Chicago Bulls Rumors - Rip Hamilton Video

Bulls rumors with Rip Hamilton are nothing new of course but this video from ESPN gives their take as Hamilton being a good fit with Rose. Lets see if the Bulls can get Rip Hamilton cheap, if so we believe he will be a worthy addition. Let us know your take on adding Hamilton to the roster, we know everybody is dreaming of Howard but Rip is a good stocking stuffer as well.

Don't call it a Comeback

Though far from a finished project, the Chicago Bulls have surged back to the upper-echelon of the NBA and resuscitated the city's bravado that's been horribly deflated since the late '90s.

Let's just hope Derrick Rose doesn't get a LeBron James-like urge to publicly ditch his hometown in favor of his superstar friends during a moronic hour-long television special.

It's Rose, after all, who's dazzled defenders and floored fans around the league en route to last weekend's All-Star game, where he became the first Bull to start the mid-season exhibition since Michael Jordan's regular appearances. The fact that Rose has practically kept Chicago in cruise control at 38-17 despite injuries to Joakim Noah and Carlos Boozer has only solidified his place among this season's MVP candidates.

Most of us understood how good Rose could become, but few of us knew the third-year dynamo would excel this quickly. Just as surprising has been the consistency - and durability - of the oft-criticized Luol Deng. While it's true he's usually the answer when fans are asked who they'd most like to see the Bulls trade, Deng has played at an All-Star level averaging career-highs in points per game and three-point percentage. More impressive, perhaps, is that Deng hasn't missed a game in spite of playing a team-high 39 minutes a game.

Most of the supporting cast has pulled its weight, too. Kurt Thomas has done an admirable job in Noah's absence, while Ronnie Brewer, C.J. Watson and Kyle Korver have been spark-plugs off the bench. Turkish rookie Omer Asik has shown promise as well, going toe-to-toe with the league's best big men without fear.

If Chicago is to be a serious threat to a Celtics-Lakers NBA Finals rematch, the Bulls will have to accumulate more victories away from the United Center, something that's been as difficult as attempting to explain the reason behind Kim Kardashian's celebrity. Then there's that question at shooting guard. Unless, general manager Gar Forman can deliver a Carmelo Anthony-type of talent, the Bulls are best off standing pat before the trade deadline with a less-than-stellar stock of players available at that position.

No matter the potential additions, the Bulls are leap years ahead of the Central Division, three games out of first-place in the Eastern Conference and legitimate title-contenders again.

The Bulls haven't had this much going for them since the NBA was still being televised on NBC. Yes! - in my Marv Albert voice.

— Drew Stevens

Should The Bulls Trade for Melo?

    Would you trade for a small forward who scores six more points per a game than your current starting small forward? Oh and throw in your starting center who is a walking double-double and a defensive presence in the paint. We're not done yet throw in a key bench player, a couple draft picks and the small forward you're trading for makes six million dollars more a season than your current starter. How many people can honestly say they would make this trade?

    If you put names to it then some Chicago Bulls fans think that this is the key to the Bulls contending for a championship this year. The big trade some Bulls fans are calling for just seems ludicrous to me. Trading for Carmelo Anthony is the biggest mistake the Bulls could make this season. Even if the trade were Anthony for Luol Deng straight up, I'd still be hesitant to pull the trigger. Then you add in Joahkim Noah, possibly Taj Gibson and some draft picks and I say you're out of your mind. If you compare Anthony's and Deng's numbers this season the biggest difference comes in the PPG category. The difference in PPG is exactly six. Anthony scores six more PPG while also shooting five more shots a game. That's five shots a game that you have to take away from someone the Bulls aren't going to trade. Is one PPG worth a million dollars in the NBA?

    The Bulls currently rank third in points allowed per game. That would certainly drop off with the acquisition of Anthony who is a sub-par defender. In that trade the Bulls would be giving up a better defender in Deng and one of the league's best defenders in Noah.

Carmelo is just a bad fit for this Bulls team. He doesn't stretch the floor, shooting only 29 percent from 3-point land and only 31 percent for his career. He's a reluctant defender. Anthony's scoring comes mostly from him going one on one with his defender. He doesn't always seem to be playing his hardest every night.

