Today, Bulls fans were in one collective glass case of emotion after Yahoo!’s The Vertical reported the Chicago Bulls trading star guard Derrick Rose to the New York Knicks in exchange for center Robin Lopez, along with guards Jose Calderon and Jerian Grant.
Before we get to the current state of the Bulls, a quick word on Rose. The Bulls have traded their homegrown superstar, something as recently as three years ago would have sounded insane. He was my favorite player for years, and I’ll always remember 1) watching the draft lottery when they had a 1.9% to get the #1 pick in order to select Rose, 2) the immediate impact he had on making the Bulls enjoyable again, and 3) this dunk. The former MVP and number one overall pick has battled to return to form a slew of injuries, and even had glimpses of his old superstar-self this past season.
Clearly, the Bulls wanted to go into a new direction. In doing so they had three choices: trade Rose, trade All-Star Jimmy Butler (my preferred choice, given a good return) or they may be just in pure tank/rebuild mode. Butler has been mentioned in trade rumors and it remains to be seen if he still will be a Bull after trade night. (Note: I will freak out if they decide to play the 2016-17 season in Hinkie-mode.)
Anyway we’re here. The ESPN Trade Machine is saying the Bulls made the right decision. Just for clarity’s sake, I am assuming Joakim Noah is gone and so is Pau Gasol, so let’s take a look at what the Bulls’ current roster looks like as if those two aren’t on the team.
Player (Salary via HoopsHype)
PG: Jose Calderon ($7.7M), Jerian Grant ($1.6M)
SG: Jimmy Butler ($17M), Spencer Dinwiddie ($0.9M)
SF: Mike Dunleavy ($4.8M), Doug McDermott ($2.4M), Tony Snell ($2.3M)
PF: Taj Gibson ($8.9M), Nikola Mirotic ($5.7M). Bobby Portis ($1.4M)
C: Robin Lopez ($13.2M)
Kind of not great.
But let’s look at the forest and not the trees. This trade gives the Bulls 11 players under contract - with a draft pick tomorrow night that gives the Bulls the 12 required players totaling around $67M in salary. With the salary cap jumping an incredible 34% this year to $94M, the Bulls now have a ton of money to go and sign a free agent.
The league rules say they *have* to spend 90% of the cap. They are contractually bound to spend at least $17M more this offseason and they can spend up to $27M. I’ll just drop this little nugget: A player on the caliber of Kevin Durant would cost them $26.4, and it’s a lot easier to get to the Finals through the Eastern Conference than the Western Conference. Just sayin’.
Was it a good move? It all depends on what the front office decides to do next. They have struck out on bringing in blue chip free agents historically (Hi, Carlos Boozer!), but in a world where the previously-unthinkable happens, maybe this time around things will change.
Anyway, it is sad to see Rose get moved out of Chicago. The electricity he brought with him during the Del Negro and early Thibodeau years rekindled my love of NBA basketball. For those who forget (or just have short-term memory) go to his Basketball Reference page. See his YouTube highlights. Appreciate an athlete and their peak.
It is a shame that player won’t be in Chicago anymore. For his sake, I hope *that* player continues to recover from injuries in New York. The NBA is better with a good, healthy Derrick Rose.
So were the Bulls.