Pippen Ain't Easy
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Chicago Bulls vs. Atlanta Hawks: 5 Takeaways

By Alex Kirschenbaum

Oct 20, 2016; Omaha, NE, USA; Chicago Bulls guard Jimmy Butler (21) attempts a shot over Atlanta Hawks center Dwight Howard (8) at CenturyLink Center Omaha. Atlanta defeated Chicago 97-81. Mandatory Credit: Steven Branscombe-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 20, 2016; Omaha, NE, USA; Chicago Bulls guard Jimmy Butler (21) attempts a shot over Atlanta Hawks center Dwight Howard (8) at CenturyLink Center Omaha. Atlanta defeated Chicago 97-81. Mandatory Credit: Steven Branscombe-USA TODAY Sports /
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Dwight Howard against the Chicago Bulls.
Oct 20, 2016; Omaha, NE, USA; Atlanta Hawks center Dwight Howard (8) gets ready to check into the game against the Chicago Bulls at CenturyLink Center Omaha. Atlanta defeated Chicago 97-81. Mandatory Credit: Steven Branscombe-USA TODAY Sports /

Maybe the Bulls should’ve looked into signing D12

Despite his world-famous farts and infamous team chemistry problems, Dwight Howard has looked really good with his hometown team this preseason.

That trend continued last night, as he demolished poor Robin Lopez to the tune of 16 points, 15 rebounds, one block, a +12 plus-minus rating, and went 6-of-9 in free-throw shooting!

What the heck is happening?

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Lopez had seven points, two rebounds, and a -8 in the plus-minus department. To be fair, he also lofted up a pretty sweet turnaround sky hook over Howard, had a whopping six blocks and overall played okay defense. But let’s get back to Howard — what if Budenholzer’s grand experiment, letting Al Horford walk in favor of the 404’s more volatile prodigal son, actually works?

This begs the question of whether or not the Derrick Rose trade netting the Bulls RoLo was the move they should have made, considering Howard was readily available as a free agent. If Dwight Howard was guaranteed to be as good as he was tonight (again, while facing a pretty good defensive center in Sideshow Rob) for, say, 75 percent of the regular season and all of the playoffs, would you rather have that Howard inked onboard as a free agent, plus Rose flipped for Ben McLemore, Darren Collison and draft picks or the package we got plus Dwyane Wade?

Wade?

Yeah, me too.

I don’t trust the honeymoon period of Dwight’s Atlanta reign. He and James Harden destroyed a pretty good Houston team just about a year ago, and his back has limited his availability for eons. Wade is a proven leader, an all-time player who, while in the twilight of his career, is still crafty and persistent enough that I think he’s going to log some productive time in Chicago.

Still though, Robin Lopez had secretly been the second-most exciting off-season addition throughout these seven preseason games. It was kind of a bummer to see him schooled by a supposedly washed-up Dwight Howard.

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