Healthy basketball, starting from eating the old Lakers F4

The current situation of the Bulls is a bit like the last dance of Jordan and his group in the 97-98 season.

Of course, there are still obvious differences between the two.

In the 97-98 season, the Bulls' main conflicts came from within, but this season the Bulls were still affected by external factors.

Without the league's suppression, the Bulls can continue as they did in previous seasons.

While maintaining the competitiveness of the core lineup, we will also train young players and continue to use the rookie bonus to improve the overall strength of the team.

It is precisely because the Bulls have been treated unfairly, coupled with the fact that the team lineup has not been well-coordinated, that the Bulls' record at the beginning of the season was not ideal.

时间来到11月底，公牛6胜7负，胜率不足50%！东部排名暂时排在第9位！
For a three-time defending champion that has not broken up its core lineup, this situation is naturally incredible.

The core lineup has not changed. Although there have been some losses of main players, the bench lineup has not become weaker. Instead, the rookies have become stronger through the training and baptism of the finals, coupled with hard training in the summer.

Normally, the Bulls this season are stronger than last season.

A championship-level team still has the strength to make the playoffs even if it is restricted by the league.

It is obvious that Duane, Curry, and Horford have adapted to the new standards of penalty judging and game rhythm, and the Bulls can rely on their core lineup to win.

But it just so happened that all this happened at the beginning of the season, when the Bulls had not yet fully integrated their new lineup.

In a hurry, the Bulls were not prepared to win in adversity.

But as time went on, the Bulls won a few games thanks to the performance of Duane and Curry, but they lost more often than not.

You know, the Bulls are not a bad team, but a championship team that wants to continue their three consecutive championships.

When a championship-contending team encounters this situation, the core players are not affected too much, but what about the substitutes and marginal players of the team?
Naturally, after losing too many games, they will lose their fighting spirit, become gradually lazy, and start to just muddle through.

It has to be said that if any team wants to achieve results, the team atmosphere must be good.

A team like the Bulls, which suffers a blow and whose morale suddenly becomes low, can easily get worse and worse.

The resulting impact was that the Bulls only needed 10 to 15 games to develop a starting lineup that could effectively win games.

Now, if we want to restore our combat effectiveness, we need to spend more time, at least twenty or thirty games.

But time waits for no one!

In addition, the other 29 teams in the league will also beat the Bulls because of envy and jealousy in recent years.

It is also because the Bulls cannot unite as a team as before in a short period of time.

The Bulls management had to step in and make some moves to recruit players and strengthen the team.

Rookies have the advantages of rookies, and veterans have the advantages of veterans.

Some famous coaches in the league like to use experienced veterans.

The team will often play more smoothly and cooperate more tacitly because of the veterans' rich game experience, thus forming a better winning atmosphere, helping the team win more games and making the team play better and better.

Previously, the Bulls did not care about veterans from other teams. On the one hand, it was because the Bulls were regarded as the big boss by the entire league, and other teams would not easily trade veterans to give the Bulls a bargain and help the Bulls win the championship.

The Bulls also don't want to take a large number of potential rookies and lose a lot of money to get some veterans who can only play for one or two years.

However, now the Bulls management has reached the point where they must break down before they can build up.

Everyone knows that if the Bulls want to integrate their lineup and get back into the playoffs in a short period of time, they will have to spend more energy and effort.

The best way is to trade for veterans with good combat effectiveness and rich competition experience from other teams.

In other words, if the Bulls don't want to give up, they will be robbed by other teams.

Fortunately, the Bulls have a lot of chips in their hands! Not only the current Bulls rookies, but also the draft picks in the next few years can be traded.

This also means that the Bulls have a lot of room to select veterans.

If other teams want to take advantage of the situation, they must take the initiative to show their sincerity. Of course, the Bulls' future draft picks are not worth much.

All other teams in the league know that the Bulls can still make the playoffs this season.

Therefore, it is better to win in the present than to look to the future.

When the Bulls management selected some veterans and asked other teams for prices, the rookies in the Bulls were also targeted by other teams.

Not long after, Josh Richardson, Bojan, Rooney, and VanVleet were knocked unconscious by the Bulls and sent to the plane.

Josh Richardson is capable, and some of the league's bad teams that lack shooting guards are interested in signing him.

In the end, the Bulls traded with the Jazz for Thabo Sefolosha, the former second-defense shooting guard.

Today, Thabo Sefolosha's defensive level, although due to the decline in physical fitness, is not as good as the defenders with fast footsteps.

But he can also rely on his excellent long arms and the defensive experience accumulated over the years to provide the Bulls with some help on perimeter defense.

In addition, Thabo Sefolosha's three-point shooting is also above the league average.

After joining the Bulls, he will not take away the Bulls' space.

The facts are indeed as the Bulls management expected. After the Bulls traded Josh Richardson and a second-round pick for Thabo Sefolosha, Thabo Sefolosha quickly integrated into the team.

And he can rely on his rich game experience to cooperate with the team's main players to implement some tactics.

On the surface, the Bulls' trade for Thabo Sefolosha was a huge loss.

However, the Bulls management does not think so.

Josh Richardson has been restless on the Bulls this season.

The help he can bring to the team on the court is also limited. Sometimes, he drags down the team just for his own selfish stats and to get the next bigger contract.

Consider again, when Josh Richardson's rookie contract expires, the Bulls will not renew his contract with Josh Richardson, but will let him go for nothing.

So instead of getting nothing, the Bulls might as well make a substitution in advance for a veteran who can play and is willing to work with the Bulls' core players to compete for the championship.

Thabo Sefolosha has never received a big contract in his life, so naturally he has no illusions about the future.

Why not be able to be traded to the Bulls and strive to get a championship ring of his own?

In early December, before the Bulls management completed the recruitment work, the reinforcements selected by the Bulls management were basically the same as Thabo Sefolosha.

Kyle Korver, Shaun Livingston, Jonas Jerebko.

The Bulls basically got a rookie, a first-round or second-round pick, and some cash in exchange for rotation players who can help the team.

From the perspective of other teams, the Bulls are the losers in these transactions.

But after more than a week of running-in, the Bulls began to become full of vitality and everything was flourishing.

Before the Christmas game, the Bulls relied on a five-game winning streak to rush to the seventh place in the Eastern Conference.

Although it will take a lot of effort to return to the top of the Eastern Conference.

But everyone knows that the Bulls are definitely making a profit by trading a rookie's expiring contract and future draft picks for a veteran who can help the team out of trouble.

You can make a lot of money, but I will never lose money.

Although the Bulls lost millions of cash in several transactions, as the Bulls' record improved rapidly, the price of Bulls tickets saw another wave of increases.

If you ignore the loss of future draft picks, the Bulls will definitely make a profit after completing the deal.

Regarding the current situation of the Bulls, some basketball commentators joked: "Through the trade, the Chicago Bulls finally got rid of the dilemma of having old people above and young people below."

"Duane's way of leading the team is different! In the past, the Bulls' star players would be traded, and now it's the rookies' turn!" (End of this chapter)