Wade has been reported to question the loyalty of the Bull’s management.  Joakim Noah and Lindsay Hunter have been quoted in the media saying Lebron should come to Chicago.  Bosh has listed Chicago as one of his five destinations he would like to play for next year.

Then the Bulls fired Vinny Del Negro, so they’re in the market for a new man on the sideline.  Avery Johnson, Byron Scott, Lawrence Frank, Jeff Van Gundy and Doug Collins are all ex-coaches looking for a job.  ESPN has sources who say Phil Jackson has been contacted to return as the Bull’s Head Coach and University of Kentucky’s John Calipari has been in the news for the job as well.

To add a little more controversy around the Bulls is the legacy of arguably the best player to ever grace the NBA, Michael Jordan.  It has been said players would not want to go to Chicago because they would be in the shadow of MJ.  The Utah Jazz’s power forward, Carlos Boozer, who is going to be a free agent, doesn’t agree.

I like these statements from Boozer.  Actually,  it makes his resume go closer to the top of the pile as a free agent pick up.

He isn’t scared to play in the house Jordan built.  He is showing pride in himself as a player.  He realizes the 90′s Bulls were great, but why shouldn’t any other great players be a Bull?

The Celtics have won the most championships in the history of the NBA.  This didn’t scare Ray Allen or Kevin Garnett going to Boston.  The Lakers are the second winning-est franchise in history.  This didn’t stop Shaquille O’Neal or Pau Gasol to moving to Los Angeles.   This didn’t stop Paul Pierce or Kobe Bryant from signing extensions either.

If anything Jordan and Scottie Pippen created a winning atmosphere other players should love to play in.  Sure, the Bulls fell off for about ten years, but this was because of former Bull’s general manager Jerry Krause causing problems with the stars and college players with tons of potential not panning out: Marcus Fizer, Jay Williams, Chris Duhon, Eddie Robinson and Tyrus Thomas.

I agree with Wade, because Jordan, Pippen or any other ex-Bull are nowhere near the organization.  I disagree with Wade because the management that was in place isn’t currently in office.  Jerry Reinsdorf is still the owner, but is he really the guy they don’t get along with, no.

For the most part it was Jerry Krause, who has retired in 2003 as the Bulls general manager.

Since then, there hasn’t been any rumors or problems with loyalty in the Bulls organization.

It would be great for Wade to get over Chicago’s past history and put on a Bull’s jersey.

The MVP year ended by getting swept in the first round by the eighth seeded Golden State Warriors in one of the biggest upset series in league history.

The Mavericks have followed the failure ever since then; 2008 was a first round exit, 2009 beat in the semifinals and were took out in the first round this season as well.

It isn’t like the Mavericks are going into the playoffs in the seven or eight seeds; they’re advancing to the post season in the one through three seeds.

The Mavericks super star Dirk Nowitzki is the number six option in the top ten free agent options for the Chicago Bulls.

He is a great talent.  Besides Larry Bird, he is the best seven foot three point shooter to ever grace the NBA.  On any night, Dirk can put up 40 points.  Since the 2000-2001 season, he has averaged more than 21 points a game.

During these playoff blunders, Dirk’s numbers stay the same.  Actually his points per game go up.  He doesn’t crack under pressure, but his team does.  Is this his lack of captain leadership?  One blunder maybe not, but with four consecutive early exits, the question has to be asked.

With Dirk on the court, he does draw an instant double team for most teams in the NBA.  This would work great for the Bulls.  Other players could cut to the basket without being blanketed or a big man would be left alone in the low paint.

His offensive game would open up the Chicago play book because of the big man who can hit a jump shot from anywhere on the court.  He can also run the floor, which would fit in perfectly with the Bulls since they’re all lean and athletic.

Nowitzki does lack defense, but like I said with Amare Stoudemire, the Bulls have Noah and the perimeter guys know how to play help defense.  Nowitzki does play some D, more than Stoudemire, just at a low level compared to others in the league.

