Chicago Bulls

Nick Friedell looks at each player on the Chicago Bulls roster and how they fit in for the future. Daequan Cook 2012-13 salary: $512,633 | Age: 26 | Season stats: 2.8 ppg, 28.6 3-pointers Season recap: Signed midway through the season, Cook rarely played for the Bulls and didn't have much of an impact. He shot just 28.6 percent from beyond the arc for the season -- including his time with the Houston Rockets. Season highlight: In a Feb. 7 loss to the Denver Nuggets, Cook scored 19 points and had four rebounds as the Bulls got crushed in the second half.

Flynn Robinson was one of the most popular players early in Bulls’ history and one of the team’s most prolific and exciting scorers, holding the Bulls’ playoff scoring record for 18 years until it was broken by Michael Jordan in 1986. But Robinson’s trade to the Milwaukee Bucks, as unpopular as it was Nov. 22, 1968, put in place the first piece, All Star to be Bob Love, for the Bulls great run of the early 1970’s. Robinson, 72, died Thursday after a two-year battle with multiple myeloma, according to the Los Angeles Lakers. Robinson, a native of west suburban Elgin, played for the champion 1972 Lakers and lived in Los Angeles, where he was active in adult basketball leagues well into his 60’s and participated in programs that exposed underprivileged children to fishing and ocean life. Robinson played only parts of two seasons with the Bulls in the late 1960’s. But he was involved in many of the Bulls‘ most memorable transactions and some of the biggest games of that era. He later was dubbed, “Instant Offense” by Lakers’ broadcaster Chick Hearn. But as a Chicago fan favorite he was “Flingin’ Flynn,” who was the Bulls’ second leading scorer at 16 per game in their second season, 1967-68, after being acquired four games into that season. Initially, it was not a popular trade as Robinson came for classy guard Guy Rodgers, who was an All Star in the Bulls’ inaugural season in being tied for the team lead in scoring and leading the NBA in assists. The Bulls were 33-48 that first season. But they made the playoffs, still the only expansion team to make the playoffs. But when the Bulls opened their second season 0-4, team president Dick Klein amidst declining attendance traded Rodgers, who had a poor playoff in 1967, to the Cincinnati Royals for Robinson, draft picks and cash. Robinson, in the way things often would go in the early years of the NBA, eventually ended up in Milwaukee as well playing with Rodgers. Robinson would average 21.8 per game for the Bucks in the 1969-70 season, second to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and made the East All Star team. He played eight minutes off the bench and had six points. Flynn was always flingin’ it. Robinson was drafted by Cincinnati out of the U. of Wyoming No. 15 in the second round in the 1965 draft, 11 selections after Jerry Sloan went to Baltimore. But Robinson is perhaps best remembered in Bulls’ lore as the player who pretty much single handedly won the first playoff game in franchise history. Though making the playoffs in their inaugural season of 1966-67, the Bulls were swept 3-0 by the St. Louis Hawks. The Bulls then moved into the Chicago Stadium for the 1967-68 season after playing in both the Amphitheatre and even a playoff game in the old Coliseum at 15th and Wabash where attendance for the only home playoff game that season was under 4,000. The late 1960’s was a vibrant expansion time in the NBA as Seattle came in the season after the Bulls and Milwaukee the season after that. The Bulls lost center George Wilson in expansion and Erwin Mueller tried to jump to the ABA. So the Bulls after trading for Robinson acquired one of the classic players in NBA history, seven footer Reggie Harding. Harding was infamous for one of the great stories in NBA history. Often troubled with drug issues, he was one of the first ever NBA players not to attend college. He had troubles with the law and eventually was shot dead on a Detroit street in 1972. He famously wearing a mask went in to hold up a store in his neighborhood. The storekeeper recognized Reggie as there weren’t that many seven foot stickup men around, anyway. The storekeeper supposedly said, “Reg, don’t do it.” Harding responded: “It ain’t me.” Yes, you’re 1967-68 Man in the Middle, Reggie Harding. No wonder Flynn was flingin’. It perhaps was no surprise Wilt Chamberlain set the opponent scoring record which still stands, scoring 68 points in a 143-123 Philadelphia win that season. And Wilt missed 14 free throws. The Bulls fell to 29-53, but

