There are some phrases an NBA organization never wants to hear, and “It’s time to clean house” is one of the worst. Unfortunately, the Chicago Bulls are dangerously approaching this breaking point. After an incredible postseason fight in last year’s playoffs against the Boston Celtics, many saw the Bulls as a young group ready to play on the main stage. Many believed they could be a successful team within the Eastern Conference, who, most likely would not win their division (seeing as how they play in the same division as the Cavs), but could compete with any team in the conference – sort of what the Atlanta Hawks are doing now. In reality, the Bulls are doing exactly the opposite. In the first quarter or so of the NBA season, they have fallen to a poor 11-17 record. Granted they have secured wins against some of the elite teams in the NBA, but they have also fallen to the worst of the worst. The team took another step towards the depths of damnation on December 21^st, when they blew a 35-point lead in the 3^rd quarter to the Sacramento Kings. The Kings ended the game on a 58-19 run to win by four. That kind of occurrence is not supposed to happen in the NBA. Teams are supposed to be able to coast on a 35-point lead, but obviously the Bulls are not the team they, the media, and fans thought they were. For that reason, it seems as if it’s time for the Bulls to clean house.

Luckily for the Bulls, they have a few key pieces to the puzzle of success. The most obvious of those pieces: Derrick Rose. Derrick Rose has the skill, the vision, the tenacity to be a superstar in this league, and it’s only a matter of time before he realizes his full potential. He reminds me of a young Dwyane Wade, only he possesses the court vision and passing ability of a Chris Paul type player. For Derrick Rose to truly become the superstar he is capable of being, he must work on his game. First off, he must become more aggressive on the offensive end. Too many times, Rose gets comfortable in his sets, and does not use his incredible explosiveness and quickness to get to the rim. From watching a mere 2 minutes of an NBA game in which Rose plays, it’s easy to see that he can get to the rim at will, but for him to truly be an unstoppable force, he needs to develop a jump shot. Like Dwyane Wade, Rose did not enter the NBA with a pure shot, but with the development of an outside shot, Rose will be virtually unguardable. Rose is obviously a keeper in the rebuilding process of the Chicago Bulls.

At the culmination of the current NBA season, other than Derrick Rose, the Bulls will have six players under guaranteed contracts, one of which is Tyrus Thomas, who is a restricted free agent. Thomas is owed just over $6.2 million next season, and it seems as if he will most likely stay with the Bulls. In addition, John Salmons has a player option for the 2010/2011 season worth $5.8 million. Assuming Salmons and Thomas return to the Bulls, the Bulls will have $43,915,782 of committed contracts. NBA executives project the NBA salary cap to be around $54 million and the luxury tax threshold to be somewhere around $67 million, leaving the Bulls around $20 million or so to play the free agency game, in what looks to be the best free agent class in the history of basketball.

Of the players under contract, the Bulls will be retaining some key players, such as Joakim Noah, Luol Deng, and Kirk Hinrich. Joakim Noah is player who can be a key part of the future of the Chicago Bulls. Noah’s relentless attitude on the court combined with his size makes him a hot commodity to any NBA team. He is player who can comfortably play the center position, and do it with relative success. He is a monster rebounder, a decent scorer, and a great defender. Luol Deng is an athletic small forward who is owed over $11 million in the coming season. Deng is playing at a relatively high and efficient level this season, averaging 18 pts and 8 reb per contest. Kirk Hinrich is a different story. Don’t get me wrong, I am a Hinrich fan, but he is not worth the $9.5 million he is being paid this year and the $9 million he is owed next year, especially coming off the bench as he is now. Hinrich is averaging a mere 8 pts and 3 assists this season while shooting an abysmal 36% from the field and 32% from long range. The Bulls are definitely not going to be able to restructure Hinrich’s contract, so their best bet would be to unload his contract to a team in need of a smart point guard who is usually a good shooter and is always a pesky defender. Ideally, they would love to get back an expiring contract, but with so many teams looking to play the free agency game this coming summer, I find it hard to believe they would be able to get something worthwhile.

If the season continues the way it is going now for the Chicago Bulls, it will be a fun time for fans this coming summer. As of now, the Bulls would be fighting for an 8 seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs, but let’s assume they do not make the playoffs and end up in the NBA lottery. The coming year’s lottery picks feature many NBA ready players that could make an impact sooner rather than later, but where the real fun comes in is the free agent market. As stated earlier, the Bulls are looking to have a significant amount of spending money this summer, and hope to be able to lure a top tier free agent. Sadly, seeing as how I am a die-hard Heat fan, it seems as if the Bulls most likely choice in the free agent market would be Dwyane Wade. To fathom a team of Wade, Rose, Deng, and Noah, with a supporting cast of Hinrich, Thomas, and Salmons is amazing. That team could do great things very quickly, but I do not think it’s going to happen. The Bulls, though, do need to lure in a big name to continue being successful. Ideally, the Bulls would want to pair Rose in the backcourt with an athletic 2-guard that can shoot from the outside; somebody like Joe Johnson or Tracy McGrady or even a Manu Ginobili. This will space out the court, allowing Rose more flexibility to penetrate the lane and kick out to shooters. In addition, the Bulls need to add somebody to fill in the starting role as a power forward. Tyrus Thomas, although an athletic freak, is not fit to start in the NBA. He is a great energy burst off the bench and could best be utilized in that capacity. One option would be to pursue the likes of Chris Bosh, Carlos Boozer, or Dirk Nowitzki (if Nowitzki decides to use his Early Termination Option). All are big names that will be unrestricted free agents in the coming summer, and as stated before, the Bulls have the money to sign a free agent of that caliber. To fill out the roster, the Bulls should acquire a veteran point guard to teach Derrick Rose the ins and outs of the NBA game, preferably at the veteran’s minimum salary. Some players that fit this description would be Jason Williams, Steve Blake, or even Derek Fisher (if they could ever coax him to leave the Lakers).

