Losing your franchise point guard is a tough pill to swallow, especially with the possibility that Rose could miss all of the 2012-13 season as well while he's on the mend. (Try watching your franchise point guard get shipped to another team and then have him carry his new mates to the second round of the playoffs while his former team toils in mediocrity. Sigh. I miss you, Chris Paul.) But as much of a sour taste the first round exit leaves in the mouths of Bulls fans, the painfully obvious revelation that came from the Philly ousting is what should bother a normally stubborn fan base that constantly finds themselves in denial(Try having a "Derrick Rose isn't the best PG in the NBA" debate with Bulls fans. It's impossible.)
That revelation is this: Even with a healthy D.Rose, this team isn't good enough.
Take a second, Bulls fans. Breathe. Relax. Accept the truth.
The importance of Derrick Rose became more and more evident with every game in his absence during Chicago's short-lived postseason(and, yes, I realize Joakim Noah missed time too in the Philly series, but things were looking bleak by then for Chicago anyway). Sure, the team played well without the defending MVP in lapses during the regular season, but if LeBron James has taught us anything, it's that the regular season is meaningless. It's a launch pad for the actual season. Once Rose went down, this supporting cast had to step up. They didn't. Instead, they were exposed for being a band of good complimentary players, but a team devoid of star power beyond it's accomplished point man. Don't believe me? Let's run down the starting five.(Or I could just point out that this team got eaten alive by Spencer Hawes. Come on now, Bulls fans. Spencer Hawes? Seriously?).
Center: Joakim Noah - A high-energy shot blocker/defender. Freakishly athletic. Not much of an offensive game. Noah's ceiling is Tyson Chandler and his floor is Kenny Faried. He's a guy will get his points through putbacks, lobs and uncontested drives to the basket. You can't run your offense through Joakim Noah. His sole role is to protect the basket and rebound and, that's fine, but not when he's the second best player on your team.
Power Forward: Carlos Boozer - A solid, old-school, back-to-the-basket banger. He's the anti-Noah. He's not very fast or athletic and he gives you nothing defensively. However, you can run an offense through Boozer, albeit a slow, plodding, half-court offense heavy on turnarounds in the paints and the occasional outside jumper. On a team with one of the fastest guards, end-to-end, running the show, Boozer couldn't be a poorer fit. The man just can't keep up on fast breaks. He's an undersized Pat Ewing back in Ewing's final years in New York.
Small Forward: Luol Deng - Somehow, he made the All-Star team this year. I'm still perplexed by that. There isn't a lot of flash to Deng's game. He's an above average athlete but his game is based around spot shooting from the perimeter and the occasional pass inside either on a fast break or in transition. Honestly, Deng reminds me of a poor man's Glen Rice. That's not a knock on Deng because Rice was a solid player for years. Deng, like Rice, is just tragically steady. Deng doesn't really have the game to be one of the three best players on the floor. Neither did Rice, which is why he settled on being an extraordinary role player with the Lakers after years of being "The Man" with the Hornets.
Shooting Guard: Richard Hamilton - I loved the pick-up of Hamilton in the offseason but, after this year, the name "Rip" couldn't be more fitting because he's a corpse. Hamilton made a career out of being a wiry sharpshooter who somehow scored points in bunches despite having the body of a high school cheerleader. At 34, Hamilton's a glorified sixth man, at best....and that's on a run-of-the-mill team. On the Bulls? He's a spot starter. Yikes. Maybe the Bulls thought that Rip would show glimpses of the guy who helped carry the Pistons to a title a half-decade ago but instead he looked plain washed up(when he wasn't injured, that is) and, even worse, he's on the hook for two more years in Chi-Town. Ouch.
Point Guard: Derrick Rose - Bulls fans are probably going to be too livid to read the rest of this blog(which plans out how I intend on fixing their team) because I'm probably going to piss them off in the first half of the piece, especially with what I'm about to say. After his breakout MVP season last year(which I still thought should have went to LeBron, but whatever), Rose became the latest media darling to receive an enormous amount of hype and lavished in his billing as "the next big thing". Suddenly, experts were putting Rose atop the point guard ranks ahead of guys like Chris Paul and Rajon Rondo(who have longer stretches of success and , in Rondo's case, success in the postseason) and elevating Rose into the upper echelon of the elite alongside guys like Kobe and LeBron. Here's the truth. Rose isn't the best point guar in the NBA. Chris Paul is and I think Rondo gives him work for the 2nd spot. Rose is NOT one of the five best players in the league. Disagree? Then, I'd love to see you make a case of him over Duncan, Kobe, Durant, CP3 and LeBron(especially after LBJ eviscerated Pooh in the Conference Finals last year). Rose is a very good player with a potential to be great. He's an athletic freak with a developing outside game who can get his shot anywhere on the court because he's so damn fast. As much as people want to make Rose out to be the next Chris Paul(or a better version of Chris Paul), there's a much more apt comparison for D.Rose.
