Dynasty in the Making?

Okay, first of all, to any remaining Cleveland fans who just saw the title, I'm not talking about THAT team, so feel free to continue reading. Anyways, one of the reasons the NBA has achieved such increased popularity over the past couple of years is the rise of high market teams/historic powerhouses. The rise of the Celtics-Lakers rivalry led to two of the most watched NBA Finals in recent memory. Now, in the biggest free agency period of NBA history, the Chicago Bulls pieced together the makings of a championship caliber team. Since winning their last championship in 1998, Chicago has struggled to build an identity for the "Post MJ" era. They have been mediocre as of late, having posted only one winning record in the past 5 years, although they slipped into the playoffs back to back years with 41-41 records, largely due to how weak the Eastern Conference has been. However, the Bulls have a solid young core built around PG Derrick Rose and C Joakim Noah. Even better, the front office is obviously full of Mack Is Berning fans, judging by the fact that they signed three former Utah Jazz players. With this squad, look for Chi-Town to be an immediate contender for not only the East, but the whole NBA.

Every night, the action on both offence and defense begins with the point guard, and Chicago has one of the best in the league in Derrick Rose. D-Rose averaged 20 and 6 last year, but more importantly, elevated his game to 26 and 7 during the postseason. Although Boozer will probably be the best player on the team next year, Rose will be the most important. One sign of this is that the Bulls have yet to address the need of a backup for him. While big names such as Derek Fisher, Raymond Felton, and Jordan Farmar have been snatched up, Chicago has yet to make a move here. Top remaining free agents at the position include Rafer Alston, Earl Watson, and Travis Diener, and they still have the option of bringing back veteran Jannero Pargo or former draft bust Acie Law. My guess is that Law, who is still young, will be retained, and Diener will be signed. Either way, not much is needed as long as Rose continues to average nearly 40 minutes per game.

If you look at the the different NBA champions over the years, you will notice one thing that each of them have in common: an elite physical presence down low. You can say what you want about Kobe, but he doesn't have any rings without the help of Shaq or Pau. The Spurs dynasty for the better part of the decade was led by one of the greatest big men of all time in Tim Duncan, and Garnett and Wallace also have won rings recently. Needless to say, Boozer has the capability to not only match up with, but outperform any other PF in the league. He will be apart of one of the best frontcourts in the league alongside Joakim Noah, who led the team in rebounds and blocks last season. Like Rose, Noah's numbers also increased during the playoffs, and he has experience winning from college, which is always an underrated stat. While they are a bit undersized (6'9 and 6'11), Boozer and Noah will at least be able to hang with anyone else in the league.

Now for the whole reason you're reading this article: Kyle Korver. In the biggest mistake of Jerry Sloan's career, he let the greatest pure shooter in NBA history walk away after setting the single season 3 Point % record. The Bulls were quick to snatch him up, mainly because they needed that high-energy white guard to help take the step from good to elite. Now, I'm not going to say that Korver will be the best player in Bulls history, but by the time he retires, there will be a #26 right up there in between MJ's #23 and Scottie's #33. Killer Korver drained an unrealistic 54% of his shots from behind the arc last season, and made a huge appearance in Game 3 against LA with 23 points and a perfect 5 for 5 with his treys. He will be a great fit in a Chicago offense that will let him shoot more than Utah did, and he will be a great outlet to prevent teams from keying on Rose and Boozer exclusively. Bottomline: look for the lethal-shooting Ashton-Kutcher look-alike from Creighton to make an impact in Chicago, and hey, maybe even break his own NBA record. Anyways, I know what jersey I'm wearing for intramural basketball this year. Here's to another Bulls-Jazz Finals next year. I'll be rooting for it.