For the first time during the current era, the Chicago Bulls made a concerted effort to build a contender that didn’t depend entirely on point guard Derrick Rose’s health and availability. Chicago acquired star forward Pau Gasol to solidify the starting lineup. and added backups Aaron Brooks, Doug McDermott and Nikola Mirotic to pad the second unit.
According to K.C. Johnson of The Chicago Tribune, Rose is aware of the talent surrounding him. Thus, he’s altered his mentality and approach to the game.
If he isn’t healthy, he isn’t playing.
Rose: “There’s no need for anyone to play through injuries with the talent we have on this team.”
— K.C. Johnson (@KCJHoop) November 17, 2014
Rose has played in just 54 games since the 2010-11 season.
Rose hasn’t done himself any favors with his recent comments, but this one is both innocent and accurate. The Bulls are built to survive an injury, but that doesn’t mean risking one is wise when an early-season victory is all that’s at stake.
It’s far more important for Rose to be available in April than it is in November.
So long as the 26-year-old point guard avoids rust by appearing in a reasonable amount of regular season games, monitoring his health is reasonable. Beyond reason, it’s the right thing to do for a Bulls team that boasted the No. 1 scoring defense in the NBA in 2013-14.
The major difference from the previous season to the current is the fact that Chicago is vastly improved on offense.
Chicago’s No. 1 defense led it to a record of 48-34, which was tied for the third-best mark in the Eastern Conference. The issue for the Bulls is that they only scored 93.7 points per game, struggling to produce from the point guard and forward spots offensively.
Not only has Rose come back for Chicago, but the team acquired Brooks, Gasol, McDermott and Mirotic to provide significant scoring depth.
Gasol and Mirotic can both create their own shots down low, with the former serving as an elite post player and the latter shining along the perimeter. McDermott is a rookie, but he can shoot the lights out from anywhere on the court.
As for Brooks, he’s the spark plug point guard that the second unit needs.
Chicago is the deepest it’s been during the Rose era. Thus, there’s no reason to play through pain, especially not when the games are of little importance to the big picture.
The Bulls can not only hold their own, but win games with or without Rose in the rotation. All that matters in the long-run is whether or not Rose is active during the playoffs.
If he is, then nothing that happens in November truly matters—nothing but reasonable caution.
Denver Isn’t High on Kenneth Faried
This past summer, the Denver Nuggets signed power forward Kenneth Faried to a four-year contract extension worth $50 million. It was on the heels of breakout performances after the 2014 NBA All-Star Break and at the 2014 FIBA World Cup.
According to Kevin Arnovitz of ESPN, a new development has unfolded in Denver: the organization has fallen out of love with Faried.
Several sources around the league insist the Nuggets’ hand was forced with regard to Faried. After the signing of Hickson to a three-year, approximately $16 million contract soon after Connelly’s arrival, the sense was the bouncy big man was insurance against Faried’s departure in free agency in 2014. Faried was a fan favorite in Denver, but multiple sources with knowledge of the Nuggets’ thinking maintain the team “isn’t crazy about him,” particularly Shaw. But with Faried’s boffo showing last summer with Team USA and a loyal following in Denver, the media-conscious Nuggets caved, adding yet another imperfect 4-man to their lot.
“[Faried] is a helluva player and plays hard, but he isn’t well liked [in the organization],” a league source said. “That gets glossed over. He says crazy s—. He thinks he’s the guy, and other guys take exception to his contract.”
That’s terrible news considering Faried’s lucrative four-year deal doesn’t even begin until 2015-16.
Faried is a productive young power forward whose tantalizing power and athleticism have made him a fan favorite. He dominates the glass, throws down powerful dunks and continues to improve as a low-post player.
In 2013-14 and 2014-15, however, Faried’s production has failed to translate to victories. Per Arnovitz, that’s part of what’s caused friction within the organization.
Clearly, there’s something more than what’s happening on the court.
Since George Karl was relieved of his duties as head coach, Denver has been a shell of its former self. After going 57-25 in Karl’s final season with the Nuggets, the team fell to 36-46 in 2013-14.
A 21-win drop-off with essentially the same personnel is a good way for morale to plummet.
With Faried receiving a big contract and the wins continuing to be tough to come by, The Manimal has reportedly become internal enemy No. 1. It’s unclear how significant the divide is, but it’s going to be a topic of conversation for as long as Denver continues to struggle.
Opening the season at 3-7 doesn’t help.
Around The League
- On November 13, the Memphis Grizzlies picked up a controversial 111-110 victory over the Sacramento Kings. Courtney Lee converted a buzzer-beating and game-winning alley-oop off of an inbound pass. The play started with 0.3 seconds on the clock. Since then, the Kings have protested the loss by claiming Lee got the shot off after the buzzer went off. According to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports, Grizzlies general manager Chris Wallace doesn’t believe that the league will overturn the decision. “The officials made the correct call on the play that ended the game on Thursday,” Wallace told Yahoo Sports on Monday. “Then the officials followed league procedure and reviewed the conclusive footage provided by the state-of-the-art NBA replay center.
- Per Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports, the Los Angeles Lakers announced that power forward Ryan Kelly will miss a minimum of six weeks with a torn right hamstring. Kelly suffered a left hamstring strain during training camp and played in just 59 games as a rookie.
From April of ’13 to November of ’13, Denver lost not just George Karl, but also Iguodala, Brewer, Koufos, Gallinari, & McGee (the latter two to season-ending injuries). And then in February of ’14, they traded Andre Miller & Jordan Hamilton. That’s a ton of roster turnover; it’s not “essentially the same personnel”.