Lets hope so. It all hinges on Rose coming back very close to the Rose we remember. Otherwise, the Bulls will slip right back right back into the mediocrity they escaped from when the Rose pick fell into their laps. Kirk will be a throwback to that era until Derrick comes back (hopefully). Even if he comes back 100%, this Brooklyn monster on the horizon along with the Heat will likely place Derrick and the boys on the NBA back burner, unless the org manages to shock us all. So, I mean, sure, getting Kirk for 2 years 6 million is OK if he can still play. But the Bulls are going to have to land a marquee player via free agency or trade at some point to compete with the big boys. I would hate for Derrick to leave this team at some point if all the org can do is resign Hinrich and match Omer. I've been waiting for a long time as a Bulls fan. And the team wandered around for years aimlessly until a stroke of luck hit the team and we got Derrick. Now I'm having to wait some more. Its hard to have faith in this org to land that marquee 2nd player, and I understand its hard but it will also likely involve risk and bold moves. I'm waiting to be surprised. Until then, its Kirk to Luol. Boom.
I'd guess the Bulls are planning on staying in a holding pattern until 2014. At that point Deng comes off the books, Boozer can be amnestied, and Mirotic coming over will likely be a reality. Kirk and Rip will be off the hook too, so we might have some Cap Space to play with. Until then we can take two cracks with what we have. It's not "sexy" but I can live with it. Fans are fickle. We had the best record in the league the last two years, and if Rose is healthy we'll have a good shot at ECF or the finals, in which case anything can happen. Then we can usher in Rose era version 2.0
It seems like the minute Rose signed his six year agreement keeping up with the Heat was put on the back burner.
Yup. Its "win later" yet again. Regular season is nice, but we all know that "try hard" can get a lot done in the regular season. In the playoffs everyone tends to try hard and that advantage is negated. The thing I don't agree with is that anything can happen in the NBA playoffs. Usually the talent rises to the top in the NBA. Its not like baseball and hockey where its more random and making the playoffs gets you into a good chance to winning the championship. When Miami formed their superteam, realistically, the Bulls were probably going to have to either wait for them to get old or get better. I fear that we are entering an era of the superteam where aggressive / bold management is going to be required to make the moves necessary to execute such a strategy. Now there might be Brooklyn and Miami that out-star the Bulls. We'll see how it goes. When you have (had?) a MVP asset like Rose, "win now" should be the goal. As we saw with Rose's knee injury, everything can change in the blink of an eye.
