Chicago Bulls: 30 greatest players in franchise history

The Bulls were terrible after the dynasty broke up, and their awful 1998-99 campaign resulted in them nabbing the No. 1 pick in the 1999 NBA Draft. They used that top pick on Elton Brand, who had just swept the national player of the year awards at Duke.

With the Bulls in rebuild mode, Brand was afforded the opportunity to be the team’s focal point from Day 1. He played 37.0 minutes per game as a rookie and recorded 20.1 points, 10.0 rebounds and 1.6 blocks per game. He made the All-Rookie first team and was named Co-Rookie of the Year with Steve Francis. Brand even won the Rookie Challenge MVP.

Brand followed up his prolific rookie season with a similarly strong second year. His scoring, rebound and block numbers were almost identical, but he improved his assist average from 1.9 to 3.2 per game.

The Bulls remained awful during these years, though, and Jerry Krause decided to shake things up at the 2001 NBA Draft. The Bulls had the No. 4 pick that year and selected hometown kid Eddy Curry, and Krause shipped Brand off to the Los Angeles Clippers in order to get Tyson Chandler, the  No. 2 pick.

While Chandler has turned in an excellent NBA career, the Bulls’ youthful twin towers setup never blossomed as hoped. Brand immediately became an All-Star in 2002 and averaged 20 and 10 in seven seasons in Los Angeles. He just recently retired after a terrific 17-year career, and one wonders where he may have ended up on this list if the Bulls didn’t trade him away after just two seasons.