Chicago Bulls = The Leagues Newest Treadmill Team?

[kingkirk]

There is so much wrong with the OP that i don't know where to begin.

How are we a treadmill team? Because we are going to have 2 seasons in a row with 45-50 wins? We're doing that with Rose missing 2 seasons!

If he was playing, different story.

Before that, we had the best record in the league in consecutive seasons. How is that tread milling?

What shoudl we have done? Tank last season and end up with Anthony Bennett, Otto Porter, Cody Zeller or Alex Len?

Barf.

[Krausenator]

im making an observation from a MANAGEMENT/OWNERSHIP perspective...

Is this a serious question?

Uncle Jerry has lucrative profit hemorrhoids every season.

[Keller61]

Do you seriously believe that the Bulls haven't been trying to win a championship? That's ridiculous. They truly believed that with a healthy Rose this team would be a contender. It was absolutely worth keeping the team together. Why would you break up a team that had the best record in the NBA for 2 straight seasons? It is much more difficult to rebuild a contending team from scratch than it would be to simply reinsert Rose into the team after what was thought to be (and hopefully will still be) a temporary absence.

Furthermore, the last two seasons of winning and competing have been great for the development of the players. Guys like Noah, Gibson, and Butler are now much better and more confident players than they probably would have been if the Bulls had tanked.

[kulaz3000]

Basically the front office wanted to tank, The team was too good to do badly, end of story.

I can see how casual basketball fans can look at the Bulls and have this point of view but they would all be wrong. They let Deng go because he was going to demand a lot more than he is worth during the off season. With the current CBA, have one or two over-paid players is one thing, but having any more can cripple any flexibility you have with your team moving forward, the Bulls did not want to be in that position.

If the Bulls brass truly wanted to tank the season away, they would have continued trading away player soon after trading away Deng, but they held firm. Lets be real, it didn't have to take trading away players like Noah or even Gibson, the Bulls front office could of totally taken the legs out of the team by trading away players such as MDJ and Kirk, and yet, they didn't and added players like DJ Augustin to the mix, that is not tanking.

Do the Bulls seem like a treadmill team? Perhaps, but lets not also forget, I don't think the Bulls 'planned' for their franchise players to be sidelined for 2 seasons straight, had he not, would the team still be a 'treadmill' team? Under the circumstances, yes, they could be considered as such, but they've dealt with some bad luck over the years with crippling injuries, and yet, they continued to defy the odds and outplay their meager expectations season after season.

If the Bulls are considered a 'treadmill' team, I'd bet plenty of team owners, and fans alike would love to replicate the Bulls.

[IbankingBoiler]

bulls were terrible at the start of that decade but have been pretty good last 4-5 seasons. what is your definition of a treadmill team? only 7 teams have won it all last 17 years or so. so are all other 20+ teams "treadmill team"?

Just because the Bulls don't feel like tanking and actually like to play hard doesn't mean they are a treadmill team. They are an injured and depleted team. another solid scorer and an 80% rose would push them to the 2nd best team in the east with a "chance" of testing the heat. They lost rose, traded deng and still nearly 3rd seed(granted east is bad) Treadmil is perennial 5-8th seeds with multiple 1st round exits.

Do you think of the Hawks as a treadmill team? The Bulls in the past decade have exactly one extra playoff series win than the Hawks(4 vs. 3). Neither have made the finals. And no one ever thought the Hawks were more than a treadmill team with the good luck of being in the East.

[I beg to differ]

Chicago Bulls = The Leagues Newest Treadmill Team?

No.

[TheGameChanger]

The Bulls next season
In
Derrick Rose (Top 5 Player in the League if Healthy)
Nikola Mirotic (Best Player Outside of the NBA. Heard he would be a top 3 draft pick this draft if he Entered)
2 1st Round Draft Picks

Out
Carlos Boozer

[Hijinks]

i wouldnt put the bulls in the category of bucks or hawks in previous years, where they were an automatic 1st or 2nd round exit. bulls are up there and have ways to improve to contender status. that they are playing on that level without rose and deng is even more impressive.

[Froob]

Mavs won one and nearly another. How many championships were they suppose to win?

[QRich3]

1/3rd of your examples of a 'treadmill team' literally won the nba championship

And another third got to the finals twice

I don't think a lot of people here realise how hard it is to win an NBA championship, even if you assemble the prefect roster. I mean OKC basically did the perfect tank, they had the perfect storm of luck, doing everything right, nailing every pick and stumbling into the perfect franchise player. And yet still it's likely they never win a championship. Are y'all gonna consider them another treadmill team if they don't? wouldn't that invalidate the whole destroy and rebuild theory?

The Bulls are one of the best situated teams in the league to win a championship in the near future. They have the perfect coach and system in place, solid young rotational pieces, a good culture, a young superstar and a million assets to trade for another. They just need a little luck and some health to get the offensive talent they're lacking. But that could all change if suddenly Rose comes back to MVP level, or if they sign Melo, or if they can trade for Love, or something else we can't even imagine at the moment. If they start another rebuild, it's highly unlikely they are able to get back to the situation they're in right now, even if they get a few high draft picks.

[sisibilio]

the bulls were actively terrible a decade ago, built up to pretty good, fell apart, won the lottery, built up to being a legitimate contender, and then had two years where their superstar was injured

but yeah, all that time they've been consistently mediocre. the definition of a treadmill team!

Those babyBulls you can argue were a treadmill team, not the current team.

