While the Golden State Warriors have made the biggest free agency splash in the Western Conference by landing Kevin Durant, the Chicago Bulls are the ones who have made the biggest splash in the Eastern Conference, landing Dwyane Wade and Rajon Rondo. With a trio of Jimmy Butler, Dwyane Wade, and Rajon Rondo, the Bulls certainly have one of the most interesting rosters in the NBA. But, do they have a roster that can threaten the Cleveland Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference? That's the big question.
If one is going to put forth an argument for why the Bulls can threaten the Cavaliers, the argument has to revolve around the fact that Jimmy Butler is becoming one of the elite wings of the NBA and Dwyane Wade, while getting older, is still capable of putting up around 20 points per game. The way that you can spin this is if you say that the Bulls have their franchise player in Jimmy Butler and all he needs is a sidekick to take the edge off. Dwyane Wade certainly appears capable of being such a sidekick since he can still put up 20 points per game and command a two-year, $47M contract.
Then, as a kicker, if you add a quality pass-first point guard like Rajon Rondo to the mix, you suddenly have your ball movement problem solved and somebody who can set up Dwyane Wade and Jimmy Butler for easy shots. Michael Wilbon said on PTI this week that Rajon Rondo would average 14 assists per game with the Bulls due to having guys like Wade and Butler around him. Considering that he averaged 11.7 assists per game on the lowly Sacramento Kings last season, it's not at all unreasonable to figure his assist totals will be somewhere in the neighborhood of 14 per game.
To help round out their roster, the Bulls have decided to part ways with Derrick Rose, sending him to the New York Knicks in exchange for Robin Lopez, Jerian Grant, and Jose Calderon. Calderon has since been traded to the Lakers to free up space for Dwyane Wade, but both Lopez and Grant remain, promising to be solid role players off the bench. In the draft, the Bulls added a quality shooter in Denzel Valentine from Michigan State to help stretch the floor. Plus, Taj Gibson and Nikola Mitotic still remain.
The only real significant loss to their team is Joakim Noah, who is joining Derrick Rose as a member of the New York Knicks. The Bulls will definitely miss Noah's defense and rebounding, but with Robin Lopez, Taj Gibson, and Nikola Mitotic, their front court should remain relatively formidable. I don't think the loss of Joakim Noah is a big one in terms of his on court production, though I do think it is a big loss in terms of what he meant to the city, community, and locker room.
The bottom line with the Chicago Bulls is that while they are unlikely to actually win the Eastern Conference, they are certain to reach the playoffs and expected to win a series or two. The ceiling for this team is the Eastern Conference Finals if they play their cards right and get a good draw in the playoffs. Outside of Cleveland, the Eastern Conference is wide open and I think the Chicago Bulls recognize this.
If the Bulls can put themselves within one series of reaching the NBA Finals for the next two years, then these recent moves will have certainly paid off. Hell, it could theoretically result in a championship. All you can do in the NBA is position yourself as best you can and positioning yourself for a possible run to the conference finals is as good of a position as you can ask for.
The Bulls are definitely doing the right thing by getting Dwyane Wade and Rajon Rondo. The alternative would be to start from scratch and build through the draft, which we know from watching the Philadelphia 76ers is a very risky proposition. If you are faced with rebuilding or setting yourself up to be one of the last four teams standing in the NBA, you roll with being one of the last four teams every time. It's a no brainer.
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