Post by Chicago Bulls on Aug 8, 2010 3:32:11 GMT -5
It was only 12 years ago when the Chicago Bulls were on top of the NBA world. After defeating the Jazz 4 games to 2 to claim the NBA title, the Chicago Bulls suddenly became the leagues doormat. After throwing out guys like Chris Carr, David Kornel and Corey Benjamin to play NBA games the Bulls had hope for the Summer of 2000 when Tracy McGrady, Tim Duncan and Grant Hill were the NBA Free Agency prizes. McGrady and Hill spurned the Bulls to join the Magic and Duncan went back to San Antonio to win 3 more NBA titles. The Bulls on the other hand drafted NBA greats like Eddy Curry at number 4. Traded rising star Elton Brand for the rights to the #2 pick and selected Tyson Chandler in the year 2001. Then the next year Jerry Krause cemented his legacy when he drafted Marcus Fizer at number 4 and then Motorcycle Williams at number 2 the following year. The next year he was let go and John Paxson aka "Big Trades" came in to finally get the Bulls back on track. He did so. Drafting guys like Kirk Hinrich, Ben Gordon, obtaining Loul Deng at number 7 for a future pick and having Joakim Noah and Derrick Rose fall into his lap. One thing that haunted him was his trigger finger. The Bulls were rumored at some time or another to land NBA stars like Kevin Garnett, Pau Gasol and even Kobe Bryant. But Paxson felt Tyrus Thomas was the next rising star and held on to some of these guys while their stock was high. He did make one great move and that was to bring in an overpaid and out of prime Ben Wallace in for 4 years and 60 million. The Bulls during GarPaxs tenure in 04-09 made the playoffs 5/6 years but only advanced to the 2nd round once. Owner Jerry Reinsdorf needed to make a splash and he did just that.
The shot that will forever last in time
That brings you to our articles main focus. Reinsdorf brought in a 20 year GM named Nick fresh from New York. The NBA was stunned but Reinsdorf claimed he found his "Brain Cashman". The new GM made quick work when he signed Boozer, Brewer, Korver and traded for C.J. Watson. But the sneaky GM put a clause in Boozers contract allowing him to be dealt immediately instead of the 6 month period where he can't be dealt. Boozer didn't know this and has been reportedly bickering with staff before his first game as a Bull. The GM has fielded offers for Boozer but has received nothing to even note a second look, often getting offers for Boozer involving 9th or 10th men being key pieces. The GM has also entertained dealing stars Derrick Rose and Joakim Noah. But when he calls a certain GM and hears "I like these 2 but I won't deal so and so". He immediately hangs up the phone in disgust. A bold move for a rookie NBA GM.
"Hey I like Boozer, can I get him for a key bench player and a 2nd only because I'm feeling generous?"
In his short tenure as a Bulls GM he has already had feuds with GMs like Orlando, Miami, Memphis and Houston. Must be the water down south. Orlando's beef with the Bulls is his aggressive approach in trading. The Bulls had offered Rose and Boozer for Howard and Lewis being the key pieces. When Orlando wanted to take out everyone that mattered the Bulls GM got angry and taunted the GM which got to Orlando's head and he reported that to the NBA front office which fined the Bulls 10,000 dollars. The beef with Miami is well known around the league. Miami has a tendency to be a little needy and has bugged the Bulls about obtaining Boozer for ''studs'' like Collison and Thornton. Even Mike Miller was considered a key piece at one point. The feud with Memphis was kept under wraps until an outburst by Memphis GM lashed out at the Bulls for asking for BOTH Gay and Mayo in a deal involving Rose. God forbid the Bulls ask for 2 1 dimensional players in return for a soon to be Top 10 NBA player. The rest of the league laughed at Memphis' expense when the rumor came about. Last but not least, the quiet but quickly boiling beef with Houston has surfaced because the Bulls-Rockets had a deal in place which would have sent Boozer to the Rockets for a deal with Kevin Martin being the key piece. The Bulls nigged on the deal and Houston wasn't happy. The Rockets then dealt Martin for Zach Randolph and are now trying to get Boozer for Randolph and a 1st. Makes a lot of sense right? Anyways with all these open feuds the young GM has developed a Me against the world attitude. The Bulls GM feels he is being disrespected in his offers. The rest of the league feels like their being fair. Time will only tell how long the Bulls GM tolerates the non-sense trade offers.