Allen Iverson.
Like AI, Rose's game is built on speed, impeccable vision and athletic prowess and an insane amount of toughness for a little guy. Also like "The Answer", Rose is a one-man show who makes his supporting cast look better than they actually are because his individual game is that impressive. Rose isn't the scorer that Iverson was and Iverson wasn't the passer that Rose is. Rose isn't a mercurial coach killer like Iverson was and Rose isn't the transcedent, era-shaping personality that Iverson was. Their situations are similar though. Rose nearly got the Bulls to the Finals last year and Iverson took Philly to his one and only Finals trip in 2001 before being stomped by the Shaq-Kobe Lakers. If you take a long look at the guys around Rose in 2011-12 and Iverson's teammates in 2001, you'll find similarities(though we can agree Rose's group is much better). Iverson was making due with guys like Aaron McKie and Dikembe Mutombo. Rose had Deng and Noah. Iverson had Todd McCollough. Rose has Omar Asik. Iverson had a hard-nosed, defensive-minded coach in Larry Brown. Rose has Tom Thibodeau.
It's not a perfect match but the situation is eerily similar and that's why Bulls fans should be concerned. The Sixers never even made it back to the Conference Finals with A.I. after 2001 before he was shipped to Denver partially through the 2006. They got knocked out the first round twice, the second round once and missed the playoffs twice in the post-Finals Iverson era. The Bulls followed up their Conference Finals appearence with a first round exit.....see where I'm going here.
Every offseason, we see teams with high expectations disappoint in the playoffs and we rush to fill the summer with stories of how they need to be blown up and replaced with fancier, big-named parts. That was the case for the Lakers last year and they tried their best to lure Chris Paul to the purple and gold before the NBA and commissioner David Stern screwed them over. They flirted with the bringing in Dwight Howard but ultimately settled on keeping Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum, a decision that will lead to them getting swept in the second round for the second straight year(this time, by the Thunder). Chicago needs an influx of star power and athleticism. They need guys that can run with D.Rose and someone capable of running the show incase Rose is out longer than the initial best-case scenario of January '13. That's why I tinkered with ESPN's Trade Machine and came up with a couple deals that will benefit the Bulls going forward and a fair enough to not seem far-fetched.
1. Chicago sends C Joakim Noah, F Luol Deng and F Kyle Korver to Orlando for C Dwight Howard and F Hedo Turkoglu
Enter the Bulls. Unlike the Nets, they're a contender. They're a big market and Howard will have a solid tag team partner in D.Rose(and, likewise, Rose will have someone to take the weight off his shoulders). Howard also is capable of doing everything that Noah and Boozer do combined(protect the rim, rebound, score in the paint) and it will be fun to see the game's premier defender be teamed with the one of the game's best defensive minds. The addition of Turkoglu is the dirty little secret that teams wanting Howard will soon find out. Orlando would love to move that albatross of a contract and if they could use someone's red-hot lust for Howard to do so, so be it. Turkoglu could fill Korver's role as a long-range sniper who could also come in and give the team some size and versatility(as he could play the three or the four). The problem with Chicago's bench is they have too many guys who do the same thing. Korver's a lights-out shooter. So's Rip Hamilton. So's Deng. Speaking of Deng, he's an upgrade over Quentin Richardson(another sharp shooter with limited athleticism) at the three and would make a nice tandem with Jason Richardson and the, hopefully, re-signed Ryan Anderson. A starting five of Noah-Anderson-Deng-Richardson-Jameer Nelson would be solid, especially with guys like Q.Richardson and J.J. Redick off the bench. Plus, it resolves the Howard drama which, as the Nuggets can attest post-'Melo, helps out tremendously.
But wait. There's more.....
