2008-2009 Finish: 38-44

What went bad

The post-Simon Bulls continue to flounder under GM Dazman for a second year. After making the playoffs for four straight years, the Bulls finished with an even worse record this season. While Dazman promised the 07/08 season was just a fluke and the Bulls would be back to their winning ways, it seems more so now than ever before that the team is entering a rebuilding phase. But with more than half the league boasting younger rosters and with Shaquille O'Neal's monstrous contract weighing them down, the tailspin continued in the 08/09 season.

The first trade of the new season turned out well for the Bulls. They ditched salary anchor Bobby Simmons, the disappointing Joe Alexander and the useless Steven Hunter to the Bucks for sharpshooter Anthony Parker, up-and-coming big man Roy Hibbert and Shareef Abdur-Rahim. Luckily for the Bulls, Abdur-Rahim retired shortly after the deal. The balls also bounced in the Bulls favor in free agency. Players that left did not matter (Theo Ratliff, Louis Amundson) and the integral ones returned (Ricky Davis, CJ Watson). Juan Dixon was sign-and-traded to the Blazers for the equally ineffective Jason Hart. The Bulls then went out and brought in a host of useless free agents: the overpriced Ronny Turiaf, Yakhouba Diawara, Thomas Gardner, Austin Croshere, Mike Wilks. You get the picture. What happened to this franchise?

The Bulls were ready to the start season with new look. Shaq seemed fired up, Ron Artest had pulled himself out of his current depression and point guard T.J. Ford was ready to bring glory back to Chi-Town.


What went worse

Didn't happen. Davis sat out most of the season, Drew Gooden never regained his old form and the Bulls sank into the lottery again. As the season progressed the chants for the reinstatement of GM Simon began to overshadow the cheers for the players. After a useless trade that sent the injured Wilks to the Lakers for backup center Ryan Hollins, Dazman pulled the trigger on a big deal, sending Artest and Gardner to the Pistons for Gerald Wallace, Marcus Williams and a 2nd rounder. Though Wallace would bring star basketball to Chicago, it just wasn't enough. The Bulls failed to make the playoffs again and their fans turned their attention to Cubs a month early.

Stars

- Gerald Wallace, GF-

Bringing in Wallace is one of the brightest moves of Dazman's young NLL career. He is versatile and can most of the things Artest can do without any of the drama. In 37 games with the Bulls, we averaged 16.6 points on 49% shooting and brought in 5.2 boards per game. Though he is not an explosive player, he is very good and a good piece for these Bulls to build around.


- Shaquille O'Neal, C –
After missing about 1/3 of last season, the Diesel stormed back to play in 78 games and nabbing this year's Defensive Player award, not to mention first All NLL Defensive Team. Though he is pushing 40 soon, Shaq goes from goat to star, averaging 20 points, 9.6 rebounds and 3.5 blocks per game. Unfortunately, his star power was not enough to buoy the team into the playoffs.


Goat

- Drew Gooden, FC–

After a dismal 07/08 season, Bulls fans hoped Gooden would turn it around for the Bulls and play like his old self. Not a chance. He only made it onto the court for 49 games and even then he barely showed up. He took a backseat to Shaq and griped about the city the entire time. It is very unlikely Gooden will stay in Chicago and even less likely that Dazman would even want him back.

Looking to the future

The Bulls continue to stand at a crossroad as this season fades into memory. Ricky Davis, after a horrific season, opted back in to remain with the team. Dazman dealt his first round pick to the Raptors for a better starting power forward in Udonis Haslem and the potential-laden Nicolas Batum. After the bad taste of Gooden, this palette-cleanser will certainly be an improvement.

The Bulls had a pair of second rounders in the draft. They grabbed Saint Mary's sophomore Patrick Mills at 42 and power forward Chinemelu Elonu at 53. Mills may have been a reach, but the point guard was quite impressive at the Olympics. However, he is really undersized that doesn't like to dish the ball. It is unlikely he will survive a full season in the league. It is even less likely that the Nigerian Elonu makes the league at all.

The Bulls have a solid starting four out of five in Shaq, Haslem, Wallace and Ford. It is likely that Parker will get out of town, Davis is slotted to start at shooting guard. The Bulls have 10 players under contract and less than $2 million under the cap. They are stuck however. They don't really have the youthful talent needed to rebuild and not enough impact players to surround the expensive Shaq to really push into the offseason. Unless something changes, it may be another limbo season for the Bulls. With the exception of Parker and Miles, none of the departing free agents are worth retaining. For the Bulls to be successful, they are going to have to use their MLE and biannual exception wisely. No one will take on Shaq in a deal and none of the other pieces are expendable. Let's hope this time next year we're still not missing GM Simon and the success he brought to the Bulls.