookie of the month for three consecutive months. The two star rookies were joined by Kirk Hinrich in the All-Star Rookie Game.

The team had finally made a team with the intangibles, mindset and athletic ability Paxson had been trying to do. Skiles coaching regime added the extra pieces to get them to the play-offs. He was named Eastern Conference Coach of the month in January.

The team was 2nd in the league in average attendance and posted 11 consecutive United Center sellouts to close out their productive year. Although they did get eliminated in the first round by the Washington Wizards, the Bulls showed a promising future.

The Bulls had a inside-outside balanced offense as Hinrich and Eddy Curry both averaged 16 points a game. Hinrich also led the team with 6 assists and 2 steals a game and for the 2nd year in a row Chandler and Davis dominated the Bulls rebounding stats.

2005-2006

In this season, the Bulls showed the previous year was not a fluke. They made it back to the play-offs on the efforts of their young talented team gaining a few years of experience. Gordon, Hinrich, Deng, Nocioni  and Chandler developed into a team with all the individual pieces knowing what part of the game they needed to perfect for the Bulls to win.

In previous years, they had bad records so they knew they didn’t have the right piece to the championship puzzle. With the reach of the same success level and all signs looking towards better in the future, the Bulls decided to keep expiring contracts.

Scott Skiles was offered an extension and re-signed. Chandler andHarrington resigned. Curry was signed to a new contract but then traded with Antonio Davis to the New York Knicks for Michael Sweetney, Tim Thomas and Jermaine Jackson, a first round pick and 2 second round selections.

Curry was becoming slow and not developing further from last season and Davis was nearing the end of his career. The trade gave them a front court youth in Sweetney, a scoring veteran in Thomas and 4 additional pieces.

Gordon continued to became an offensive presence and moved to the top of the Bulls go to guy list. He made 9 three pointers in two games. The first game he set the franchise record with how many 3′s made. The second game he posted a perfect 9-of-9 from downtown matching an NBA record for 3 pointers made without a miss.

Deng, Gordon and Nocioni all played in the Rookie All-Star game. Coach Skiles was named Eastern Conference of the Monthfor the second year as he helped his team earn 2nd highest attendance record in the NBA and selling out 20 regular season games

In the first roundof the play-offs they met a Miami Heat team with superstars Dwayne Wade and Shaquille O’Neal. The Bulls lost the series 4-2 but showed valiant effort. The Heat went on to win the championship.

Gordon led the team with 17 points while Hinrich average 16 points per game. Hinrichled the team for the second consecutive year with 6 assists and Chandler had the most rebounds for the third consecutive season with 9.

2006-2007

The Bulls wanted to build on the success from the last 2 years. Some of the players who had helped them reach the playoffs wanted large contracts. Instead of losing money by paying these players or losing the player with no equal or better value in return, the Bulls made trades. They signed a few cagey veterans and in the draft they went for an athletic defensive players.

The Bulls originally had drafted LaMarcus Aldridge from Texas but traded him to Portland Trailblazers for their fourthround pick of LSU’s Tyrus Thomas. In the trade they had also picked up Rodney Carney but traded him on draft day for Thabo Sefolosha, a native of Switzerland.

Then came the renovation. Ben Wallace was signed in free agency to be an inside defensive presence and Adrian Griffin to be the same on the perimeter. Othella Harrington was cut. Chandler was traded to the New Orleans Hornets for ring searching veteran P.J. Brown and J.R Smith. Smith was then traded to the Denver Nuggets for Howard Eisley and 2 second round draft picks. Deng and Gordon’s option was picked up and Hinrich’s contract was extended to a multi-year deal.

The first game of the regular season was a sign of how good of a team they have become when they defeated the defending NBA champion Miami Heat 108-66. The same Heat team who eliminated them in the first round a year ago. The 42 point deficit was the largest a defending championship team had given up on opening night in league history.

They went on to the playoffs for the third consecutive season after finishing with 49 victories, the most since the Bulls 1998 championship season. In a payback series, the Bulls swept the defending champion Miami Heat 4-0 and advanced to the semifinals where they met the Detroit Pistons. Detroit took out the bulls in a 4-2 series. During the season, the Bulls sold out all 41 home games and their 5 hosted playoff contests.

Thomas took part in the NBA Slam Dunk Contest and Gordon participated with other Chicagoan athletes in the Shooting Star Competition. Hinrich and Wallace were named to the NBA All Defense 2nd team and Thomas on the All Rookie 2ndteam. Deng was honored with the Sportsmanship of the Year Award for his donations and community service efforts off of the court.

Gordon (21 points per game), Deng (19) and Hinrich (16) all added their input offensively. Hinrichput up the most assists with 6 for the third consecutive year. Wallace did exactly what Paxson and Skiles wanted him to do.  He led the team in defense and hustle averaging 10.5 rebounds and 2 blocks a game.

2007-2008

A trip to the semi-finals made getting to the playoffs a necessity for the Bulls.  Everyone connected to the organization and the city of Chicago were now back to being Bulls fans.  When they won games, it was the OK, they can survive in the post-Jordan era.  When they lost, it was,  they will never win without Jordan. 

Head Coach Scott Skiles probably heard this continuously during his run on the Bulls side line.  Unfortunately for Skiles,  the pressure of bringing the Bulls to prominence caught up to him as he was let go after 4 years.  

Skiles was fired on Christmas Eve, and Jim Boylan was hired within days as the interim head coach. 

The Bulls finished 33-49 and did not make it to the playoffs after making it the previous 3 seasons.

Of course, the Bulls made roster changes in the off-season. University of Flordia’s JoakimNoah was drafted with a high lottery pick and Pittsburgh’s Aaron Gray was chosen in the second round.

