The Playoff Push

When a team is borderline playoffs, do you hope they miss out and get into the draft lottery, or do you cheer for the inevitable first round exit? I used to favor the lottery, but in the Bulls' case you clearly have to hope for the playoffs. First, because the Bulls generally haven't drafted well, and second because the playoff experience is important to developing a winning team.

And, on a night when John Salmons rubbed 26 points in the noses of Bulls management for trading him to the Bucks, clinching a playoff spot for them, and ex-Bulls coach Scott Skiles, the Bulls got a huge break in their playoff hunt. Toronto, who is currently a game ahead of the Bulls for the last playoff spot, lost Chris Bosh to a broken facial bone. It is unclear how long he'll be out but there are only five games left for them. What makes this scenario even more interesting is that Bosh is one of the main targets for the Bulls in next summer's free agent signings, so it's a double competition between the Bulls and the Raptors.

The fact that the Bulls lost an important game at home to a Milwaukee team who was missing Andrew Bogut to injury proves that they clearly don't actually deserve to make the playoffs. They are a leaderless team. Their best player, Rose, is notoriously reticent. Their highest paid player, Deng, is continually slammed for his lack of leadership ability, most stingingly by former Duke alumni and ex-Bull Jay Williams: "I've never really seen Lu lead. I didn't see him lead when he was in college, and I haven't really seen him lead as a pro. I always see him kind of fitting in, following the flow." Yep, that's Luol in a nutshell, sleepily "following the flow" and getting out of the way of any stiff competition. And when was the last time you saw a team waive one of their captains, as the Bulls did this year to Lindsey Hunter?

Their only hope is to import skilled leadership through free agency while continuing to develop their young core talents: Rose, Noah, and Gibson, and that means a playoff stint, even with the inevitable defeat. On the one hand it looks like the Bulls have gone backwards this year, since they easily made the playoffs last year and gave Boston a great fight. However, they are better poised financially to pick up free agents, Rose and Noah have another year under their belts, and we have Taj instead of Tyrus. So, I think they could wind up in a potentially better position, provided they finish strong and avoid the bitter disappointment of missing the playoffs when the door is wide open for them to crawl in.