2. Chicago sends F Carlos Boozer and G C.J. Watson to Indiana for F Danny Granger, F Jeff Pendergraph and G Darren Collison
I know what you're thinking. "Why would Indiana trade Granger? And for Boozer? No way!" You might be right. In fact, if the Pacers had their druthers, they'd move Granger to New Orleans for hometown hero Eric Gordon(which would be just fine by me as a Hornets fan). Still, the Pacers have motivation to move Granger, even if a deal headlined by Boozer doesn't make a ton of sense. For one, Granger's presence blocks rising star Paul George's ability to play in his more natural position: small forward. You know why there isn't a huge amount of 6'11 shooting guards? It's because guys that big aren't meant to play the 2. With Granger in the fold, George can either try to the best of things at the shooting guard or be reduced to coming off the bench to spell Granger. Having George and Granger on the floor at the same time obviously makes the Pacers scary, but it's not ideal. Again, a Granger-for-Gordon trade makes sense for all parties but I'll save the Hornets in another piece.
Eventhough Bulls GM Gar Forman said Boozer will be back next season, it's clear his presence isn't wanted in Chicago by Bulls fans, who blame The Booze for everything from the Bulls' early exit to murders in the Caprini Green projects(I may have made that last part up). Guys like Boozer always seem to be the scapegoat during upsets like these because they are big names with big contracts on teams that fail to yield big results. Again, Boozer's not a great fit on a team that's built to run. The Pacers are hardly the second coming of the D'Antoni Suns, even if they are chock-full of athletes. Yes, Indiana already has an nonathletic, high-paid stiff clogging up the post in David West but West's best years are behind him and I'd be surprised if he's even in the league next year considering he was mulling retirement this past offseason(and who can blame him with those knees). Boozer can go back to doing what he did in Utah, which is call for the pill in the paint, throw that 260-pound frame into somebody and bang away at interior defenses. Like with Noah in Chicago, Boozer's defensive issues will be protected by an elite shot-blocker in Roy Hibbert. If Indiana can't get a sign-and-trade for Gordon or maybe even make a move for Atlanta's Josh Smith, they could do worse than a Granger-for-Boozer trade(surprisingly, the two are only seperated by a year, age-wise).
As for the Bulls, Granger obviously fills the spot vacated by Deng in the previous trade. Granger's not Vince Carter, by any means, but he looks like Vinsanity when compared to Deng, athletically. Granger's game is similar to Paul Pierce in Boston, a jack-of-all-trades who can shoot, board and play solid D. He can run with Rose on fast breaks and he gives Chicago someone with the capability of taking over if Rose is hurt or having an off night. For all his accolades, Deng doesn't scare opponents. You can live with letting him run the show. As Miami is about to find out, you don't have that luxury with Danny Granger. He's one of the most underrated players in the league and he can fill up a lot of rows on a stat sheet. Also, by moving Boozer, the Bulls can move Taj Gibson into the starting lineup, whose a better fit to run with Rose than the plodding Boozer. The Watson-Collison swap evens out. Collison regressed in Indiana after nothing Rookie First Team honors in New Orleans. Watson was a decent backup point guard in Golden State who morphed into an overpaid decent point guard in Chicago. The Pacers could give Watson a shot at running the show, move George Hill to the 2 and run with a Watson-Hill-George-Boozer-Hibbert starting five which could be productive, albeit anticlimactic.
I know, I know, it seems a bit crazy at first but moves need to be made. The new NBA is a league where superstars team with each other. LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh weren't doing nothing for themselves being individual powers in Cleveland, Miami and Toronto. So, they teamed together in South Beach and the results, for now, look like back-to-back appearances in the NBA Finals(provided Bosh can come back and Miami can hold off Indiana). Carmelo needed to leave Denver to team up with Amare Stoudemire(even if it isn't a great fit). Chris Paul needed to go to L.A. and be with Blake Griffin. Kobe needed Pau Gasol.Paul Pierce had to have Kevin Garnett and Ray Aleen Individual stars can't do it alone(a fact that will be more evident if these two trades are pulled off alongside Deron Williams' eventual signing with Dallas). This is "The Era of the Superfriends". If Chicago thinks this team can contend in a league filled with high-profile tandems with this supporting cast and a recovering superstar, then it will be in line for years of failed expectations.
Allen Iverson ended his career as a prolific scorer and one of the NBA's best players, pound-for-pound. He never won a ring. He made it back to the NBA Finals. His entire career was a myriad of "What ifs" and missed opportunities. By time he realized he couldn't do it all as a one-man show, his career was over.
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