Chicago Bulls must choose between Dwyane Wade or the young guns
The Chicago Bulls are at crux. Gar Forman declared the behavior of Jimmy Butler and Dwyane Wade, calling out teammates, unacceptable. Same with Rajon Rondo’s reaction. But even though all three Alphas might have been fined, who stays and who goes?
Chicago Tribune reporter K.C. Johnson nailed it on the head saying the team is torn no matter what direction management goes moving forward. Given this situation and reports of teams calling on Chicago inquiring on the availability of Butler, what happens will occur around the All-Star Break as Bulls management reportedly deferred to take any calls prior.
Rondo seems to be in the clear for the moment as intimated by K.C. Johnson prior to the Miami game. Seems like no celebrity babysitting for Forman or general manager John Paxson. And that does show some scruples in favor of the young guys being disparaged by Butler and Wade.
All three voiced opinions not regretting what they said and indicating that they’ll be moving on.
What’s at stake for the team now, is if one side gets the nod moving forward to be the core of the team or the ones moving out for other Bulls pieces.
Wade and Butler were revealed by Rondo to be riding the coach to favor them and change what he was running. We’ve seen strange roster changes and it would explain why Rondo was benched, then Michael Carter-Williams was benched after starting 12 games. Why Bobby Portis was given big minutes early in the season ahead of Cristiano Felicio. And why Jerian Grant suddenly became a starter after a falling out with Carter-Williams.
It will also explain why two scorers, Doug McDermott and Nikola Mirotic, are being rationed less than eight shot attempts a game and then branded as “inconsistent” right when the two Marquette Alphas are getting 16 to 20 shot attempts or 30 plus combined a game to get their production going.
In the Atlanta game, where both Marquette players score a combined 60 points and lose the game, they blame Nikola Mirotic indirectly for missing a crucial 3-point shot. But Butler missed 3 out of 4 in the final 59 seconds of that game, one was a blocked 3-pointer, a forced shot. In the Miami game, the two Alphas played uninspired basketball and each played more than 30 minutes each despite not starting. Butler says he wants to play with teammates who care enough to win but played a lackluster game against Miami.
Only Rajon Rondo played well, scoring 13 points, seven assists and seven rebounds plus three steals.
GarPax will be waiting and watching right up to the All-Star break before deciding what player moves to make. Do GarPax choose prima donna All-Star production? Or do they stick with the workman potential with high upside of a young team waiting to break out and just fill in pieces that make the young guys play better?
The Marquette Brothers and the Players’ Coach
Everyone is saying Butler is the All-Star stud that keeps the Bulls in the running. Same with Wade. Last year, everyone was saying build around Jimmy and watch the Bulls soar.
After reading the Instagram retort from Rondo, it looks like Fred Hoiberg may have over time slowly changed the pace-and-space plans, from a run-and-gun team to one that suits the pace of their All-Star, Jimmy.
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One by one we would see Mirotic to Rondo, then even Carter-Williams being faulted: A freeze out of players getting shots, all looking like Butler’s influence on the coaching staff. Hoiberg is a players coach dealing for the first time with an ego that is getting bigger every game-Jimmy.
Changing his game plan to suit the All-Star, explaining why the substitution pattern is also too similar to Thibodeau’s old six minute changeovers each quarter.
If the Bulls bench can’t be counted on by Jimmy to help him win, who else does he want playing with him? He had Pau Gasol exclusively playing a two-man game last year. This year, the scoring load falls on either him or on Wade.
If there are scraps left, they pass to the bench players. Check out the shots taken per game and the disproportionate number does reflect chemistry that does not work. Whether that is intentional or not is for everyone to figure out when they watch the games unfold. Hoiball is supposed to be a share-the-ball system of reading the defense and spring out the best scorer.
There is no doubt that Wade and Butler are formidable players in their own right and can carry an NBA team to playoff contention.
If Forman and Paxson decide to stick with the “Marquette brothers,” they will be losing all the hard work done, drafting carefully and getting the best offensive system players on the squad. Does Hoiberg continue to do what Jimmy likes? Will Paxson allow a headcase on the team? Rondo does deliver on his game, but he needs to play longer with the young shooters for their game to break out. Time to choose which players get more minutes and shots.
Do the Bulls really want monolithic role players for their future helping Butler gain all the accolades or do the Bulls want to see if their sleeper second team can do better than Jimmy and Wade as the core for a two-year window run to the NBA championships?
Rajon Rondo and the Young Bulls
Rondo mentioned in his tweet that the young guys work. Then they get the blame when games are lost. But Rondo has proven and tested his younger teammates, passing to them when they are open to make outside shots in rhythm. From Portis to Denzel Valentine, to the main guns of the second unit, McDermott and Mirotic, Rajon knows when to thread a pass to a cutting Dougie or Nikola. And they do score like the touted scorers that they are.
In contrast, whenever Doug or Nikola are open for a clear look, Wade still goes into the paint for his points, and same with Butler.
Rarely do those two feed a shooter to get him going. That doesn’t help the offense go.
In spite of his Instagram post, Rondo was just watching out for all the Bulls bench players getting caught in the web where Wade and Butler are riding the coach to get the sets favoring them instead of Hoiberg running what he did in the first three games of the season, blowing out weak teams.
It is an issue of whether the team continues to run ISO ball for its All-Star veterans or do Hoiberg and Forman hand the future of the team to McDermott and the young guys, with big brother Rondo helping them get up to speed like he learned in Boston and how he played in Sacramento with Boogie and friends.
The question Chicago fans should ask is what team they will get after the All-Star break, the stretch of time Forman may be giving Jimmy and Dwyane to get it together or to be playing where their attitude and playing style works for them since both have not shown remorse in their statements. Do they move on and help the team or do they keep playing ISO to get big numbers?
Jimmy and Wade may have too much say in the system and when they both get embarrassed by the preferential treatment not working to win games consistently, they throw tantrums on social media. Thank God for Rondo then. Bad teammates are not going to win any ring. Just fat stats and may be an All-Star berth.