[jc23]

Spoiler:

As direct and concise as one can be, have the Chicago Bulls become the NBA's newest treadmill team? What seemed to have lasted for a decade, teams like the New Jersey Nets, Dallas Mavericks (with one obvious exception), and the Atlanta Hawks just seemed to be absolutely content with making post season appearances and having ABSOLUTELY nothing to show for it. It was a damn near lock for these teams to make the playoffs and similarly guaranteed that theyd be one and done (or 2nd a done with an easy draw). Its funny because the brain trusts of these teams seemed relatively content with such a pointless, yet vicious cycle.

You can obviously go on to say that of these teams, the MAVs did their best to contend - being tied to literally every big name out there whether it was through trade or FA. With this in mind, I chose to examine the chicago bulls as the new age treamill team. Theyre not bad enough to draft in the lottery yet we both know that its laughable to think that theyd win the whole thing with the nucleus they have right now. Although Derrick Roses injury has been the primary cause for this wheel spinning of sorts - it is virtually no guarantee that theyd regain the shape and form of the regular season leading bulls of times past.

Seriously, I dont understand what the heck the bulls braintrust is thinking. ARe they just trying to bide their time until rose come backs as a means of delaying the inevitable? in all honesty, they should have cleaned house last year, let rose recover, and when he comes back reload via free agency/with the high draft pick they would have had.

I can already see the posts coming in saying " why would the bulls want to suck....theyre doing it for their fans." OK that may be so, but thats like literally spewing out "were not in it for the championships..." lol you gotta be kidding me.

Any takers out there with some ideas as to what the bulls should have done (maybe handled the team differently while rose was injured) or should do when rose gets back?

Your basically saying the Bulls should be laughed at for being consistent under numerous player injuries, mainly their sole superstar. I think thats ridiculous, same goes for the and1's.

Here is the bottomline, If you remove the injury factor out of the equation then Chicago is a title contender each of the last 4 seasons (including this one). If they knew Rose would never play again (for example) i think they would trade Noah, Taj etc...for picks. Or possibly a younger superstar, but you get my point.

So to you either a team needs to stay in the lottery until they are a contender or be a contender to be seen as productive? If thats the case then the majority of NBA teams are failures every year in your eye's. There are only about 4-5 contending teams each year and the draft might produce 2-3 difference makers players (if your lucky). Imagine only 4 teams during the year trying to win and the rest trading and tanking their way thru the year like the sixers

Right now Chicago is doing the right thing. You cant trade Rose so you maintain the % of hope that he gets healthy again. And if he does your right back in the mix of things because of your moves to keep the team competitive.

There is also something to be gained from creating a winning atmosphere in Chicago. Melo (or any superstar) might not end up as a Bull this summer, but Chicago continuing to win no matter the situation is something players around the league respect and admire.

I think a treadmill team in the nab is a team that has no hope to get past the first or second round over the course of multiple seasons. Chicago has been that, but not really. They have hope in Rose and assets that can put the team back to contending status over night.

Next season will be a big year to see if they start to lean towards a rebuild, if Rose was to go down again im pretty sure they become more aggressive in Noah, Taj etc...trade talks. Until then this Chicago team is **** awesome, some teams are loaded with talent like miami and you expect them to win, in Chicago they have earned the respect of a blue collar city for what they have done. From the absolute low of Rose getting hurt in Portland to where they are now has been a great ride. Blood On The Horns

[humble servant]

Just because the Bulls don't feel like tanking and actually like to play hard doesn't mean they are a treadmill team. They are an injured and depleted team. another solid scorer and an 80% rose would push them to the 2nd best team in the east with a "chance" of testing the heat. They lost rose, traded deng and still nearly 3rd seed(granted east is bad) Treadmil is perennial 5-8th seeds with multiple 1st round exits.

Good post in that I like what said before you and you. I just don't agree with treadmill the bulls are a treadmill. Treadmill is ah he stated 1 or 2 and done. Remember bulls owner treat this as a hobby with the white sox as his joy

[RatherUnique]

They are sooooooooooooo lucky that they got the Derrick Rose pick. had a 1.7% chance at the top pick. They were only 4 games out of the 8th seed.

We were supposed to see an uber-athletic backourt of Rose & prime Wade. Not sure how that would've turned out, but I would've enjoyed seeing it.

[Magilla_Gorilla]

OP might want to sit the next couple of plays out.

[Ice the knees]

I'm not sure if I know of a team that is more locked and loaded than the Bulls going forward

[tidho]

I don't think the Bulls fit the classic 'Hawks treadmill' formula. If they were healthy they'd be legitimate contenders. Teams like the Hawks never were.

I think there are a couple better examples right now in the East....but mentioning them would just start big arguments.

[Sgt P]

I do not understand how the Bulls are a treadmill team?
1. Thibs would not allow it.
2. Injuries to Rose are the only reason Bulls are not in contention for Eastern Title/Finals.
3. The FO has made moves for improvement, not their fault if some players did not quite work out exactly as they thought.

OP is far off. Remember I do not like the Bulls.

[canguy20m]

I do not understand how the Bulls are a treadmill team?
2. Injuries to Rose are the only reason Bulls are not in contention for Eastern Title/Finals..

is it really just another injury ? or something that will affect his ability to lead the team ?
If the draft turns out the next decades all stars then the Bulls would be at a disadvantage considering their core aren't really rebuilding pieces.

[durden_tyler]

I don't think the Bulls fit the classic 'Hawks treadmill' formula. If they were healthy they'd be legitimate contenders. Teams like the Hawks never were.

I think there are a couple better examples right now in the East....but mentioning them would just start big arguments.

This is true. With Rose (a healthy one), the Bulls are considered at least, an East contender.

Hawks and the likes just didn't/don't have the same chance because they have zero superstars.