Pippen Ain't Easy
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Despite a potential comeback, Bulls should stay away from Chris Bosh

By Michael Whitlow

Jan 25, 2016; Chicago, IL, USA; Miami Heat forward Chris Bosh (1) passes around Chicago Bulls guard Jimmy Butler (21) during the second half at the United Center. Miami won 89-84. Mandatory Credit: Dennis Wierzbicki-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 25, 2016; Chicago, IL, USA; Miami Heat forward Chris Bosh (1) passes around Chicago Bulls guard Jimmy Butler (21) during the second half at the United Center. Miami won 89-84. Mandatory Credit: Dennis Wierzbicki-USA TODAY Sports /
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Chris Bosh is an 11-time All-Star, a two-time NBA Champion with “The Heatles” and a future member of the Basketball Hall of Fame. Despite his wonderful career, the Chicago Bulls shouldn’t look to pair him back up with Dwyane Wade this summer.

February 9, 2016: the last NBA game Chris Bosh played in for the Miami Heat.

Since that night, Bosh hasn’t played one minute of basketball because of the diagnosis that involves blood clots being found on his lungs and in his calf. Back in 2015, the original blood clot that started this tough time for Bosh was found on his lung and tubes that were inserted through his ribs to drain the fluid from his lungs.

The clot issues returned for Bosh right around the NBA All-Star break last season in Toronto when Bosh had pain in his calf where a clot was found. He hasn’t played in a game since then.

Things started looking up for Bosh playing again after Tuesday’s report from Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald involving him and the Heat looking to part ways.

"Chris Bosh has told family members that an agreement has been struck among the NBA, the Heat, the union and himself for Bosh to part ways with the Heat at some point in the coming weeks, with the Heat receiving maximum cap relief, an NBA-employed source said in early May and reiterated Tuesday.The source said in early May that Bosh had reached a unique agreement that would purge him from the Heat’s cap before the start of free agency but also give him the opportunity to play again, if he chose, without salary-cap consequences for the Heat."

Before the blood clots seemingly ended Bosh’s playing career in the NBA, he signed a five-year, $118 million deal after LeBron James bolted back to Cleveland and essentially broke up the Heat as we once knew them early this decade.

Jackson also detailed the contract situation for Bosh in the Heat in his piece by saying,

"The Heat is optimistic that because of a change in the labor agreement, its parting with Bosh not only would clear his $25.3 million salary off next year’s cap, but would permanently remove his $52.1 million in remaining salary from the cap even if he resumes his career elsewhere. Bosh will receive all $52 million still due, with insurance covering a substantial part of that."

There’s still some fine-print details to work out, but one thing’s for sure: Chris Bosh wants to play basketball again and if he’s going to do that, it’s probably not going to be with the Heat.

So, that presents a question: where will Chris Bosh attempt to play in the NBA next season?

Here’s where the Chicago Bulls come into play. Dwyane Wade has a $23.8 million player option for the 2017-18 season with the Bulls that he can accept. Rajon Rondo will probably be brought back for the second year of his partially-guaranteed contract and Jimmy Butler has yet to be traded.

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With Nikola Mirotic potentially gone in free agency this summer, could the Bulls look to bring Bosh in despite his age (33 years old), lack of games played (97 games played since the 2014-15 season) and the potential health risk?

From the sounds of things, Bosh will be get a large portion of his $118 million deal he signed a few years ago if the Herald’s report is true. Money probably won’t be that big of an issue. The issue is the health risk and that’s where the Bulls should probably draw the line. There’s no certainty that Bosh is going to be 100 percent healthy with these pesky clots, which really sucks for him and the league because Bosh isn’t just a future Hall of Fame player, he’s an awesome person on and off the hardwood.

The Bulls want to get “younger and more athletic”, but the front office (more spefically Jerry “GRAB DAT PLAYOFF REVENUE, JO” Reinsdorf) wants to compete and make postseason runs at the same time. That’s probably not happening with the roster that’s currently in place today.

Next: The Bulls should look into keeping Cristiano Felicio

With Bosh in the fold and back to playing top-tier basketball potentially, that could change things a bit. Still, it’s a tricky situation for the Bulls to throw their name into the hat of and one they should probably avoid in the end.

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