Stated at the beginning of the post, the question is his leadership.  In Dallas, he has played with some solid players.  This year they had, Hall of Fame bound Jason Kidd, last year’s sixth man of the year Jason Terry, a motivated Caron Butler, and the high energy Shawn Marion.

If he came to Chicago,  Dirk would have budding superstars in Derrick Rose and Joakim Noah, a decent third scoring option in Luol Deng and a couple of great guys to have come off the bench in Kirk Hinrich and Taj Gibson.

His Dallas rosters have been better.  The only thing in Chicago’s roster favor is their heart and desire.  They play harder than the Mavericks, just don’t have their talent.

Can Dirk lead them to a championship?  He hasn’t been able to with a better roster and great coaches. He played for Don Nelson, who was voted to be a top ten coach of all time.  Avery Johnson, who is a coach all the teams without a coach want and Rick Carlisle who has been to the playoffs in seven of his eight seasons as a head coach.

The Bulls don’t have a coach at the current time and the open market doesn’t have any super attractive guys.  Johnson could come to Chicago,  maybe that would bring Dirk.

Nowitzki has proved he is a great player whether it be one on one or in a 3 on 1 transition fast break with his teammates, but he hasn’t proved he can make his team better.

What if, he wasn’t the number one guy?  If Dirk came to the Bulls and was a number two option behind Rose, he would be golden.  The pressure of leading the team would be on the point guard and the star Chicago has named as their own.

All Dirk would have to do is shoot the rock.

This would make him a great choice.  Dirk has the offensive game the Bulls desperately need but he hasn’t helped his team get to the promise land.  This is why he doesn’t make the top five.

Click in tomorrow for # 5 in the top ten summer free agent options for the Chicago Bulls.

Chicago has six players on the books for next season: Luol Deng, Derrick Rose, Joakim Noah, Taj Gibson, Kirk Hinrich and James Johnson.  They are allowed to have 15, so there is room for nine more players.

The NBA projects next year’s salary cap to be $56.1 million.  Chicago only has $33.6 million spent, meaning they have $22.5 mill to go shopping with.

Fortunately for the Bulls, they have plenty of money to replace at least one of these empty roster spots with an elite NBA athlete and add a few strong counter parts to the young and talented nucleus all ready on the team.

Let’s start by getting rid of the free agents that have no chance of coming to Chicago.

Paul Pierce has the early termination option in his contract.  The Boston Celtics are a serious threat to win the championship this year.  He has been in Boston his entire career and is loved there.  They looked old all season, but now, look like they’re in their early 20′s come playoff time. Rajon Rondo is a superstar and will be the new face of the Celtics, but Pierce is going to stay to pass the torch.  Plus, Doc Rivers doesn’t want to disband the big three: Pierce, Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett.

Manu Ginobili already signed an extension with the San Antonio Spurs.  There was no reason for him to leave.  San Antonio is his city and he proved he can still play and lead them to victory when healthy.

Tracy McGrady is washed up.  He had his spot as an NBA superstar taken away by injuries.  In 13 seasons, he has only played in 70 or more games five times.  He can’t stay healthy and he can’t play at the elite level he thinks he can.

Shaquille O’Neal is at the end of his career.  He is still a legitimate 12 points and 7 rebounds a game kind of guy.  This isn’t bad for a center in the NBA these days.  Shaq’s size is also a positive for a low post presence on offense and defense.  He is just too slow and will not fit in with the Bull’s offense.  Chicago likes to push the ball.

Jermaine O’Neal is at the end of his career as well.  He didn’t do anything to help Dwayne Wade and the Miami Heat in the playoffs, he would be a waste of money.

Yao Ming has health injuries just as bad as his ex-teammate McGrady.  Ming is a scoring and defensive presence, but his ankles, feet and knees can’t hold up.

Josh Howard is too much baggage.  He can play, but he is inconsistent and has let off the court situations interfere with his NBA career.

Michael Redd would be a great piece to add because of his shooting.  He is one of the best pure shooters in the league but he can’t stay on the court.  In the last two seasons he has only played 51 games.  I would like to add him to the “get” list, but I don’t know how he’s going to bounce back from his injuries.

