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The Future Is Now For The Bulls

Just a little while ago, I wrote an article about the Bulls being in trouble. It’s amazing how quickly fortunes turn in the NBA. One day, a team can look like they’re done for the season and the next day they can look like favorites to win the NBA Championship. Such is the nature of professional basketball.

After struggling without Derrick Rose, Jimmy Butler, and Taj Gibson, the Bulls have won their past 3 games with Butler and have gone 4-1 since Gibson returned. They have won 5 of 6 games overall. All of a sudden, there is optimism in the locker room. In addition, Derrick Rose has scrimmaged the past two days, yesterday a 5 on 5 scrimmage. Following tonight’s game, there are 7 regular season games left.

This may be the most important postseason in Chicago Bull’s post-Michael Jordan history. There are a number of reasons for this:

  1. If they don’t make a deep run this postseason, management and Tom Thibodeau may decide to go in a different direction.
  2. If Derrick Rose cannot stay healthy this postseason, management may choose to stop building around him and go in a different direction.
  3. This may be the Bulls best chance to win a title in the near future.

These first two points I make are obviously rumors. No one really knows the exact details of the relationship between Tom Thibodeau and the Bulls’ management team of Gar Forman and John Paxson, so it is not worth guessing. What I do know is that the longer a coach goes without winning a title, the closer the franchise is to moving in a new direction. Thibs in his 5th year is a at a critical, defining point in his career.

Similar to the first point, no one really knows exactly what the Bulls think about Rose. I like to think the Bulls support him fully (like they’ve said) and would never attempt to trade him or not re-sign him, because of all that he has been through and given to the team. Unfortunately, this is not the way sports are and just because Rose is a Chicago boy doesn’t mean he’ll be a Bull forever. This further signifies the importance of this postseason.

The most important point signifying the importance of the playoffs coming up is simplify the fact that the future is now for the Bulls. There will not be a better chance to win an NBA title or at least reach the NBA Championship.

First, the competition in the Eastern Conference is probably the weakest this year that it will be in the near future. Cleveland is only going to improve in the next couple of years. Even if LeBron James regresses with age, his game should age gracefully and he will continue to make a huge impact moving forward. This year is very similar to 2010-2011 when the Heat were adapting to LeBron playing with Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade. This Cavs team will continue to improve as LeBron, Kevin Love, and Kyrie Irving develop more chemistry. In addition to the Cavs, the Hawks look to have a few more dominant years, while the Raptors and Wizards should continue to improve. The Bucks will return Jabari Parker from his ACL tear and the Heat could surprise a lot of people next season if they re-sign Goran Dragic. The Pacers will get Paul George back, and you get the picture. The East is only going to get better, therefore making this year the Bulls best chance at an NBA Championship even though the West is dominant.

For the first time in his 5 years here, Thibs seems to be decreasing starters’ minutes before the playoffs. Since Jimmy Butler returned from injury, he has averaged only 34.7 minutes per game compared to 38.7 on the season, Pau Gasol has averaged 31.3 (34.5 on the season), and Joakim Noah has averaged 25.9 (30.6 on the season). Butler has looked very re-energized the past 3 games and Gibson has the past 5. Derrick Rose will be significantly more rested for these playoffs than he was his last significant playoff run in 2011. Just to contrast these points, last year in the final 10 games of the regular season, Joakim Noah averaged 38.9 minutes per game and Jimmy Butler average 42.6. They were averaging more minutes heading into the playoffs than they had all season, which explains why they looked exhausted in the first round vs. the Wizards.

In addition, this could mark the first year in the Thibodeau era that the Bulls are completely healthy in the playoffs. The only year the Bulls were relatively healthy was in 2010-2011, but Derrick Rose was dealing with a turf-toe injury that is known to be very painful. In 2011-2012, Rose suffered a torn ACL, while Luol Deng played through a torn wrist ligament the majority of the season. In those playoffs, Joakim Noah severely injured his ankle and Taj Gibson suffered an ankle sprain as well. In 2012-2013, Joakim Noah played through plantar fasciitis, Kirk Hinrich had a strained calf, Luol Deng had a spinal tap complication, and Nate Robinson played with the flu. Last year was the most healthy the Bulls were since 2010-2011, but they were without Rose and his torn meniscus while Joakim Noah was playing through knee pain. Even though the Bulls starting lineup has only played 19 games together, they are 15-4 in those games, and the starting lineup should (cross your fingers) be healthy for the start of the playoffs.

Because the East is going to improve in coming years, the Bulls have rested more than in the past (even though injuries have forced that), and the Bulls are healthier than in the past 4 years, the future is now. This may be the best chance these Bulls have of making a run in the playoffs. Like Joakim Noah said a few weeks ago, these Bulls can beat any team in a seven game series.

Author: Patrick Murphy

Former collegiate swimmer at the University of Notre Dame with an unhealthy addiction for sports. I spend too much of my free time analyzing advanced statistics about the Chicago Bulls.

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