Nov 25, 2013
Nobody wanted this to happen. After sitting out an entire season, nobody expected Derrick Rose to only play a little under a month of the 2013-2014 season. That was pretty much the worse case scenario for the NBA and now we have to face the reality that we won’t be seeing Derrick Rose again for an entire season.
After Rose played in the first few games he tore his meniscus in his right knee and will be out for the remainder of the season. This is especially bad news after Rose sat out the entire 2012-2013 NBA season after tearing his ACL in his right knee. This is terrible news for Rose who probably won’t be that same MVP type player again after having two season ending injuries on two different knees in two different years.
This is terrible news for the NBA as they are losing out on a superstar and one of the leagues most popular players. The real losers of the Derrick Rose injury are the Chicago Bulls. The Bulls are pretty much done this season with Rose out, in other words they won’t be contending for any championship. The Bulls championship aspirations were all on Roses shoulders and with his going down, so does any chance of this team doing any damage come playoff time.
During the 2010-2011 season, the Bulls were legit title contenders. Rose was coming off an MVP season and the team had made the Eastern Conference Finals. The next year they were title contenders again until Rose went down, then they lost in the first round. Last season in a full season without Rose the team made the Eastern Conference Semi-Finals, which was a feat in its own.
For a championship contending team, those playoff exits aren’t acceptable. The only way for the Bulls to get out of that middle ground of mediocrity is by making a move and trading either Luol Deng, Joakim Noah, or Carlos Boozer (Taj Gibson & Jimmy Butler included as well on a lower scale).
Those are the players who have been Roses best second option and have proven that they can’t be anything better than mediocre without Derrick Rose. These guys simply don’t produce enough offense for a contending team. With the Indiana Pacers taking over the Bulls (and Boston Celtics) spot as the only team in the East to be a threat to the Miami Heat, the Bulls need to make a move to stay relevant in the weak Eastern Conference.
Right now with the Brooklyn Nets and New York Knicks have terrible records and playing awful basketball, the Bulls aren’t even sitting that low in the standings. Besides the Pacers, Heat and the Atlanta Hawks, every of team in the East is doing pretty mediocre at the time. If the playoffs started right now, the Toronto Raptors, Charlotte Bobcats, the Philadelphia 76ers and Detroit Pistons would make the playoffs. Even if the Knicks and Nets turn it around, at least two of those teams would make the playoffs as well. The point is the Bulls can definitely still make the playoffs this year and depending on who they face in the first round, they might be able to do some damage. But if the Bulls stick with this same stale defense only team then they wont do anything.
Ideally it would be Luol Deng or Carlos Boozer moving for a impact player that the offense can run threw this season. Also the team needs to look for secondary scoring option as well, if manage is smart they might give the Raptors a call and see what the asking price is for Rudy Gay or Demar Derozen. I know neither of them are known for their defense but its about time that Chicago worried about some offense. Also everyone on the Sacramento Kings is available, why not look for someone like Marcus Thorton as a 6th man?
The main point here is that the Bulls need to get with the time. Now in the NBA you need more than one scoring option to be a championship contender. When the Thunder lost Russell, they lost all championship momentum even while having Kevin Durant still. The Bulls don’t have anything near KD, and they just lost their superstar point guard.
They need someone who can get buckets right now, and they need a proven scorer to run the offense in the 2nd unit. Its about time for this to happen or the Bulls wont contend or the team can just blow it up, trade away Boozer, Deng and Noah and tank. That’s definitely not what I would suggest, but hey its an option. Then there’s the case that nobody wants to pay Boozer for the useless empty production he gives. Luol Deng is an expiring contract which could be attractive to some teams, and the only bad thing I could say about Noah is he gets injured a lot as well, but he always seems to make a return within the season.
If the Bulls want to contend or at least be good enough to make some noise, its time for them to make a move. Derrick Rose isn’t coming back this season, so what’s the move?
Everick Davis Jr.
Was good though, it's me Everick Davis Jr. Born and raised in Portsmouth Virginia, I'm currently a senior at the University of North Carolina Greensboro. I watch every sport (not so much golf) but I am huge on the NBA. My favorite players right now are J.R. Smith, Russell Westbrook & Nick Young. Drinking beer and watching sports is my favorite past time and I do it year round! I used to play basketball on the regular until everyone else kept growing and I still stood at 5'6. So that's when I channeled my efforts into becoming the next Stephen A Smith or anything close to that. I currently write for "The Carolinian" newspaper in Greensboro, NC and intern for http://theurbantwist.com/ Random Fact about me, I love anime, my favorite one is One Piece! Second random fact, I got beatz! check me out http://www.reverbnation.com/ielabs
