Ranking the 13 Worst Bulls starters of the Derrick Rose era

Between the consistent starting lineups, overperforming bench mobs, and a dazzling young star paving the way for the future, the early 2010s were a great time to be a fan of the Chicago Bulls. Derrick Rose would go on to be the youngest player to ever win an MVP and inspire an entire generation of young Bulls fans, but this era has always felt like a bit of a missed opportunity.

Playing alongside the main core of Joakim Noah, Luol Deng, Carlos Boozer, Jimmy Butler, and Taj Gibson for the majority of his time with the Bulls, this team had the tools they needed to get the job done, but the stars never aligned at the right time.

I can’t help but feel if the Bulls had just one more piece to finish the puzzle, things could have ended differently. It wasn’t for a lack of trying, however, as the Bulls signed plenty of failed projects to get across the finish line. For that reason, I’d like to take a little trip to the past and revisit a few of the worst starters we ever witnessed suit up for the Bulls during the Derrick Rose era.

The one area the Bulls failed to address time and time again was shooting guard, so expect to see a lot of them on this list. I’m also only considering players who started at least 20 games (at least 25% of the season) in any given season to qualify for this list, so a few particular disastrous former Bulls starters dodged this list on a technicality. Now that we’ve established the ‘rules’ here, let’s dig right in.

Ranking the worst Chicago Bulls starters of the Derrick Rose era

13. C.J. Watson (2011-12)

It feels a little unfair starting this list out here with C.J. Watson, as he was a tremendous role player for the Bulls at the turn of the decade. In two seasons with the team, Watson proved to be one of the first of a long string of exceptional point backup point guards under Tom Thibodeau that included Nate Robinson, DJ Augustin, John Lucas III, and Aaron Brooks.

The problem here, however, is that Watson was unable to remain in the role that suited him best during the 2011-12 season. With Rose sidelined for a portion of the season, Watson was forced to step up and start for over a third of the season.

He performed better than expected, averaging 11.3 points and 4.6 assists as a starter, it became painfully obvious how steep of a downgrade Watson was in the postseason. After Rose tore his ACL in the first game against Philadelphia, Watson would struggle mightily — including a zero-point outing in Game 3 — and Chicago would lose four of their next five and be eliminated. Although Watson wasn’t exactly a bad starter, he’s definitely the best of the worst starters the Bulls fielded during the Rose era.

12. John Salmons (2009-10)

In Rose’s first few seasons with the Bulls, his supporting cast included a revolving door of experienced veterans looking to break out in a bigger role on a rebuilding roster. Perhaps no player better represents that trope than John Salmons, who was acquired at the trade deadline in 2009 in exchange for beloved former Bull Andres Nocioni.

Despite averaging 18.3 points on 47.2% shooting in the previous season, Salmons posted a paltry 12.7 points on 42% shooting in 2009-10. This led to Salmons being traded once again a year later on the exact same date to the Bucks, where he (of course) returned to averaging 19 points on 46.7% shooting. Fortunately, Salmons’ career would take a nosedive after the 2010-11 season, so Chicago didn’t miss out on much here — other than witnessing the rest of Nocioni’s career, of course.

These two veterans yielded much better results with other teams than they did with the Bulls.

11. Marco Bellinelli (2012-13)

Although the Bulls were an elite defensive team with a true superstar running the show on offense in the early 2010s, it was no secret that they had one clear weakness in their lack of shooting on the roster. The front office tried to address this issue over the years, and some of their additions were rather effective, such as Kyle Korver and Doug McDermott.

Others were… not quite so competent. That includes Marco Bellinelli, the Italian star who signed with the Bulls as a free agent in 2012. Unfortunately, he’d post the lowest points per game and shooting percentages of any year he played from 2010 to 2014, and would be released after just one season. Of course, he’d go on to win a championship with the Spurs just one year later, just to add insult to injury.

10. Drew Gooden (2008-2009)

If you’re like me and grew up spending as much time playing with the Bulls on 2K as I did watching them play actual games, you’d probably think Drew Gooden was a lot better than he really was. In the virtual world, Gooden was a dependable post-up option and dominated the boards. Plus, he wore a cool headband!