Tyson Chandler is all ready on the Bulls, Joakim Noah.  They play a similar style, except, Noah is younger, plays with more energy and can score further from the basket than Chandler.  If the Bulls get a big man, they need a scorer, not defense and rebounding.

Anybody not mentioned is up for grabs in the next 10 posts, come back tomorrow to find out who number ten is.

Management has structured their entire roster around Lebron.  Still,  no playoff success.  He is going to leave.

Chicago has the money to afford him. Chicago is a big NBA market. 

There has been talk of him being in the shadow of Michael Jordan.  Everyone who comes to Chicago will be in this situation. Does this mean a super-star caliber player is never going to play for the Bulls, no.

The Bulls look like the best team in Lebron’s handful of options.  He should come to Chicago, win six championships and prove he is on an elite status as an NBA player.

For the last two seasons, the Cavs went into the playoffs with the NBA’s best regular season record.  Lebron has won back to back MVP awards. Last year they were eliminated in the conference finals and this year the conference semifinals. 

Brown has had the best player in game.  He has had two all-star players in Mo Williams and Antawn Jamison, an old but still playable Shaquille O’Neal and solid role players like Anthony Parker and Anderson Varejao to build around his superstar.  All ended in the defeat because he couldn’t coach them. 

If the Cavs fire Brown, it could show James they are willing to do whatever they have to do to get him to resign.  Sorry to burst Cleveland fan’s bubble, but James is gone anyway.

Lets face it, no one thought Jackson was going to come back to Chicago.  It would have been a great story line and a moment to celebrate at the local pub for all Bulls fans of age, but it wasn’t going to happen.

He has a dream job for NBA head coaches.  Los Angeles is sunny all year long, he has a superstar (Kobe Bryant) with two or three years left in his prime, a strong supporting cast and he gets to mingle with celebrities.  He loves it in LA, why come back to the windy city with a young team in the development stage?

He does have great strengths.  Calipari is known as a master recruiter.  In each of his three college coaching jobs (UMASS, Memphis, Kentucky), he recruited great talent and changed the programs around.  

UMASS was an NIT team before he got there.  He took them to the sweet sixteen and the final four.  Without Calipari, no one knew Memphis had a basketball program; he took them to the championship game.  He recruited Derrick Rose, who the Bulls selected number one overall in the 2008 draft.  Does the name John Wall ring any bells?  Enough said. 

The Bulls need one of these guys if they hope to get to the “elite” level in the NBA.  Calipari could have brought one of them to Chicago.  Although I thought he could be a bust,  I would have loved him to be on the sideline, if that meant Bosh, Wade or Lebron would be in a Bull’s jersey.

Chicago doesn’t need another young, up and coming coach.  The young roster needs someone who is a proven winner and can mold five individual talents into one cohesive unit.

What if the man who brought them to their dominance in the 90′s, came back.  Yes, that’s right, Phil Jackson.  Remember when he was an assistant to Doug Collins, then took over the Bulls and put them at the top of the NBA for six seasons, three consecutive years at a time.  Why wouldn’t he want to come back?  Kobe and Los Angeles Lakers is probably the answer.

Jackson has said he doesn’t want to coach anywhere else but in LA, but a lot of people say things, “I never had sexual relations,” remember when Bill Clinton said that.  How about the multiple retirements athletes have these days.  They said they were going to retire, but they come back.  Jackson could go to another team.

He should seriously think about returning to Chicago if he decides he wants to leave Kobe.  Think about it, the city of Chicago would bow at Jackson’s feet as soon as he signed the contract.  

I don’t even think I need to state anything about his resume.  His playoff records are insane.  He needs one more ring to have one on all fingers and with the way the Lakers are playing, he might have it at the beginning of next season. 

Let’s be real,  we all knew the Bulls were not going to beat the Cavs in a seven game series.  There were many people who said Chicago would be sweept.  I said they would take one, and thats exactly what they did.

The purpose of this isn’t to hate on the Bulls or pop my chest out because I called the series right; it is to give the Bulls a round of applause.

