Five Chicago Bulls Players Make SI’s List Of Top 100 Players Of 2016
By Jeremy Karll
Sports Illustrated released their list of the top 100 players for the upcoming season and the Chicago Bulls were well-represented.
More from Bulls History
- Revisiting the time Nate Robinson carried the Chicago Bulls in 2013
- Ranking Michael Jordan’s 11 most iconic commercials of all-time
- Ranking the 10 best sharpshooters in Chicago Bulls history
- 4 Historic NBA teams the Bulls have completely devastated
- Ranking the 13 Worst Bulls starters of the Derrick Rose era
(Note: The list does not include rookies in their list and took injury history into consideration, along with past performances in the post season.)
You can click here to see the full list, but here’s the list of Bulls players that made the cut.
Taj Gibson: This Year – 90, Last Year – 75
A year ago a lot of people wanted Taj Gibson to start, but then the Bulls acquired Pau Gasol. Now, Gibson is part of endless trade rumor talk. Gibson is a solid bench player, but many question whether he can be a starter in the NBA. He’s coming off an injury-filled season, so it makes sense that he dropped 15 spots from last season.
ALSO AT PIPPEN AIN’T EASY: Chicago Bulls: Franchise Four
Gibson only played in 62 games, compared to playing in all 82 the previous year. A lot of people thought he’d be the frontrunner for the sixth man award last year, but he didn’t live up to expectations. Now it appears Nikola Mirotic may widely be considered as the Bulls’ sixth man.
Either way, Gibson is still a solid defensive player off the bench. He averaged 1.2 blocks per game off the bench last season. The 1.2 blocks were the lowest BPG total of Gibson’s career, but that still speaks volumes in terms of Gibson’s value. Coming off the bench for Chicago, Gibson gives them a defensive replacement to give Joakim Noah rest and still have someone to challenge shots at the rim, not to mention the energy he brings.
In a way, he is the bench version of Joakim Noah. He gives the Bulls a jolt of energy off the bench, doesn’t have a great mid range shot and protects the rim. Gibson won’t make an All-Star team, but will be a key part to the Bulls success this season.
I think Gibson should have been a little higher, maybe around 85 on the list, but dropping him past 80 is understandable. He struggled last season and showed that his injury history isn’t past him. Most of Gibson’s stats went down from the year before, although he still put up a good stat line for a bench player: 27.3 MPG, 10.3 PPG, 6.4 RPG. Gibson did shoot over 50 percent from the field for the first time in his career (50.2 percent).
However, to move up on the list next year, he has to show he is still a force on defense like in years past. A faster-paced offense should help the athletic power forward get more dunks in transition. I wouldn’t be surprised if Gibson sets a career high in points per game this season.
Derrick Rose: This Year – 60, Last Year – 23
Is there any doubt that the low ranking for Derrick Rose is because of his injuries? If you make a list off of raw talent, Rose is in the top crop without question, and probably makes an appearance in the top 10. Rose’s ranking keeps falling every year and unless he proves he can stay healthy, it’ll continue to drop.
Rose is one of the best point guards in the league, despite having to change the way he plays. He doesn’t have the same explosion and ability to get to the basket that he once had. Rose has to rely more on his jump shot and it’s obvious that he’s not use to that style of play.
Before all of Rose’s injuries, he could get away with his poor three-point shot, but that’s not the case anymore. Rose shot 33.2 percent from behind the arc during his MVP season, but only shot a brutal 28.0 percent last year. If Rose wants to get the praise and respect that he once had, he needs to improve his jump shot.
He’s not going to get to the basket at will anymore. Rose doesn’t need to be a spot-up shooter, or anything near that, but if he can’t hit a jump shot, then he’s doing the Bulls more harm than good when on the court.
The emergence of Jimmy Butler and Pau Gasol last year can take offensive responsibility off of Rose, hopefully keeping him more healthy. Rose shot 40.5 percent from the field last season, but took 16 shots a game. If he doesn’t improve his shooting, then it could be time to move on from the Rose era.
Rose can get back to the level he was once at, but it won’t be for his great dunks and layups. It’ll be for Rose’s clutch shots and great decision-making. Rose is a scorer, but the Bulls don’t need him to be the top option this year. Chicago needs him to look to pass more often and shoot when he has an open shot. Hopefully, Hoiberg will limit his minutes and create open shots for Rose. He can still get to the basket, but his jump shot is what he’s going to need to rely on in the future.
Joakim Noah: This Year – 43, Last Year – 17
The drop in Joakim Noah’s ranking sums up the past couple of years perfectly for him. Noah was arguably the best big man in the league following a season in which he made the All-Star team, was named to the All-NBA First Team, and was named defensive player of the year. A year later and now, people are saying the Bulls need to trade him or move him to the bench.
ALSO AT PIPPEN AIN’T EASY: Could The Bulls Bench Beat The Worst Team in the NBA?
He dealt with lingering injuries throughout the season, and as a result, last season was just the second time in the past six seasons he didn’t average a double-double. Noah was still able to contribute 7.2 points per game, 9.6 rebounds per game to go with 4.7 assists per game, but was still disappointing considering how much he contributed the previous year.