Bulls Season in Review: The 2013 season really started on April 28th, 2012, when Derrick Rose tore his ACL in Game 1 against the Philadelphia 76ers. On May 12, Rose had successful surgery to repair his knee and was given a 8-12 month timetable for return.From that moment on, Bulls' fans, management and players knew that the next 8-12 months would surely test the agility, fight and depth of the team. After losing many of their key players that made up the "bench mob" in the offseason, the Bulls managed to put together a patchwork bench, including Nate Robinson, Marco Belinelli and Nazr Mohammed. They also signed veteran guard Kirk Hinrich to serve as Rose's replacement until he was available. Not much was expected of this team, a first round playoff appearance at best, yet the Bulls kept pulling out the most unlikely wins, playing great team defense and playing overall solid basketball, despite the injury bug that stuck with the team the entire season. Before injuries really started piling up, the Bulls were in contention to win the Central division, but dropped off after the All Star break. Hinrich, one of the leagues' best on-ball defenders, couldn't seem to stay on the court for more than a week straight, which severely hurt the flow of the Bulls' 29th ranked offense. At times, the Bulls' offense would run as a well-oiled machine does, smooth and efficient. However, at other times, the players didn't seem to know how to handle the ball and run a basic offensive play. The hole that Rose left in the offense was sometimes gaping, over the past 4 seasons, the offense had been built around and for Rose, and without him, they struggled to score. While Rose is also essential to the defense, the Bulls still managed to be ranked 3rd overall in the regular season. Joakim Noah, who recently was named to the All-NBA Defense 1st Team, was the anchor of their ruthless defense, leading the team in rebounds, blocks and steals. His almost annual flare up of plantar fasciitis in the last stretch of the season hurt the overall defense and the dominant presence in the lane. He wasn't even sure if would be able to play in the playoffs, when in fact he ended up being the 2nd most important player (behind Nate Robinson) to the Bulls impressive playoff run. Noah and Luol Deng, (both All Stars this season) were the glue that held the team together. Deng led the league in minutes per game, again, and night in and night out would play to his greatest potential. Deng is essentially the glue for the entire team, and has proved to be very valuable, as he was missed in the series against the Heat.While the players are the ones who have to play and execute the plays, it all starts with the mastermind on the bench, Tom Thibodeau. A top 3 coach in the NBA, he was behind the Celtics dominate defense before being hired by Chicago. Throughout the entire season, he assured reporters, players and fans that the team had "more than enough to win", and would inject a raging level of intensity into his players. No matter how big of an underdog they were, or how much they were losing by, this team would fight until the final buzzer. He would get every last ounce of energy out of his players and maximize their production in the minutes that they played. The large number of injuries also allowed many unproven players to prove themselves, most notably second year man Jimmy Butler, who proved to be another elite defender and also showed a much improved offensive game. He filled in well for Deng, Noah and Boozer throughout the season. He seems to be the Bulls' 2 guard of the future, a position that has desperately needed filling since Rose joined the team. The emergence of Butler will likely trigger trade talks, like moving Deng or Boozer, who make $13,000,000 and $15,000,000 respectively. Therefore clearing much needed salary cap room and getting a younger and cheaper body in Butler.The loss to the Miami Heat tonight was most certainly disappointing, it ended an impressiv

Bulls Season in Review: The 2013 season really started on April 28th, 2012, when Derrick Rose tore his ACL in Game 1 against the Philadelphia 76ers. On May 12, Rose had successful surgery to repair his knee and was given a 8-12 month timetable for return.From that moment on, Bulls' fans, management and players knew that the next 8-12 months would surely test the agility, fight and depth of the team. After losing many of their key players that made up the "bench mob" in the offseason, the Bulls managed to put together a patchwork bench, including Nate Robinson, Marco Belinelli and Nazr Mohammed. They also signed veteran guard Kirk Hinrich to serve as Rose's replacement until he was available. Not much was expected of this team, a first round playoff appearance at best, yet the Bulls kept pulling out the most unlikely wins, playing great team defense and playing overall solid basketball, despite the injury bug that stuck with the team the entire season. Before injuries really started piling up, the Bulls were in contention to win the Central division, but dropped off after the All Star break. Hinrich, one of the leagues' best on-ball defenders, couldn't seem to stay on the court for more than a week straight, which severely hurt the flow of the Bulls' 29th ranked offense. At times, the Bulls' offense would run as a well-oiled machine does, smooth and efficient. However, at other times, the players didn't seem to know how to handle the ball and run a basic offensive play. The hole that Rose left in the offense was sometimes gaping, over the past 4 seasons, the offense had been built around and for Rose, and without him, they struggled to score. While Rose is also essential to the defense, the Bulls still managed to be ranked 3rd overall in the regular season. Joakim Noah, who recently was named to the All-NBA Defense 1st Team, was the anchor of their ruthless defense, leading the team in rebounds, blocks and steals. His almost annual flare up of plantar fasciitis in the last stretch of the season hurt the overall defense and the dominant presence in the lane. He wasn't even sure if would be able to play in the playoffs, when in fact he ended up being the 2nd most important player (behind Nate Robinson) to the Bulls impressive playoff run. Noah and Luol Deng, (both All Stars this season) were the glue that held the team together. Deng led the league in minutes per game, again, and night in and night out would play to his greatest potential. Deng is essentially the glue for the entire team, and has proved to be very valuable, as he was missed in the series against the Heat.While the players are the ones who have to play and execute the plays, it all starts with the mastermind on the bench, Tom Thibodeau. A top 3 coach in the NBA, he was behind the Celtics dominate defense before being hired by Chicago. Throughout the entire season, he assured reporters, players and fans that the team had "more than enough to win", and would inject a raging level of intensity into his players. No matter how big of an underdog they were, or how much they were losing by, this team would fight until the final buzzer. He would get every last ounce of energy out of his players and maximize their production in the minutes that they played. The large number of injuries also allowed many unproven players to prove themselves, most notably second year man Jimmy Butler, who proved to be another elite defender and also showed a much improved offensive game. He filled in well for Deng, Noah and Boozer throughout the season. He seems to be the Bulls' 2 guard of the future, a position that has desperately needed filling since Rose joined the team. The emergence of Butler will likely trigger trade talks, like moving Deng or Boozer, who make $13,000,000 and $15,000,000 respectively. Therefore clearing much needed salary cap room and getting a younger and cheaper body in Butler.The loss to the Miami Heat tonight was most certainly disappointing, it ended an impressiv