The Bulls started the season out okay, then fell on hard times.  Tyrus Thomas was fighting about playing time, the players didn’t look committed to head coach Vinny Del Negro, and trades and injuries hampered the lineup.  With al of this going on they didn’t give up.

They didn’t get a playoff spot till the last day of the regular season.  They finally got into the post season after crucial victories against teams already in the playoffs; the Boston Celtics and the Charlotte Bobcats.

Their tough times, unfortunately, gave them the eighth seed in the playoffs.  This meant they had to go against the reigning NBA MVP and the built up Cavs.  Lebron isn’t only the reigning MVP, he will win it again this season.  I say the Cavs are built up, because for the first time in Lebron’s career he has surrounding players who have been or are all-star caliber players; Shaquille O’Neal, Antwan Jamison and Mo Williams.  Plus, they have role players such as Delonte West, Anderson Varejao and Anthony Parker, who bring something to the court every time they’re entered into a game.  The Cavs will play the Celtics in the second round after they defeated the Miami Heat 4-1 in their first round series.

They lost in five. There was never any doubt the Bulls would get beat, but they played their heart out.  They got blown out in game four, but the other four games were close and the Bulls showed they could play winning basketball.  Maybe, they can’t win at an elite level this year, however, they have the talent to be an elite team in the near future.

I give Derrick Rose and Joakim Noah all the props in the world.  Rose was called a star as soon as Chicago drafted him with the number one overall pick.  Did anyone one think he would be a super star in his second year?  I thought it would take four seasons.

Noah has become a beast.  I remember thinking, oh my gosh, why did they draft him at number nine in 2007 ahead of Al Thorton or Thaddeus Young?  I am glad they did.  He is becoming a leader of a very young Chicago team and in my opinion he has to be in the conversation to be one of the top three starting centers in the league.

Thank you Bulls for showing that you cared about the season, even though management made it seem like this summer’s free agency was more important.  I think the strong play at the end of the season shows proof to the big name free agents, James, Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh, that the Bulls are ready to take it to the next level.

EAST

Cleveland Cavaliers VS Chicago Bulls- Cavs in 5

I would love for the Bulls to win more than one game or even take the series, but it will not happen.  Lebron James is just too much for the Bulls to handle.  The Bulls played a great game, but still lost game 2.  Enough said,  I’m going to pout in silence…..

Boston Celtics VS Miami Heat (three old men VS a young superstar)- Boston Celtics (old men) 4-3

This is going to be a great series.  Dwayne Wade is a superstar and will win one or two games by himself.  If he gets any help at all they will win one more and could possibly take the series.  Kevin Garnett is not the same KG we know and love, plus he is out for game two because of his elbow.  The Boston Celtics have a champion swagger.  Paul Pierce will not give up for anybody and Rajon Rondo has become a great basketball player.  I think the Celtics have too much for Wade to win the series.

Atlanta Hawks VS Milwaukee Bucks- Hawks sweep

Atlanta has a balanced scoring attack.  They have perimeter shooters in Mike Bibby and Jamal Crawford.  They have physical players who will take it inside Josh Smith and Marvin Williams.  Plus,  they have the most underrated player in the NBA, Joe Johnson.  He can shoot, defend, rebound and is a good teammate.  Andrew Bogut is out for the Bucks.  With him in the lineup the Bucks could have won a few games, but not without him.  John Salmons and Brandon Jennings won’t give the team enough to get them past the Hawks.

Orlando Magic VS Charlotte Bobcats- Magic sweep

Dwight Howard is a beast.  Charlotte’s Tyson Chandler is not going to contain Howard.  The Magic are the best three point shooting team in the history of the NBA. Enough said.

WEST

LA Lakers VS Oklahoma City Thunder- Lakers in 6

Kobe or Ron Artest against Kevin Durant is the best one-on-one match-up in the first round.  Kobe is a solid defender and Artest is one of the best in the game.  Durant is the best scorer in the game.  This should be fun to watch.  The Lakers are just too good.  They have a great veteran team who are going to teach the young Thunder lessons.  The Thunder are a good team and will find enough scoring to get a couple games, but Kobe and company will win the series.

