The Rise and Fall of the Bulls - Where Do We Go From Here?

The Chicago Bulls have been a staple in the NBA for a long time and with the Last Dance doc finished, I believe it is a perfect time to look at what happened to the Bulls over the last 12 years. The Bulls have made a lot of mistakes and a few good moves since the departure of Michael Jordan, and I am here to walk you through those moves.

The Top 7 Moves that have Shaped the Bulls Franchise Since 2008:

1. The Bulls Draft Derrick Rose 1st Overall - 2008

The Bulls were on the verge of the playoffs the year before and somehow won the lottery while being one of the teams with the lowest chances of getting that pick. The Bulls selected Rose to join a young core of Ben Gordon, Loul Deng, and Joakim Noah. Making them an immediate force in the Eastern Conference.

2. Adding Carlos Boozer and Kyle Korver - 2009

The Bulls struggled with being mediocre until the addition of these 2 players. Boozer came in and instantly provided scoring and rebounding while Korver spread the floor to allow Rose to do his work. This allowed For the Bulls to go 62-20, and make it to the ECF where they would meet the Miami Big Three and lose in 5 games.

3. Drafting Jimmy Butler - 2011

At this time no one knew Butler would be an All-NBA caliber talent, they just saw a hardworking kid who played physical defense. They needed that for one man, Lebron James. He knocked the Bulls out of the playoffs the year before absolutely crushing them. So, they needed a change. Unfortunately, it didn’t work out as Rose tore his ACL in the playoffs that year. The Rose ACL tear plagued the Bulls till the season of 2014-2015. That season they had a good and somewhat healthy year and once again lost to Lebron in the Playoffs. This caused management to go mad because the following moves ruined the Bulls.

4. Firing Tom Thibodeau - 2015

The Bulls were unhappy that he could not lead them past Lebron and Company and they also felt his aggressive coaching lead to the injuries Derrick Rose struggled with. Thibodeau was fired following the series loss to the Cavs and replaced him with first NBA head coach Fred Hoiberg.

5. Trading Derrick Rose - 2016

As a Bulls fan this move broke my heart. You knew right then and there that Bulls were now in desperation mode. They then went on to sign Dwyane Wade and Rajon Rondo and which both of those moves made no sense. They went into the playoffs and lost in the first round, then decided to rebuild.

6. Trading Jimmy Butler - 2017

Butler went classic crazy on the Bulls and wanted a trade. So, the Bulls made a surprisingly good move and traded him for some young talent Zach Lavine, Kris Dunn, and a draft pick that turned into Lauri Markkanen. These 3 were going to be the future of the Bulls but Dunn never panned out and Markkanen is a decent starter at best. While Lavine is blossoming into a star, he needs help. Lots of it.

7. Drafting Coby White - 2019

The Bulls have been struggling, but they have a young core in Lavine, Carter, and Markkanen like the 07 Bulls. Now, they need a star point guard to bring them together. Enter Coby White. White is not Derrick Rose, but he has the talent and the rookie numbers to suggest that a star may be in the making. The Bulls are one more right move in agency away from being a contender again.

As you can see, this is a mixed bag between good and bad decisions and called for a change in management. With the new Vice President of Basketball Operations, Arturas Karnisovas, and GM Marc Eversley, the Bulls can finally make the changes they need to make to be a winning franchise. What those moves are, only time will tell.

Author: Jason Gregory