#1 Derrick Rose: This was pretty obvious despite Rose missing the entire season, which I am not bitter about. Once Rose returns he may not be the same player driving inside but his jump shot was really underrated before the injury and he could turn his quickness and dribbling ability into a +20ppg season when he returns, he could also add a few more assists. I definitely see Derrick Rose not only returning, but also becoming a better player all together. Will Rose be back for the 2013 - 2014 NBA season? I don't think this should even be a question honestly, but just to answer this question adequately, yes. #2 Joakim Noah: Noah is one of the most underrated star players in the league, he was once again cheated out of the defensive player of the year award and barely made the first all-defensive team. Marc Gasol is most certainly worthy of this award but without Joakim Noah the Bulls defense is deprived of all stability inside the paint, and even outside. Without Marc Gasol I don't think the Grizzlies would have as much problems with Zach Randolph and Ed Davis there. But to state the obvious, Joakim Noah is most definitely the Bulls second best player and I am a little weary of saying "second" because Noah could possibly be the best player on this team, especially after seeing what he did this year. Will Noah be back for the 2013 - 2014 NBA season? Noah is one of the most underrated centers in the league, you could possibly put him in the discussion of being in the top three best centers in the NBA. The odds of Noah being traded is very little, so will he be back? Yes. #3 Luol Deng: Deng is not the most athletic player out there, that is pretty obvious. He is a few milliseconds away from being as athletic as Dirk Nowitzki. Of course I am over exaggerating the whole athleticism thing, and Deng is still the Bulls third best player. He is one of the very few that can stay in front of Carmelo Anthony as well as LeBron James. His defensive ability and his ability to hit the 3pt shot consistently is what made Deng the sixth-highest paid SF in the National Basketball Association. Will Deng be back for the 2013 - 2014 NBA season? It wouldn't surprise me if the Bulls traded him considering he is in his contract year, although there are very few teams willing to trade for Deng. While one of them being the Bulls rival, Cleveland Cavaliers. Overall, the odds say that Deng will be back next year. #4 Carlos Boozer: This #4 spot was split between Boozer and Taj; Taj would have been my decision last year but Taj had taken a step back this season (I will explain in #5). Boozer has impressed me, Boozer finally stepped up in the playoffs and did not disappear when the Bulls needed him the most. Unfortunately he decided to step up during a season that was supposed to be a scrub of a year (technically speaking). But just to mention, Boozer still makes those little idiotic mistakes that could possibly cost them the game. Will Boozer be back for the 2013 - 2014 NBA season? Most likely, the only way Boozer would not return is if the Bulls had the hots for a certain player in free agency and decided to either amnesty him or trade him for a cheaper player or 2nd round pick to a team with some extra cap space. His offense and durability alone will be enough to entice teams. #5 Taj Gibson: Like I said in Boozer's paragraph, Taj took a pretty big step back this season. Taj really shined with a fresh seven footer playing next to him last year. Asik has obviously showed what type of player he is over in Houston and showed what he can do for the rest of his team. With the next best option being Nazr, Taj will not be the same player as before. Especially since the only other options are playing next to a tired Joakim Noah, a inefficient-Boozer and a creepy PF that stays behind the arc 90% of the time. Sorry Taj, I hope the Bulls front office can find you another buddy this off-season. Will Taj be back for the 2013 - 2014 NBA se