Although the Bulls are going through tough times at the moment, they are not far from becoming a successful team. They have some key pieces needed to be successful, and with the addition of just a few more, they could be a dangerous team in the Eastern Conference. The last thing the Bulls would need to do to really get over the hump would be to fire Vinny Del Negro and bring in a coach capable to teaching a young team to play together offensively and, most importantly, defensively, in an attempt towards reaching the ultimate goal. The capability is there; it is simply a question as to whether the organization can make it happen.

To me this sounds like an incident where Rose was partying with his friends and was posing for a picture. He was not trying to rep’ any gangs in any way and was only posing for the camera.  Maybe it was an inappropriate pose however, I have seen plenty of photos like this by people on Facebook who think nothing at all by the gestures and actions they are making in them. Hopefully Rose was not thinking anything gang related at the time, as I do not believe he was.

I’m sure his agent, B.J. Armstrong, has some input regarding Rose’s apologetic statements.  Whether the remarks were made by Rose alone or in concert with his agent, the swift decision saved Rose from additional negative publicity before bloggers and others could gossip.  Any way you look at it, Rose taking accountability for his actions is a good sign.  This clearly indicates that the youngster is learning and is a huge positive for Chicago Bulls fans, especially now that his SAT score at Memphis is being investigated.

“Recently, a photo has been circulating on the Internet which appears to depict
me flashing a gang sign,” Rose said in the statement. “This photo of me was
taken at a party I attended in Memphis while I was in school there, and was
meant as a joke … a bad one, I now admit. I want to emphatically
state, now and forever, that Derrick Rose is anti-gang, anti-drug, and
anti-violence. I am not, nor have I ever been, affiliated with any gang and I
can’t speak loudly enough against gang violence, and the things that gangs
represent.”

“In posing for this picture, I am guilty of being young,
naive and of using extremely poor judgment. I sincerely apologize to all my fans
for my mistake. I pride myself on being a good citizen, and role model, that
young people can look up to and I want to urge all my young fans to stay away
from gangs and gang-related activities.”

Football

• A big-time Gator is on the market [Taylor, set to make $6M, cut by Jags].
• A lot of talk that Thomas Mills got Hayden a really nice deal [Hayden, Colts strike deal].

Baseball

• The guy is only 26-years-old and averages a strikeout per inning pitched [Santana avoids arbitration with Angels].
• Gotta love the amount of deals that are struck in the final hour [Pirates, McLouth agree to 3-year deal].
• Should we be blaming the MLBPA instead? [Commish doesn't want steroids blame]

Sports Agents

• For our readers overseas [Superagents” reality TV show to launch in UK this week].
• Doug Eldridge of DLE Sports Management Group is trying to raise $100k [Reginald T. Dogan: Racer makes strides for wounded vets].

Basketball

• The story on Anthony Randolph switching agents made the latest Carnival [Carnival of the NBA #63: Stress Relief].
• The Chicago Bulls have been very active lately [Knicks trade for Bulls' Hughes].

Chicago Bulls

Nels: Give Me The Rock

Matt: Blog-a-Bull

Cleveland Cavaliers

Rock: Waiting For Next Year

FTS: Fear The Sword

David Friedman: 20 Second Timeout

Amar Panchmatia: Cavalier Attitude

Detroit Pistons

Brian Spencer: Empty the Bench

Natalie Sitto: Need4Sheed.com

Matt Watson: Detroit Bad Boys

Indiana Pacers

Tom: Indy Cornrows

Milwaukee Bucks

Jeramey Jannene: The Bratwurst

Frank Madden: BrewHoop

“When I signed with (agent) Arn Tellem, we were in a room,” Rose said. “He was like, ‘Which team do you want to play for?’ And he was like, ‘I know your hometown.’ Everybody in the room started laughing because we thought it was impossible. That night when the Bulls got the No. 1 pick, I was looking at the TV like this can’t be true.”

Arn Tellem?  But B.J. Armstrong is Rose’s primary agent.  Sure, Arn is also an agent at WMG and probably shares adjacent office space to B.J., but all previous signs seemed to show that B.J. was in control of this situation from day one.  I had the distinct pleasure of interviewing B.J. Armstrong and hope to follow up with him again sometime soon.  In the interview, this dialogue went down:

Me: Is there any particular reason that Derrick Rose picked you as his primary agent over Arn Tellem?

BJ Armstrong: Again, I think that Derrick chose me largely because I played in Chicago and he grew up in Chicago watching me play. There was a time in Chicago where I played on some pretty good teams. The things that happened in that city as he was growing up probably left a mark on him. Again, I believe that I was the beneficiary of good timing. Derrick and I even played the same position. Sometimes things just line up…you can’t plan it. I think we just had a few similarities in our background that made it all work out for a lot of different reasons.

Interesting that Arn was never mentioned.  It seems like good old Arn may have had more to do with Rose’s bond to WMG than I had originally assumed.  Anyway, it seems like it is almost a lock that Rose will be the first name called next week.  I cannot wait to share the joy with B.J. and the WMG family.  They have quite a team and a solid young talent in B.J. who will be sure to continue to make headlines in the future.