In real life, however, things didn’t go quite so smoothly for Gooden. Despite posting respectable averages of 13.1 points and 8.6 rebounds, he was relatively inefficient and a sizeable defensive liability. Gooden had a negative offensive and defensive box plus/minus with Chicago in 2008-09, and the Bulls were actually 6 points worse per 100 possessions with Gooden on the court. This resulted in him being included with Nocioni in the trade package for Salmons in 2009.

This ineffective duo was a byproduct of the Bulls’ failed Twin Towers experiment.

9. Kurt Thomas (2010-11)

Brought on to presumably replace Gooden in the rotation a year later, Kurt Thomas ended up actually being even less effective than his predecessor. Thomas started 37 of 52 games played with the Bulls in 2010-11, and averaged an insignificant 4.1 points and 5.8 rebounds per game.

As it turns out, signing a 38-year-old big man with the intention to play them heavy minutes is not actually a great idea. Unlike Gooden, however, Thomas was surrounded by a much more talented supporting cast that could hide his deficiencies, as the Bulls went 62-20 and won the East that season. That team was truly great, but it wasn’t because of Kurt Thomas, I’ll tell you that much.

8. Brad Miller (2009-10)

If you thought Belinelli was a mistake, I hope you weren’t forced to watch the disaster that was Brad Miller on the Bulls during the 2009-10 season. The former two-time All-Star was brought aboard to help Chicago compete immediately, but ended up making things even worse (sound familiar, Karnisovas?).

Miller started 37 games for the Bulls this season, where he averaged just 8.8 points on 43% shooting from the field. To make matters worse, Miller was by far the highest-paid player on the roster that season, taking home $12.25 million — an amount higher than the combined salaries of Derrick Rose, Joakim Noah, Taj Gibson, and Hakim Warrick that season.

Brad Miller and E’Twaun Moore both failed to be the shooting guard the Bulls desperately needed in the Derrick Rose era.

7. E’Twaun Moore (2015-16)

While Miller was so bad that his high salary stung, E’Twaun Moore was so bad on the Bulls that it didn’t even matter that he was being paid a minimum contract, his poor play was just impossible to ignore. Inserted into the starting lineup for 22 of 59 games played that season, Moore was so bad that it amazes me that he carried on to have a surprisingly successful 10-year career in the league.

E’Twaun averaged 7.5 points for the Bulls in 2015-16, but his 45.2% clip from beyond the arc was enough to justify giving him minutes in a modern NBA that prioritizes shooting above all else. That proved to be a big mistake, however, as Moore posted a horrendous -1.9 offensive BPM and made the Bulls worse whenever he was on the court. I can’t help but think, however, that had he been given a chance to thrive on the bench like the aforementioned Watson, we may have remembered Moore’s time with the Bulls differently.

6. Tyrus Thomas (2008-2009)

Now now, put your pitchforks away. I’m well aware that Tyrus Thomas is a name that evokes the rage of a great many Bulls fans, as the decision to acquire the big man is one that arguably set the franchise back years and potentially destroyed any chance of contending. That’s because the Bulls’ front office infamously traded the rights to second-overall pick LaMarcus Aldridge in exchange for the fourth-overall Thomas.

I’m not here to judge Thomas on the decisions made by the front office, I’m here to judge Thomas on how he performed for the Bulls. And for that reason, you can get your pitchforks back out, because Tyrus was horrendous. In his third NBA season, Tyrus showed zero signs of development or progression, and was still only averaging 10.8 points and 6.4 rebounds per game in 2008-09. That’s why when Thomas was traded away for nothing more than a future first-round pick and salary filler, I don’t think any Bulls fans lost sleep over the call.

One a raw prospect and the other a veteran with little left to give, the Bulls needed more from Tyrus Thomas and Mike Dunleavy.

5. Mike Dunleavy (2015-16)

Once upon a time, Mike Dunleavy was a rather solid starter for the Chicago Bulls. Averaging 10.5 points while shooting 39.2% from deep and playing stiff defense, Dunleavy proved to be a perfect complementary starter in his first two seasons in Chicago.

Things went downhill fast in his third (and final) season with the Bulls, however, as Dunleavy’s scoring production dipped to 7.2 points and he posted a negative net rating for the first time since 2009. At 35 years old, Dunleavy was no longer the capable perimeter defender and hardnosed enforcer he once was, as he posted a DBPM so bad it’s hard to believe at -3.5.