Denver Nuggets VS Utah Jazz- Nuggets in 6

The Jazz are banged up.  The Nuggets have something to prove.  They were at one time the number two seed in the west but fell to fourth after a bad stretch of loses.  Kenyon Martin is back to add physical inside play.  The Nuggets will miss George Karl but they will find a way to win the series in six games.

Phoenix Suns VS Portland Trailblazers- Suns in 6

I wanted to give the series to Portland, but, I can’t do it with Brandon Roy on the IR.  Roy is the difference maker.  Portland has a good team, but I think Amare Stoudemire and Steve Nash will take care of business.

Dallas Mavericks VS San Antonio Spurs- Dallas in 5

The boring Spurs are done.  They can’t stay healthy and Tim Duncan is not even a shell of his former self.  Dallas is rolling.  Dirk is playing at an MVP level and Jason Kidd is playing like he is 24 instead of 37.  Kidd is still the best passer in the game and can add 15-to-20 points any given night.  Plus, Caron Butler and Brendan Hayword have come from Washington and added key pieces the Mavericks were missing.

A month ago,  I would have been a genius to be a betting man on some NBA odds.  The Bulls were in sixth place and only two games behind the five seeded Miami Heat.  Derrick Rose had just played in the All-Star game and Joakim Noah was the second leading rebounder in the league behind Dwight Howard.

Then the Bulls fall apart and crush my hopes of high school kids considering me on the same level of brilliance as the guys seen on Sports Center .  Noah missed the first three weeks of March and the tail end of February. Rose and Luol Deng then took turns getting injured and later missed three or four games at the same time.

Chicago went on a ten game losing streak, falling from sixth to ninth real fast.  When Acie Law, Jannero Pargo and Ronald Murray are the Bulls starting backcourt, the odds of winning are not in their favor.

The trades right before the NBA deadline could have been a factor too.  The free agent market for the summer of 2010 is one of the best in the last few years.  Dwayne Wade, Chris Bosh and Lebron James are the three biggest names but other players such as Andre Iguodala, David Lee, Amare Stoudemire, Paul Pierce, Joe Johnson, Dirk Nowitzki, Michael Redd and Manu Ginobilli will all be free agents.

With this said,  the Bulls got rid of two big contracts for expiring ones in attempts to stock up money to pay a major talent.  Hopefully someone will still want to be a Bull after their poor showing at the end of this season.

In the eyes of Bulls management, John Salmons was a bust.  He was very inconsistent.  One night he would score 25 and the next night he would score 5.  The Bulls traded him to the Milwaukee Bucks for the expiring contracts of Hakim Warrick and Joe Alexander.

Salmons is averaging 20 points a game as a Buck and has led them to a 16-4 record.  Before he joined the team, they were not in playoff consideration.   Now the Bucks are in 5th place in the Eastern Conference and are arguably the hottest team in the league.

The Tyrus Thomas trade to the Charlotte Bobcats for Law and Murray.  Although, I don’t think they should start, both of them are quality backup guards.  They both are quick, athletic and can put the ball in the basket.  Plus, the Bobcats gave us a first round pick.  I am more than satisfied with the trade and don’t think it hurt the team at all.

Immediately after the trade, the Bulls won four out of five games and looked as if they were preparing for a deep playoff run.  Then they went on the ten game skid.  They looked horrible.  Even before injuries took Deng and Rose out of the lineup, they still looked like a high school jv team.

They are only half a game behind the Toronto Raptors for the eight spot.  Even if the Bulls make the cut,  the season is still a disappointment.  Last year’s playoff series against the Celtics had them on the up and coming list for this season.  The roster is young and extremely talented.

Chicago shows signs of being a good team but then play garbage ball and act like they don’t want to play.  The Bulls have a solid nucleus (Rose, Noah, Deng, Taj Gibson) to make a deep playoff run.  They could possibly by pass the Raptors and make it, but deep run, it isn’t going to happen.

Being a Chicago fan, I had high hopes but have been let down.  It’s sad to say,  the fifth seed prediction now seems like a dream, when it seemed like a premonition a month ago.