November 17, 2012; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Chicago Bulls small forward Luol Deng (9) shoots a basket against the Los Angeles Clippers during the first half at Staples Center. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports Coming into the 2012-13 season, Luol Deng showed his endurance by standing by his decision to not undergo surgery on his left wrist. Despite that choice, he showed he could still be efficient and handle heavy minutes. For the second season in a row, Deng led the league in minutes played per game at 38.7. Coach Tom Thibodeau went with Deng for as long as he could because he continued to be consistent and reliable on both ends of the court. With averages of 16.3 points (team high), 6.3 rebounds, 3.0 assists, and 1.1 steals for the regular season, it’s no wonder why Deng would be relied on so heavily. Not to mention that he also remained one of the team’s best defenders. Honestly, there is not much to say of Deng. He did exactly what was expected of him and was voted as a reserve on the Eastern Conference All-Star team for the second year in a row. Along with that, Deng also acted as a good mentor for the up and coming Jimmy Butler. And because of Butler’s breakout season, Deng’s play may have been overlooked. This is not to say that Deng did not perform well, but he had his flaws. For one, Deng’s field goal percentage was 42.6%. While it is not a horrible number, it certainly could be better, especially for Deng. Though, it is likely that this could have been as a result of never undergoing surgery on his wrist. Last season, his field goal percentage was 41.2%, which is understandable with the wrist injury. But with all of the time that has passed, it appears that Deng’s shooting has not been able to improve too much. Apr 25, 2013; Chicago, IL, USA; Chicago Bulls small forward Luol Deng (9) dribbles the ball against Brooklyn Nets small forward Gerald Wallace (45) in the second half during game three of the first round of the 2013 NBA playoffs at the United Center. Chicago defeats Brooklyn 79-76. Mandatory Credit: Mike DiNovo-USA TODAY Sports During the playoffs, Deng’s field goal percentage took even more of a hit. In the five games, he shot 38.1% but still managed to average 13.8 points. On the bright side, he averaged 7.6 rebounds (second best on the team), 3.8 assists, 1.0 steal, and made Brooklyn’s Gerald Wallace work on the defensive end. Deng continued to show that he knows how make an impact and do whatever is necessary to help his team win. Sadly, Deng was only able to play in five playoff games because of spinal meningitis. Initially, Deng was out due to flu-like symptoms. It was then discovered that he went to the hospital to undergo a spinal tap to test for spinal meningitis, suffered complications, and ended up in the emergency room for an extended period of time. As a result, he lost 15 pounds and was never able to do much activity at all. However, Deng made sure to support his fellow teammates even while in the hospital. So proud of my team man, this bed might be good luck after all. #SeeRed #Holdat instagram.com/p/Y_kt7YmvOM/ — Luol Deng (@LuolDeng9) May 7, 2013 Deng posted the tweet after the Bulls’ win to open the Eastern Conference semifinals against the Miami Heat. Unfortunately, they were unable to achieve anymore wins following that. It is just too bad Chicago was not able to have Deng suit up and play for them. Even with the decrease in points, Deng’s presence surely would have been beneficial, as he has continually proved to be an efficient, reliable player. Final Grade: A-

root against everyone (actually I found myself rooting for the Pacers fairly easily in game 1...) root against everyone (actually I found myself rooting for the Pacers fairly easily in game 1...)

CHICAGO -- If there's one figure floating around Gar Forman's head these days, it must be $20 million. That's the amount of money under the salary cap the Bulls will have to spend next summer when the contracts of Luol Deng and Kirk Hinrich come off the books and the amnesty tag is likely used on Carlos Boozer. That's the rough estimate that salary-cap guru Larry Coon has come up with given the Bulls already have a little over $42 million tied up in Derrick Rose, Joakim Noah, Taj Gibson, Jimmy Butler and Marquis Teague and the figure for the cap is expected to be around $62 million.

Nick Friedell looks at each player on the Chicago Bulls roster and how they fit in for the future. Nazr Mohammed 2012-13 salary: $854,389,00 | Age: 35 | Season stats: 2.6 ppg, 3.1 rpg Season recap: Mohammed rarely played in the first three months of the season but managed to provide some minutes for Tom Thibodeau with some solid play down the stretch and into the postseason. Season highlight: Numbers-wise, Mohammed had a solid game on April 12 in a loss to the Toronto Raptors, scoring 16 points with 13 rebounds.

CHICAGO -- Chicago Bulls forward Luol Deng will not have surgery to repair a torn ligament in his left wrist this summer, according to a league source. Deng, who originally tore the ligament in a game on Jan. 21, 2012, against the Charlotte Bobcats, decided against having the surgery back then so that he could continue helping the Bulls push towards the playoffs. He decided against having the surgery after last season because he wanted to play for Team Great Britain in the London Olympics.