July 6, 2016
Let me start by saying this. I have no idea what the Bulls are doing. Quite frankly, I have no idea if they know what they're doing. I'll explain.
Two weeks ago the Bulls traded Derrick Rose, a move that shocked and stunned, but did not surprise Bulls fans. After all, Rose could never regain his 2011 MVP form after his ACL injury and it's clear that it wasn't working with Jimmy Butler. It took a little bit, but I got over it. I get it. The franchise needed to move on from Rose and proceed with Butler as the face of the franchise.
In the wake of the Rose trade, Bulls GM Gar Forman stated that this season was not going to be a rebuild, but rather a "retool." In addition, he said the Bulls would use this season to get "younger and more athletic." Like many other Bulls fans, I had no idea what a retool really meant, but whatever. I was ready for the Bulls to have a boring off-season.
Two weeks later, the "retool" is certainly in place, but getting younger and more athletic? Um, yeah, about that.
After a thunderous first two days of free agency, the Bulls did nothing but watch Joakim Noah join Derrick Rose in New York. On day three, they inked 30-year-old Rajon Rondo to a two-year, $28 million deal, a move that really made no sense.
Why would the Bulls bring in a 30-year-old point guard who can't shoot?
Furthermore, why are they signing a player with significant baggage and a tendency to not get along with his head coach?
Coming off of a season in which Fred Hoiberg didn't see eye to eye with many players, the Bulls are really going to bring in Rajon Rondo?
So much for the "younger and more athletic" plan.
Now, three days later, that plan is officially on hold as 34-year-old Dwyane Wade agreed to a 2-year, $47.5 million with his hometown Bulls. You heard rumblings of this in the past, such as in 2010, when Wade met with the Bulls twice, before teaming up with LeBron James and Chris Bosh in Miami. Six years later, the Bulls got their hometown son, albeit losing one in the process.
As I sit here and try to process this bizarre Bulls off-season, it really just doesn't make sense. The signings of Rondo and Wade contradict Forman's plan and go against everything about Fred Hoiberg's system.
The Bulls got "younger and more athletic" with a backcourt of 30 and 34 years old respectively. They will run Hoiberg's run and gun system with two guards that each have a career three-point field goal percentage of under 30 percent. Seriously, none of this makes sense.
I don't think anybody quite has a grasp on what the Bulls are doing and rightfully so. If this was 2011, the Bulls would be competing for a championship, right there with the the current New York Knicks.
If anything, the Bulls should make the playoffs and they should be exciting to watch at least. It's a cool story that Wade is coming home, even if it's six years too late. This Bulls season is going to be weird.
Oh yeah, did I mention Warriors signed Kevin Durant?