Shutting Down the Engine That Could

I recently read somewhere (fanhouse.com?) that Bonzi Wells is an unrestricted free agent at the moment. Add to that the fact that there's an impasse with Ben Gordon, along with the fact that the Bulls have a bunch of intriguing parts with no real identity.

Well a bunch of intriguing parts with no real identity also described the Bulls of the Eddie Robinson era.

The Bulls need to make a decision and affimatively choose what their identity will be; not cobble together a bunch of parts that clearly didn't match well chemistry-wise last season, and hope that a rookie PG and a rookie coach can energize everyone. That's not fair to Rose (or VDN for that matter).

So how should the Bulls establish their new identity?

Well, the best teams in the league have proven that you can go deep into the playoffs with 3 stars. And it's not just the Celtics. The Spurs, the Suns (prior to this year), the emerging Magic, the Lakers, the Warriors two seasons ago, the Mavs.

Everywhere you look, it's the tripod approach. You could even argue that the Pistons, the supposed example of no-stars-all-teamwork, got by primarily on the talent of Rip, Rasheed and Billups.

So then the next questions are, who to get rid of and who to keep. I believe that the Bulls should start shedding payroll massively. This means getting rid of Hinrich, and Noc, two guys who most personify the Little Engine That Could team that made it so far two seasons ago. By shedding the salaries of Noc and Hinrich, even if they get pennies on the dollar in return, the Bulls would theoretically free up enough to sign Gordon. Then they can throw a little money at Bonzi Wells and save the rest for upcoming free agents/extensions. (Capologists, please jump in, as I admit that I'm not one.)

You need a tall SG? Start Bonzi. You need scoring punch or a closer? Bring in Ben Gordon, the world's highest paid 6th man. Justify it by emphasizing that he's a closer. And, heck, give him about 15+ starts each season to keep other teams honest. (Or more to feed his ego a little.)

But won't Bonzi have a bad attitude? I tend to think he'd be grateful to join a young team on the rise after the horrible few years he's been through.

And of course, take away Larry Hughes' entitlement minutes. You don't even have to trade the guy, just tell him his minutes are going to take a back seat to Wells'.

Thabo backs up primarily the 3, but can also back up the 1 or 2 as needed. Or you can trade him.

This team won't get us to the conference finals right away, but that is exactly the point. According to this approach, we declare that the three stars are Deng, Rose and Gordon. If they lose a little in the beginning, so what? Let them lose together before they figure it out and start dominating. And by the way, I do believe that when surrounded by jump-shooting weapons such as Deng and Gordon, Rose will find a way to dominate. And for the record, I don't feel Kirk and Noc fit well with Rose, Reinsdorf's favoritism be damned.

This will also give us a chance to see what Tyrus has. Noah has shown some consistency, but no one is exactly waiting for him to build the arsenal of offensive weapons, as his specialty is more along the lines of put-backs and being an energy player. But the real question concerns Tyrus, who has shown flashes of offensive potential. Is he Michael Turner or is he Cedric Benson? Give the man his minutes and let us find out! If the Bulls end up horrible at the 4 and 5 spots and they end up missing the playoffs, then fine. Draft yet another big, and in the meantime, look (again) at free agents.

We've got time; Rose is going to be, what, 20 years old to start the season? Meanwhile, Hinrich and Noc are starting to show some age. By trading them, the team gets younger, meaning more time to grow together while maintaining continuity.

The key here is letting Rose develop, and letting him develop the identity of the team. The Little Engine That Could had a great run, but it just ran out of steam.