There’s been a ton of moving parts with the Chicago Bulls franchise in recent years. Where are some of those parts in the present day?
A Chicago Bulls saga finally closed this offseason when the team traded Jimmy Butler to the Minnesota Timberwolves alongside the 16th pick in exchange for Zach LaVine, Kris Dunn and the No. 7 pick in the in the 2017 NBA Draft: Lauri Markkanen.
The Derrick Rose-era Baby Bulls had already largely faded out by the time Chicago traded Butler. Rose himself was already one season removed from the team and every player from the roster that had made it to the 2011 Eastern Conference Finals was also gone.
But, perhaps it is more accurate to define the era by the tangible hope it stirred up among Chicago’s fanbase, rather than by the specifics of its roster. While Rose had already had two major knee tears by the time Butler broke out, Butler carried on the playoff hopes Bulls fans had grown accustomed to.
In reality, there have been numerous Bulls teams that have been given the ‘Baby Bulls’ label since Michael Jordan last played for the team. Then-ESPN columnist Charley Rosen used the term as early as March of 2003, referring to the Chicago squad lead by Tyson Chandler and Eddy Curry. That tandem didn’t last long as the Bulls traded Curry soon after.
The Baby Bulls were then reborn in an article published in early 2005 by then-Washington Post writer Greg Sandoval. This time, Tyson Chandler and a pair of rookies, Luol Deng and Ben Gordon, headed the team. That team helped build the hard-nosed defensive culture which came to define the Bulls in the coming decade.
However, the team that Rose spearheaded came as close as any Bulls team had to a championship since the 1990s, making it the hardest to say goodbye to. It remains to be seen whether or not this new age of Baby Bulls will be worthy of comparison to its predecessors, or if it will prove to just be a transitional roster to another, more defined one.
In the meantime, fans can reflect and check in on some old Bulls from the years gone by.