Joe Smith was signed in free agency andthen traded with Ben Wallace and a 2009 second roundpick to the Cleveland Cavaliers for Drew Gooden, Larry Hughes, Shannon Brown and Cedric Simmons.  Adrian Griffin was also traded to the Seattle Super Sonics.

The Bulls looked forward to reach to their previous plateau of the semi-finals and hopefully move past it.  Helping out the Bulls would be a number one draft pick and the hiring of a new commander.

2008-2009

Paxson chose point guard Derrick Rose from the  University of Memphis with the number one overall pick.  Rose a native of Chicago came back home to play ball.

Vinny Del Negro was hired as the 17th head coach of the Chicago Bulls.  Del Negro played in the NBA from 1988 to 2001.  After his final season he covered the Phoenix Suns on the radio. 

Rose came ready to play as he lived up to expectations.  He led the team with 6 assists a game and was the third leading scorer, behind Ben Gordon and John Salmons.  He was named the Rookie of the Year and was placed on the All Rookie Team.

Brad Miller returned to the Bulls half way through the season in a trade with Sacramento Kings.  John Salmons joined Miller as new Bulls, while Drew Gooden, Andres Nocioni and Cedrick Simmons went to the Kings.

The Bulls went 41-41 and earned a 7th seed in the playoffs.  The defending champion Boston Celtics were their match up.  Their All Star, Kevin Garnett, was banged up so the Bulls were able to bang inside more than normal but it wasn’t enough.

Ben Gordon showed how he led the Bulls in scoring for 4 consecutive years against the Celtics. Gordon and Boston’s Ray Allen traded three point baskets the entire 7 game series.  It seemed like every game ended after an overtime or two.  The series has been labeled epic and one of the best in the history of the NBA.

Ending the season with a huge playoff series gave Chicago another dose of high expectations going into the 2009-2010 season.

2009-2010

At the current time,  the Bulls are not living up to the standards they have set for themselves the last few years.  Instead of playing 500 ball. they are sitting in the bottom tier of the NBA ranks with a 11-17 record.

In the off-season they drafted small forward James Johnson from Wake Forest and Taj Gibson from USC.

Bull’s lost their biggest offensive threat when Ben Gordon signed with the Detroit Pistons in free agency.  There was a dispute on whether the Bulls even offered him a contract. 

The team seems to be in turmoil with allegations of Del Negro losing his job because of his team not playing for him.

The season is young and the usual Christmas Eve firing has not happened.  Hopefully for the ultimate fan, the team can turn their season around and make it back to the playoffs.  The Bulls do show promise during some games but lack drive in others.  If the first option becomes consistent, there is talent to make a deep run.

John Salmons is averaging about 18 ppg this year and Brad Miller averages almost 12 ppg and 8 rbp.

Brad Miller played for the Chicago Bulls in from 2000-2002 before being traded to the Indiana Pacers.  Miller is now 32 years old.

The Bulls were able to pretty much dominate the game from the tip-off.  The starting line up featured only one player from last year, Luol Deng.  Number one pick Derrick Rose won the starting role at point guard during the preseason and Thabo Sefosha the shooting guard spot.  Rose got the most minutes at guard, scoring 11 point and contributing nine assists.  Ben Gordon and Kirk Hinrich each filled in well of the bench, scoring a combined 33 points and 10 assist.

As for down low, Drew Gooden and Tyrus Thomas pretty much stole the show.  Gooden held second year center Andruw Bogut to just nine points in 25 minutes, while scoring 13 points and grabbing eight boards himself.  Tyrus Thomas played all but 34 seconds.  He recorded his first double-double of the season, scoring 15 points and grabbing 10 rebounds.  Joakim Noah was able to offer his defensive presence off the bench as usual, grabbing 6 rebounds and 3 blocked shots in 19 minutes.

In the end, the Bulls pretty much dominated the Bucks.  The Bulls beat the Bucks almost every stat that matters.

Looking ahead to the Boston Celtics on Friday, the Bulls will need similar stats in order to win.  Tyrus Thomas will have the tough task of guarding all-star Kevin Garnett, and will need to keep his head in the game on both offense and deffenese.

1. Full House: The Bulls will have a plethora of gaurds and will want to move someone. After getting Larry Hughes in a trade with Cleveland in February, sharing minutes between Krik Hinrich, Ben Gordon, Hughes, and Tabo Sefolosha didn’t work well for either player. Sefolosha’s potential will make him an unlikely trade option, and Gordon’s jumper being the best of the team will make it hard to part ways with him. Hinrich and Hughes are left with huge contracts, which could make them are to deal though. Hinrich is owed $36.5 million over four years and Hughes is due $26.5 million over two years. Chris Duhon is an unrestricted free-agent and is unlikely to return.
2. Blockbuster Moves: Starting off really big would be to pursue Carmelo Anthony if the Denver Nuggets do look to move him. Anthony’s agent, Calvin Andrews, says the Nuggets aren’t shopping him, but after barely making the play-offs with the leagues third-highest payroll, and a 4-20 playoff record since 2003, the Nuggets are in need some sort of make over. Possibly acquiring Hinrich and Luol Deng can help the Nuggets become a little more defensive minded. If not that, theres the possibilty of the Elton Brand trade, but this time the Daily Herald had a little different opinion. With the Bulls sending Hinrich and Drew Gooden, instead of Hinrich and Andres Nocioni. Another forward who may be available is Charlotte Bobcats Emeka Okafor who is a restricted free agent. Although the Bobcats do not have much room for more guards. Inevititably, Hinrich could be traded for former college roommate Nick Collison and project center Johan Petro.

These are just some thoughts and rumors that could occur. What the Bulls inevitably end up doing could be decided by the other 29 teams. Read the full article at DailyHerald.com here.

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