Pippen Ain't Easy
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Despite Disappointment in Spring, Bulls Enjoying Success in Summer

By Michael Whitlow

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Sure, the 2014-15 season ended about as disappointing as possible for the Chicago Bulls. But, despite a disgraceful exit in the postseason, the Bulls are enjoying quite a start to their summer.

In terms of playoff exits, the 2014-15 version of the Chicago Bulls‘ playoff exit was arguably the worst since Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen had zero rings on their fingers.

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Sure, there was losing the 2-0 series lead to Washington after the 2004-05 season. And yeah, the 2011 Eastern Conference Finals loss to the Miami Heat stung for a while, but those teams weren’t quite ready for the limelight yet.

This 2014-15 Bulls team was supposed to finally dispatch LeBron James in the postseason and get back to the NBA Finals for the first time in 17 years.

Not only did they fail in doing that, they lost by 21 points in an elimination game on their home floor.

But, that all feels like a distant memory now.

Since then, the Bulls have:

It’s July 1, and the Bulls have put themselves right back in contention in the weaker Eastern Conference. On top of everything they have already done, the Bulls can still sign a veteran to the mini mid-level exception (MMLE).

The spring was probably frustrating for many Bulls fans. On top of the Thibodeau saga with the front office, the rumored tension with Butler and Derrick Rose certainly didn’t help matters heading into the offseason. After their embarrassing performance in Game 6 against Cleveland, the Bulls organization felt like a complete mess.

Now, the only question is, how good can the Bulls be moving forward?

Of course, there’s those concerns like Rose’s health, Joakim Noah‘s health after a disappointing ’14-15 season, and Taj Gibson coming off ankle surgery. There’s no telling if the Bulls will move one of the two big men (along with a potential Pau Gasol move) with the Portis selection, but for now, things are looking much brighter for the Bulls already this summer.

As of right now, the Bulls roster looks like this:

  • Projected starters: Rose, Butler, Dunleavy, Gasol and Noah
  • Bench: Gibson, Hinrich, Mirotic, McDermott, Snell, Portis and Mohammed

Note: Aaron Brooks is a UFA, along with team options for E’Twaun Moore and Cameron Bairstow.

That’s a solid roster with how Fred Hoiberg utilizes his players. In his time with ISU, Hoiberg’s guards dictated tempo, while his bigs showed versatility and the ability to have the offense ran through them at times.

There’s no planning for a ticker tape parade quite yet — especially with the monsters in the Western Conference and a rookie head coach — but the Bulls are setting themselves up for a bounce-back 2015-16 season.

Next: Bulls wise to keep Dunleavy away from LeBron, Cavs

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