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By Sam Smith | 1.09.2015 | 8:42 a.m. CT
Every year there seem to be certain ownership groups who ensure their fans that they will never win and if I lived in those cities I would never pay for ticket to go there. Denver and Minnesota are great examples. The Minnesota moves are obvious. They continually selloff or trade off assets, acquire new ones while undermining other position groups and dissipate the team. Denver is really another example. More low first-round picks via The Cleveland Titanic that will amount to nothing, while every team in the league wants rim protection help. If Denver thought they would make the playoffs in the next few years, it wouldn't make such a God awful move. It would be really funny to see if the fans in Minnesota and Denver retaliate even more aggressively than they already have.
Matt Adler
Well this season has seen some interesting developments in the East. The narrative of a cold war between the Cavs and Bulls seems to have been demolished by the competitiveness of Washington and Toronto. But Atlanta is the one team I do not know about. No one talked of the Hawks over the offseason and they find a way to keep winning games. They have Al Horford, but I am hesitant to call him a star in this league. Do you expect teams like the Wizards, Raptors, and Hawks to continue their play or for time to position these teams where we expected them to be? Should the Bulls worry about any of these teams come playoff time?
James Phoenix
Regarding Jerry Krause, I enjoyed the bits about him in your book, "There Is No Next." I've never been a huge fan of his, but over the years, I've started to see his much maligned remark, "Organizations win championships," ring more and more true. Look at the Cavs, for example. They do not seem to have the top-to-bottom organizational climate in place that Miami has with Pat Riley and perhaps as a result, the Cavs players are not producing on the court. And they are more talented than last year's Miami team! LeBron should just be playing ball, not being the spokesperson for the entire organization. That looks to be Reinsdorf and Krause's real genius in navigating the Jordan era, they made sure Jordan was just playing basketball not making trades or hiring coaches. As for other examples the Kobe and Shaq Lakers before the arrival of Phil Jackson were a huge mess, I remember. Phil brought organizational stability, and then the championships followed. The current Bulls, from the owner on down, have great leadership, and they have won more with less talent over the last 10 years than any other team outside of the Spurs. Oakland Raiders: terrible organization, can't produce a winner. Same with the Washington football team. Having a great organization never guarantees a championship, of course, but I think terrible organizations have a very difficult time winning even with great talent on the field/court. With that in mind, can you think of any past NBA champions overcoming organizational dysfunction to win it all?
Hawk Gates
You wrote, "Jerry Krause did appreciate the worth of big guys." I think evidence of this can be seen in his decision to attempt to rebuild the team around Eddy Curry and Tyson Chandler. I remember, perhaps inaccurately, that the thinking at the time was that Curry would be like a mini-Shaq and Chandler would be like Garnett. Sounded pretty appealing back then. But wasn't it a huge gamble to believe Chandler would ever develop enough of a mid-range or outside game for the two of them to successfully play together? It's pretty rare for 7-footers to be above average from the outside and Curry was obviously not going to play away from the hoop. Chandler dominated in high school as a great athlete but I don't remember reading about him as a shooter or ball handler back then. What was Krause's vision for the two of them?
It's a little hard to know if this would have been possible based on how and when players were acquired, but I believe starting in the '01-'02 season the Bulls could have had a starting lineup of:
C - Brad Miller
PF - Elton Brand
SF - Ron Artest
SG - Some combination of Ron Mercer/Bruce Bowen/Fred Hoiberg/Kevin Ollie
PG - Jamal Crawford
Not that I think this roster would've won championships, but if they'd stuck with that group couldn't they have won 40 something games and been back in the playoffs a lot sooner?
Cameron Watkins
My early season prediction: Bulls allow Gasol to be MVP.
Rex Doty
It seems to me there is no question that Butler will get a max offer (Knicks?). Will the Bulls match? What are the cap consequences?
Alejandro Yegros
Another monster game for Gasol, he must be thinking "Wow, this Eastern Conference stuff sure is easy."
