Two Roads Diverged In A Red Wood

By Kevin Schroeder
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Updated: May 23, 2016

This Bulls season didn’t go the way everybody had hoped. The team never really played up to its potential and missed the playoffs. There are two ways one can look at this; the team was snake bitten with injuries, would have been a lot better had the presumptive starters been on the floor together all year, and struggled adjusting to Hoiberg’s system. The other view is the team is a bunch of incompetent nincompoops and it’s time to blow the whole thing up. I lean more toward the former, but I’m not going to fault anyone for feeling it’s the latter.

So where do we go from here? Here’s a look at the team from this past season and where I think they should go next season.

Which leaves us with…

Taj fits better at center in Hoiberg’s system and Butler fits better at small forward regardless. Now, if LeBron or Durant want to come here (not likely), or Harrison Barnes (maybe), then Butler plays the 2 and that’s that. But again, that’s not likely so let’s lot Jimmy in at the 3. This leaves an opening at the 2. A guy like Aaron Afflalo could fill that hole pretty well. Is that five going to win a title? Probably not, unless Mirotic takes a big step forward. Is it going to win the East? Ditto.

There’s another big-name free agent we need to talk about here, if only just for a second: Dwyane Wade. I wouldn’t count on him coming home, but I do think there’s at least a chance. He had a very nice season this year while Hassan Whiteside could end up leaving Miami and Chris Bosh may not even be able to play anymore. Wade would fill a need in Chicago. However, he’s not the world’s greatest shooter and do the Bulls really want to take on another guy who you can really only expect 60-65 games out of? Would Wade be willing to give the Bulls a hometown discount?

Eric Gordon and Bradley Beal will both be free agents. Both have injury concerns and neither have been as good as people hoped. DeMar DeRozan will be a free agentbut isn’t a consistent outside shooter,. Also, the Bulls may not have the money available to sign him. If the team trades Dunleavy and let go of everyone I suggested to let go of, they would have roughly $59.5 million tied up before signing E’Twaun Moore, their draft pick, and a center. (I said to keep Jo, but if the Bulls can sign Andre Drummond or Al Horford (not likely in either case), obviously, they should do so. Again, cap space would come into play here.) The cap is likely to be about $90 million next season. The question now is, “How much is Moore going to ask for?”

At this point, you may be asking, “If the Bulls probably aren’t going to be able to bring in a major piece and probably aren’t going to contend with what they’ve got, why not just blow it up now?” The answer will come later on. Let’s talk about blowing it up first. I’ve seen a lot of talk about trading Jimmy Butler. A lot of said talk seems to be the wanting of change for the sake of change. Are the Bulls ever going to win a championship with Jimmy Butler as their best player? Not unless Butler takes another big step forward. Is he going to take that step? Dunno. I don’t think he’s reached his ceiling yet, but I’m not totally sure that his ceiling is high enough to be the best player on a championship team, unless that team is one that resembles the 2013-14 Spurs. That said, guys like Jimmy G. Buckets don’t exactly grow on trees, so if you’re going to trade him, you’d better get a haul in return. A top 5-10 pick, a second 1^st-round pick, and either a third 1^st-round pick, a lottery pick next year, or a proven solid piece should be the asking price. Who can give the Bulls that or something close to that?

Boston: The Celtics have three 1^st-round picks: 3, 16, and 23. At 3, the Bulls would almost certainly miss out on either Ben Simmons or Brandon Ingram, but could land Kris Dunn. Obviously, any “blow it up” plan involves moving Derrick Rose (not as unlikely as one might think – his salary could help someone get to the cap floor. However, don’t expect to get much in return in a case like this.) Picks 3 and 16 plus a solid player could be a nice offer.

Philadelphia: The 76ers have the 1^st and 24^th picks as well as hometown product Jahlil Okafor. That would be a haul worth trading Butler for. Would the Sixers make the trade, though?

And that’s it. And then the Bulls have to come away with at least a star and a quality starter out of those picks (star and two quality starters if they get 3 picks) to make the whole thing worth it.

The other thing this would do is clear up a bunch of cap space and it wouldn’t totally surprise me to see a superstar come to Chicago if we’re talking about a complete roster overhaul. Still, the cap is going to go up significantly again next year. And here’s the answer to “why not blow it up now” that I promised earlier, though it does require GarPax to be smart and honest with themselves, which is probably where this whole thing would go off the rails, but just pretend for a moment that the Bulls are run by people who actually have business doing so and follow me here. Right now, the Bulls don’t have a ton of assets that could be turned into something. Basically, just JGB and Taj. But let’s say they re-sign Jo. If at the deadline next season, they don’t see themselves as contenders (and this is where the honesty part comes in. 6-seed =/= contenders.), Jo becomes someone you might be able to get a late 1^st-rounder for. Taj certainly would be. Heck, you might even be able to get something of actual value for Rose if you’re waving the white flag and entering tank mode, therefore becoming willing to take on an expiring contract. So, let’s count all this up. Lottery pick+ additional first rounder for JGB + own lottery pick + even just two 1^st-rounders for Rose/Jo/Gibson/Dunleavy/Mirotic? = 2 lottery picks and 3 other 1^st-rounders. Another reason to wait to blow it up – the Bulls aren’t getting the Kings pick this year. If it falls outside the top 10 next year (the least year the Bulls could get the pick, otherwise it’s a 2^nd-rounder next year), the Bulls could have 6 1^st-round draft picks and a small nation’s GDP in cap space.

And who’s to say that just tweaking the roster this off-season couldn’t work? What if the problems were just injuries and adjusting to HoiBall? What if Mirotic becomes the guy we thought he could be a couple years ago? It’s worth a shot.

The problem with any plan though is GarPax. Time and time again, they have proven themselves to be complete ineffective morons. No matter which road you think the Bulls should take, they both run through “GarPax has got to go.”

Twitter: @KSchroeder_312

E-mail: schroeder.giig@gmail.com