I'll be honest- I didn't really expect the Bulls to win the East. That doesn't mean that, as a fan, I wasn't rooting for D-Rose and the boys in red, but everyone knew Miami was going to be damn near impossible to beat in a seven game series.
That aside, there's just one word that comes to mind when I think about the Bull's performance: disappointing. You'd think a team that has the NBA MVP and couple of other nice pieces would be able to put up a fight, and at least hold on to a 12 point lead late in the fourth quarter.
The Bull's struggles in this series came down to one factor: lack of a true shooting guard. With all respect to my Iowa boy Kyle Korver, the Bull's line for all guards not named Derek Rose was pathetic. The Korver/Brewer/Watson/Bogans collective managed just 94 points combined in the series (Derek Rose had 117 alone). You're talking a measly 18.8 ppg out of a position that should be getting at least that just from the starter.
In fact, the four man combo matched the output of the struggling Dwayne Wade (94 points). If you want to know why the Bulls lost this series- that's it.
It's not just the lack of points that killed the Bulls in this scenario. The bigger issue is it allowed LeBron James to guard Derek Rose, and The King killed it on defense. You put another scoring threat on the floor, and you can't afford the huge mismatch that's going to be happening somewhere on the court. James can't play out of position defensively and give up major points somewhere else, and Rose draws a much more favorable defensive assignment (did you see how many awful shots he took in the fourth quarters of games 4/5?).
So what's the answer? Lets evaluate the options, taking into account the likely scenario that the salary cap will be moving down in the coming seasons with the re-negotiation of the collective bargaining agreement. We'll also assume the owners will impose a hard cap (see previous post), and for the sake of argument we'll call it $50-$55 million.
As of today, the Bulls have right around $61 million committed to 10 players next season, bringing back every major piece of this year's team, and right around $49 million committed to 5 players in 2012-13, with team options on CJ Watson ($3.7 million) and Taj Gibson ($2.2 million), and a qualifying offer to Derek Rose of just over $9 million (which I'd assume he'd meet). That puts the Bulls right above our proposed cap line, but with good news. You're going to have to clear out salary and roster space to bring in a new player anyway, so it's not an awful scenario.
So the options are: trade, free agent, or draft. Lets start with draft, the most cost effective scenario. Assuming Bulls fans want to win now, this year's draft is the place to look. The Bulls will have two late first round picks, one at #28 and the other at #30. There aren't a ton of sexy names in this year's draft that would suit the Bull's needs- this year's draft class is not particularly deep at any position, especially shooting guard. Alec Burks (Colorado) will likely be gone, and Marshon Brooks (Providence) and Klay Thompson (Washington State) aren't slam dunk stars either. Brooks is considered to be one of the top overall athletes in the draft, and has the ability to score, but there needs improve his 3-point shot. Nolan Smith (Duke) is a bubble first round type guy that has proven he can win, so he might be an option at the #30 pick.
Another interesting prospect to keep an eye on is Tyler Honeycutt (UCLA). He doesn't fit the typical mold for a shooting guard- he's more of a combo G/F player, but would compliment Luol Deng nicely in the Bull's current system. If he's around at pick #28, the Bulls might jump on him. One downside, at the NBA draft combine, Honeycutt couldn't bench press a 185-pound bar a single time. Kind of a head scratcher for a college athlete.
There's always the option to trade up in the draft (less likely in the NBA), but with a relatively thin draft already, I'm not sure you'd gain much. There are really only considered to be two "can't miss" type prospects this year (Kyrie Irving and Derrick Williams), and after that you get a bunch of international players and some risky-types.
One fun one to throw out- Jimmer Fredette. While I don't see the Bulls trading up the board to land the Jimmer, most see him as a "come off the bench and score a ton of points" type- ala Ben Gordon, and he's been turning heads with his defensive ability leading up to the draft. Probably not going to happen, but fun to think about.
More trade and free agent scenarios coming your way later...
The clock is running, and as of now we are officially keeping score.
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