Edward Fung
Can you recall a team that has looked so elite on the road and then played some truly pathetic games at home like the Bulls this season? I actually think their home struggles have been under-reported. Do you have any theories? Is it possible the fan pressure and expectations on D Rose affect the team and hang heavily over their games there?
Marc Dadigan
Bulls are having a fantastic year. However, they are giving up almost 8 more points than they did in the last 4 seasons on an average. Have we been grossly underappreciating Carlos Boozer's defense prowess?
Bambi Choy
When Dunleavy returns from injury, I assume that Thibs will keep him as a starter. Because, as you've argued, Thibs can be loyal to veterans (e.g., Bogans, Boozer). But, will Mirotic be more likely to finish games?
David Manzeske
What's up with Bulls shooting at the other basket in the first half against Boston?
Marc Brauer
The Bulls obviously need more wing depth but are usually very reluctant on giving up their first round picks. Which is very easy to understand given the success they've had with some of their picks for the last few years. But at the same time they’ve ad some horrible misses. This team is loaded now and can compete for a championship but they still need one wing contributor. Corey Brewer would have made a lot of sense but that ship has sailed. Do you see the Bulls trading a first round pick to improve the team before the deadline? Also there is a slight chance they get that Kings pick this year and I don't see them adding two rookies to an already loaded roster next summer. This very roster won't be able to compete for a very long time with Pau and Noah getting older and it will also be hard to add much more to it because of the Butler's huge deal coming up. If you can add a cheap, rotational wing not giving up any of the players I think you do it even if it meant overpaying for it with a first round pick.
Ivan Krpan
In looking ahead to June’s draft the Bulls will have two picks. If the season ended today, we’d have the 11th pick (Sacramento’s via the Deng trade) and the 22nd or 23rd (swapping with the Cavs via the Deng trade). Is there any real chance the Bulls would add another two rookies to this roster? If you were the GM, what option would be the most appealing? Use the two picks to trade up a few spots (like last year with McDermott)? Use the picks to trade for a veteran? Use the picks to add to the incredible depth that already exists? What say you? I am a big picture guy… like Gar/Pax. I am thinking about moving 11 and 22 and trading up for #7 and taking Winslow (the sweet shooting, left-handed small forward from Duke). Perfect Thibs guy because he plays great defense and can handle the ball. They have a need.
David Simon
Has there been any word on what Ray Allen will do or when he will do it? I thought all offseason that he was waiting to go to Cleveland, but with the team looking shaky I'm starting to think the Bulls have a shot. It feels like the Bulls need something and Allen would be a much better addition than anyone I've seen in free agency.
Steve Schnakenberg
Last night's 18 blocked shots got me thinking. I remember my basketball coach yelling at us about jumping while we played defense that, "Blocked shots are killing us!" because we ended up out of position. Isn't a block far more valuable if it leads to a turnover? Shouldn't there be a different statistic for that?
Jacob Snyder
Stephen A. Smith said Kawhi Leonard is still upset that Spurs didn't offer him the max. Man if there is a guy in this league that doesn't deserve the max Leonard is that guy. Without the Spurs on another roster he's a disaster.
Mike Sutera
I was reading an article on nba.com about the fact the Bulls must find a backup for Jimmy. And I was thinking... in 1997-1998 how many stories about backups for Michael or Scottie? And this year season, how many stories about backups for Irving, Love and LeBron? They have the 3 stars on the top-12 for most minutes per game played. Bulls only have one in the top-20. Jordan average 38.8 min per game at 34. Scottie average 37.5 at 32. I'm pretty sure they manage to win the tittle that year. And the year before... and.... well you get the point. Heck. Michael averaged 37 min per game with 39 when he was in the Washington. And he still average 20 points per game. Are we saying that a guy 25 can't average 40 min per game for a whole season? He needs a backup for what? How can we replace the value of a guy that does basically everything on the court?
Rui Dias