Live Feed
All U Can Heat
Noah’s defense and energy was still there, but not to the level we saw the year prior. The offense no longer ran through Noah last year because Derrick Rose was back, so it was expected that his numbers go down. The addition of Pau Gasol meant that Noah was even less of an option on offense and would have more help on defense down low. So, his statistics line taking a hit wasn’t a surprise; however, the way he played was a shock.
The player of a couple of years ago is still there. All the trade talk considering Noah is ridiculous because he still has the ability to be one of the best big men in the league. He has to accept his new role on the team and change his game to fit the new system.
He says he is healthy and that should help him a bunch. The biggest key is staying healthy. A double-double average is not crazy to expect from Noah, but if he can’t have his game compliment to Gasol’s, then he’ll drop even more in the next year’s ranking and may force the Bulls to trade him.
Pau Gasol: 40 Last Year: 49
Pau Gasol will join former teammate Kobe Bryant in the Basketball Hall of Fame one day. In Gasol’s great career, last season may have been his best in his 14th year. It was a nice surprise to see Gasol perform so well, especially after several frustrating years with Carlos Boozer.
Gasol has always been able to score, but played second fiddle to Bryant in Los Angeles, and proved that he is still a top scoring big man when given the opportunity. After having a couple rough seasons in L.A., many people started saying his career was coming to an end, but now people think he still has a couple of years left in him.
Gasol shot 49.4 percent from the field — his highest in the past three years — and a career high 46.2 percent from behind the arc. His efficiency and seemingly newfound three-point stroke, allowed Gasol to average 18.5 points per game, his highest in the past four seasons.
Live Feed
Hoops Habit
While his offense was a nice surprise for Bulls fans, Gasol’s defense was what got him the most praise. After years of watching Carlos Boozer getting beat down low every game, it was nice to see another defensive force down low to go along with Noah. Gasol averaged 1.9 blocks per game, his highest since the 2005-06 season and was able to grab a career high 11.8 rebounds per game.
Down low, Chicago is one of the best defensive teams in the league. It’s hard for teams to score on a 7-foot big man and a guy who plays with some of the most energy in the league.
It surprises me that he only made 40th on this list, I was expecting him to be around the 30-35 range. If he can put together another season like he just had, then he should be considered a top-30 player on next year’s list. That might be hard to do as I doubt Fred Hoiberg will play him 34.4 minutes per game like Tom Thibodeau did last year. Also, a faster paced offense would mean less half-court offense, and that was where Gasol thrived.
Gasol is a veteran that has been in the league long enough to know how to change his game to be successful. I wouldn’t expect him to have another great year like last; however, he should still average around 16 points per game and 10 rebounds per game.
Jimmy Butler: 18 Last Year: 98
The fact that Jimmy Butler cracked the list last year at all is a surprise. Now he’s considered a top-20 player and could potentially move up inside the top 10 or 15 next year if he is able to have another All-Star caliber season.
If you called the type of season Butler was going to have last year, then you’re a genius. There has never been any doubt he is one of the best defensive guards in the league, but his offense has always drawn questions. He had an inconsistent shot, didn’t get to the basket a lot, and was a non-factor on offense most of the time. The script changed during the 2014-15 season though.
ALSO AT PIPPEN AIN’T EASY: The Bulls Shouldn’t Go After Rudy Gay
Although Butler was still effective enough to be named to the All-NBA Defensive Second Team, last season he looked a little slower on defense, especially at the end of the season. Butler was still able to average 1.8 steals per game, to go along with a career high 5.8 rebounds per game. He’s averaged the most minutes per game in the past two seasons, so it’s taken a toll on his body. He’s still one of the best defensive guards in the league, but he needs less minutes this year to keep his legs fresh.
The biggest reason for the jump in Butler’s ranking is due to his improved offensive play. Butler was coming off a 39.7 percent shooting season and many thought he wouldn’t be able to ever develop a shot. However, he proved everyone wrong, as he improved to 46.2 percent from the field on his way to averaging 20.0 points per game.
Once he gained confidence in his shot, he didn’t slow down all year. It was the first time in his career that he looked comfortable playing offense in the NBA. Hopefully Hoiberg will help Butler continue to improve on offense.
Considering Butler has had one really good season in his four-year career, it’s understandable that he didn’t crack into the top 10-15 in this year’s rankings. There are still people who want to see if he can duplicate what he did last year and make sure it wasn’t a fluke. Nonetheless, he will be a top option on both offense and defense for the Bulls this season and is happy with his five-year max deal.
The biggest question this year for Butler is, will his offense be as good as it was last year? We all know he will still be a top defensive player, but if the Chicago Bulls want to win it all, Butler needs to continue improving on offense.
Next: How Game 4 Against Cleveland Cavaliers Changed The Entire Chicago Bulls Organization
More from Pippen Ain't Easy
- The dream starting 5 for the Chicago Bulls 5 years from now
- Bulls’ Ayo Dosunmu inspires the future with new school program
- Chicago Bulls NBA 2K24 full roster ratings, risers, and fallers
- Bulls sign a pair of promising guards to Exhibit 10 contracts
- When does NBA Training Camp start? Dates Bulls fans need to know