Chicago Bulls Preview 2014
By Ronald Agers
Oct 31, 2012; Chicago, IL, USA; Chicago Bulls vice president of basketball operations John Paxson (left) and general manager Gar Forman (right) chat prior to a game against the Sacramento Kings at the United Center. Mandatory Credit: Dennis Wierzbicki-USA TODAY Sports
Boy, did the Chicago Bulls make moves in the offseason!
The first major move the Chicago Bulls made was setting up a draft night trade with the Denver Nuggets to obtain the rights to Creighton sharpshooter Doug McDermott. The former NCAA Division I Player of the Year was brought in to provide outside shooting and spacing to help out Derrick Rose.
The Bulls picked themselves up from the Carmelo Anthony snubbing to immediately sign former Los Angeles Lakers power forward Pau Gasol to a free agent contract. The signing was a shock to many, including Joakim Noah, who thought Gasol would not come to a city so cold like Chicago. With Pau signing his three year, $22 million dollar deal, Gasol provides a quality low post player the Bulls haven’t had since maybe Elton Brand.
Then the Bulls used their frequent flyer miles to go overseas and sign Nikola Mirotic to a three year, $17 million dollar contract.
One major puzzling move to many was allowing D.J. Augustin, who was a major player in helping the Bulls get to the playoffs last season, walk away and sign with the Detroit Pistons. To replace him, the Bulls signed Aaron Brooks to a minimum veteran’s deal worth less thhan a million. Instead, the Bulls resigned Kirk Hinrich to another two year deal.
It will be interesting to see what happens to the relationship between Chicago Bulls general manager Gar Forman and Tom Thibodeau if things start slowly. These two have not gotten along in the past and it will be worth paying attention to see if Thibodeau can get maximum mileage out of a well constructed roster by the Bulls front office.
Tom Thibodeau has been criticized in the past for overworking his players and burning them out by playoff time. The excuse back then was he didn’t have the players to work with. That is no longer the case. Thibodeau’s reputation will be on the line this year.