Chicago Bulls: 2016 Offseason Grades

The End Of An Era

When the Chicago Bulls first stumbled into the No. 1 pick in the 2007 NBA Draft, they selected Derrick Rose to be the first great superstar since Jordan to lead the Windy City to an NBA championship.

Nine years later, the Derrick Rose era — and every hope, dream and title aspiration that came with it — is over in Chicago. In a stunning but perfectly sensible move, the Bulls traded the former face of their franchise (plus Justin Holiday and a 2017 second round pick) to the New York Knicks for Robin Lopez, Jose Calderon, Jerian Grant and a pile of what-ifs.

Back in 2011, Rose was finishing up his MVP season, averaging 25.0 points, 7.7 assists and 4.0 rebounds per game and leading the Bulls to an NBA-best 62-20 record. For the Windy City, it was “Rose before hoes.”

At the time, it seemed ludicrous that Chicago would ever consider trading their hometown hero, let alone for a package centered around Robin Lopez and an unproven second-year guard.

But after so many debilitating injuries, his controversial comments about looking ahead to his 2017 free agency and his unstable fit with Jimmy Butler in the backcourt, Rose’s value was a shell of its former self.

This past season, Rose stayed the healthiest he’s been since his ACL tear at the start of the 2012 NBA Playoffs, but his production was inconsistent. Though Rose showed flashes of his former MVP self, for the most part he was merely average, posting 16.4 points, 4.7 assists and 3.4 rebounds per game on .427/.293/.793 shooting splits in 68 appearances.

With Rose looking to make major money next summer and the Bulls wisely unwilling to surrender it out of pure nostalgia, it was time to finally move on to the Jimmy Butler era.

This trade accomplished that, even though it may be understandably hard for the Rose diehards to accept. An era that began with promises of bringing a championship back to the Windy City is over, and it’s impossible not to think about what might have been if not for all those injuries.

A haul of Lopez, Grant, Calderon and a future second-rounder was hardly sexy, but it did position the Bulls relatively well what most assumed would be an inevitable rebuild around Jimmy Buckets.

Lopez is signed on for the next three seasons at a manageable $13.8 million average salary, he’s a serviceable starting center and at this point in his career, he’s probably a more useful player than Rose.

With Joakim Noah and Pau Gasol gone in free agency, adding RoLo to the roster gave the Bulls stability and defense at the starting center spot.

Grant was unimpressive during his rookie season in New York, averaging 5.6 points and 2.3 assists in 16.6 minutes per game. But he didn’t get nearly enough run time on a team that should’ve been starting him over Calderon when it quickly became clear the playoffs weren’t happening, so Grant still has plenty of room for growth.

Calderon was a non-essential piece before the team signed Rajon Rondo, and he was quickly jettisoned in a trade with the Los Angeles Lakers when Dwyane Wade became a realistic possibility.

Moving on from the Derrick Rose era will be an emotional experience for many Chicago fans, and even those who recognize his all-time low value will have a hard time not reflecting on what might have been and the series of unfortunate events that led us to this end.

But from a purely logical standpoint, this trade for decent players on manageable/cheap/expiring contracts was a smart one for the Bulls.

Grade: B-

Next: The Draft