Chicago Bulls: Becoming relevant should now be irrelevant at this moment
The Chicago Bulls organization sold their die-hard fans on the fact that their team would remain relevant around the league. That narrative should end immediately, given what we just witnessed this past season.
If you are a Chicago Bulls fan, you probably have no clue what the team will do come Thursday night’s NBA Draft. Once again, this habitual sate of confusion can be attributed greatly to the fact that the Bulls’ front office doesn’t know which course of action the team should follow.
Compete now for a championship with a hybrid mix of aging veterans and young, inexperienced players, who all fit awkwardly together, or completely start over from scratch through a total, much-needed rebuild of the roster from top to bottom?
This was the same dilemma the Bulls’ front office faced just a mere season ago. Initially, it appeared that getting rid of two fan-favorites, Derrick Rose and Joakim Noah, meant that the organization was willing to sacrifice relevancy in order to rebuild the roster through future drafts.
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Instead, the front office decided that selling tickets to a playoff series was more important than building a real contender. Signing both Dwyane Wade and Rajon Rondo to deals last off-season accomplished that, no doubt.
The Bulls front office should want the team to be competitive enough to pose a threat to the Cleveland Cavaliers. As the casual observer notices, however, this Bulls team cannot accomplish that anytime soon.
What’s the point in being an average team over a full 82-game season? Ask John Paxson and Gar Forman, and they’ll likely gush about the team making it into the playoffs once more, regardless of the somber outcome that unfolded.
The reality for the Bulls, and pretty much any other Eastern Conference playoff contender, is that until LeBron James takes his talents elsewhere again, the Cleveland Cavaliers will remain the “Kings of the East.”
That is precisely why the Bulls front office needs to swallow some of its pride and take a page out of the Chicago Cubs’ rebuilding playbook. Sure, it took the Cubs plenty of losing seasons, but look what it got them — a title this past November.
The Chicago Bulls can do exactly what the Cubs did. They made smart draft choices, while at the same time trading away veterans on the roster. In exchange for those trades, they received even more picks/young players with upside.
It’s not rocket science. Rather, it’s just what organizations in sports do today when they know their team is mediocre.
Can the front office realize they used an old recipe for another lost season?
Related Story: Chicago Bulls: No better time than now to trade Jimmy Butler, begin rebuild
If that’s the case, the front office can redeem itself quickly by trading away Butler for a high draft selection. Doing that would signal that the Bulls are finally on board with a total rebuild of the roster. Even if it’s just the first of many steps in accomplishing such a daunting task.