Instead, he’s now just known as the man who feuded with a young Giannis Antetokounmpo.

4. Kirk Hinrich (2014-15)

It pains me to put Captain Kirk Hinrich on this list, it truly does. After so many years of dependable service for Chicago, I wouldn’t blame fans for believing Hinrich is the type of player to be enshrined in Bulls history forever. That being said, the player he used to be was no more in the 2014-15 season, as the franchise legend submitted a particularly putrid outing that year.

Hinrich averaged just 5.7 points and 2.2 assists that season, when he posted a -3.8 OBPM and the Bulls proved to be statistically better with him off the court than on it.  For that reason alone, I can’t say I’m surprised that this would be the penultimate season of Hinrich’s career.  Now please, excuse me while I go wipe my tears with my No. 12 jersey.

Kirk Hinrich and Rip Hamilton enjoyed legendary careers, but ultimately floundered at the end with the Bulls.

3. Rip Hamilton (2012-13)

Of all the shooting guard signings the Bulls made over the years to complete their starting lineup, there was none I believed in as much as Richard Hamilton. With three All-Star selections and a championship ring under his belt, I was confident Rip could come in and be the guy to support Rose, Noah, Luol Deng, and Carlos Boozer on their war path to the NBA Finals.

Unfortunately, injuries would batter Hamilton in both seasons he spent in Chicago, leading to a steep drop-off in his performance. Things got particularly harsh in 2012-13, when the Bulls felt like a lost cause while Rose recovered from his ACL injury. Rip averaged just 9.8 points on 30.8% shooting from deep this season, and ultimately decided to retire after posting the worst BPM and net rating of his entire 14-year career.

2. Tony Snell (2015-16)

Tony Snell. Poor Tony Snell. Not many NBA players have been subject to as much ridicule as Snell, especially not relatively unknown role players. After being drafted by the Bulls 20th overall in 2013, Snell eventually fought his way into the starting lineup for the 2015-16 season. Unfortunately, the results were less than savory, as Snell averaged just 5.3 points and 3.1 rebounds per game while shooting an atrocious 37.2% from the field.

Snell posted a -4.0 BPM that year and was promptly kicked to the curb in a trade to Milwaukee for another project gone wrong in Michael Carter-Williams. The worst was yet to come for Snell, however, as he’d go on to submit one of the most laughably bad performances in NBA history, providing meme-makers and internet jokesters fuel that has lasted nearly a decade now.

Still, Snell went on to play in the NBA for 9 seasons and garnered over $50 million in earnings, so who’s really laughing?

These two players were the biggest lowlights in an otherwise great era of Chicago Bulls basketball.

1. Keith Bogans (2010-11)

Here we arrive, at the top spot where we find none other than Keith Bogans. 2010-11 was a generation-defining season as the Bulls raced out to a 62-20 record, won the Eastern Conference, and Derrick Rose laid claim to the MVP award in just his third season. Things were looking great for the Bulls, but little did we know, that this would be the last opportunity for this core to capitalize and make a potential Finals run.

This roster was absolutely stacked with talent. Rose, Deng, Noah, and Boozer led the charge with Taj Gibson, Ronnie Brewer, Korver, and Watson off the bench. This team had one weakness at starting shooting guard, and Bogans proved to be such a tremendous net negative that it pulled an otherwise perfectly constructed roster down with it.

Despite starting in all 82 games that year, Bogans averaged an embarrassing 4.4 points and 1.8 rebounds, while only converting on 40.4% of his field goal attempts. The Bulls were 3.1 points better per 100 possessions when the bench came in to replace Bogans, and it was hard to pinpoint any area of the game he positively impacted.

In a crucial Conference Finals matchup against the Heat, Bogans averaged 4.6 points on an even worse 34.8% shooting clip. Rose received much of the blame for his inefficiency in this series, but I can’t escape the fact that Bogans performed at even a league-average level, Derrick wouldn’t have had to shoulder all of the offensive load. That Chicago team was absolutely talented enough to go all the way, but in the end, Bogans proved to be the worst Bulls starter of the Derrick Rose era.