Deng is a much better fit for this Bulls team and here are the reasons why I wouldn't even just swap the two players. Deng has improved his 3-point shooting this year. Although his percentages wouldn't suggest that, he's already shot more three's this year than he has in the last four season and connecting on 35 percent. As a scorer Deng is more apt to cut and spot up than to go one on one with his defender. The Bulls already have a player that can break down the defense by going one on one if need be in Rose. Deng is also one of the best defenders at his position in the league fitting perfectly with Tom Thibodeau stresses the most…defense. I don't believe I've ever

The Bulls are rolling right now they shouldn't disrupt their chemistry too much. What they should do is trade for a starting shooting guard to plug in place of Keith Bogans who has no business starting on any NBA team. This talk about trading for Anthony should have been dropped by now with the Bulls winning ways.

-Matt Fox

If it is not broken, do not fix it.

This Bulls team is one of the most exciting I have seen in the post dynasty era. Not only is this team talented, they are built on team chemistry, and strong coaching. Tom Thibodeau is proving to be an excellent hire as the new head coach and they have their own big three in Derrick Rose, Carlos Boozer, and Joakim Noah; each of these players is a team leader and selfless. This team is young, has nothing to lose, and is getting hot at the right time.

Tom Thibodeau’s game plan largely relies on team defense and chemistry, and the current roster of the Bulls has completely bought into this philosophy. They currently rank third in the league in defense, allowing their opponents to score 92.34 points on average every game.

This coaching philosophy only works if you believe defense trumps offense.

The Bulls dynasty teams could score at will, but their reputation was built on their defense. From their best player down to the worst, their team played as hard as possible on the defensive side of the ball, reputedly even at practices. This modern Bulls team is starting to show a shared intensity towards defense and desire to win, willing to put in the work and overcome one obstacle after another.

This intensity stems from the team having great chemistry and playing hard for one another. Rose and Noah seem to be at the spear head of this mentality, deflecting most public praise and preaching mind over matter and hard work as being the team keys. These two players have also selflessly bought into their new coaches plans, helping ease the transition and leading even to success through different challenges the season has already thrown their way. .

There couldn’t be a worse time to trade for a player like Carmello Anthony.

One of the stipulations surrounding trade rumors between Chicago and Denver has been that Joakim Noah would need to be involved in the trade. Anthony has gotten better at rebounding this year but is nowhere near the defensive player that Noah is, and is not much of a team leader. A player like Noah plays a vital role in this defensive philosophy and to trade him would completely disrupt the unit. Noah may mean more to the Bulls chemistry on the bench, hurt, than Anthony would mean on the court.

If Derrick Rose wasn’t playing at an MVP level the Bulls would have likely been derailed by injuries at this point of the season. Though they just now got Boozer back (and he has been out for much of the season) and Noah has been out for over a month, the Bulls keep winning, and Rose has been carrying the team. There isn’t a more exciting player to watch in Basketball right now. The way that he attacks the rim is reckless, insane, and awesome all at the same time, and not only that, he has been sinking clutch perimeter shots.

The knock on Rose after last season was that his outside shooting was subpar. Knowing this he worked hard in the offseason and improved his game, and the results are evident. His field goal percentage this year is .445 while his three point percentage has been .378, while last year he shot a field goal percentage of .489 and shot a three point percentage of .267. The fact that last season his field goal percentage was higher than this season is a direct result of his game evolving, as he is attacking the rim less often. This seasons fg percentage of .445 is still more than respectable while he has raised his three point percentage by over one hundred points.

This dedication to improve a weakness or flaw in his game is admirable in such a young player.

Rose has been more than impressive as a team leader on and off the court. His team commands respect by playing hard every minute of the game, and playing the game with the respect it deserves. No other point guard in the league means more to their team than Rose, and he plays with modesty, an incredible trait in the modern NBA. .

This is a young Bulls team, led by an even younger team captain, and both are beginning to peak at the same time, and it seems to be an opportune moment in the East. The other key teams are either old and should fade as the season gets deeper (Celtics) or dealing with even more injuries than the Bulls with a much more fragile clubhouse (Heat) while the Bulls are just now close to being completely healthy, and just keep winning. There aren’t many teams in the NBA that play a more exciting or team oriented game, and if things continue this way, and the core unit of the players stays in tact, who knows how high the ceiling to their talent level and potential goes. –J.Gierty-

On a side note, a player as dedicated and humble as Rose can be awfully refreshing to watch play, and will be hard to take for granted after Cutler’s antics yesterday in the NFC championship.