A Rock and a Hard Place

Bulls’ front-office honcho Arturas Karnisovas has constructed himself a team that keeps beating the best while losing to the worst in the NBA. No easy feat that. Consider that the Bulls have two victories apiece against the Bucks, Celtics and Heat, the three conference leaders in the East. But let the Houston Rockets come to town, like they did Monday night, and it’s a case of how low can they go? Unfortunately, there are more bad teams than good ones in the NBA, which could explain the Bulls’ 15-19 record. They added their latest victory on Wednesday against the visiting Bucks. As he has since arriving here as a sign-and-trade last season, DeMar DeRozan donned his Superman cape, scoring 42 points in a 119-113 overtime win against Giannis Antetokuonmpo and Grayson “What a Punk” Allen. Enter the rock and the hard place. The Bulls are not a particularly young team or good team. At age 33, DeRozan stands out by far as the best player (shame on you, Zach LaVine). DeRozan was taken with the ninth pick in the 2009 draft. Oh, if only the Bulls had traded up to get him, rather than be satisfied with the likes of James Johnson with the number sixteen pick. Better late than never, I guess. Here's the thing. Take away DeRozan, and what do the Bulls have? LaVine? Nikola Vucevic? Trust me, no team will be beating a path to Karnisovas’ door at the trading deadline for either of those two. But how much would a contending team be willing to offer for a 33-year old forward? Right now, the Bulls are better off winning with DeRozan than going the draft-pick(s) route. Rock and a hard place, for sure.