Jimmy Butler of the Chicago Bulls is known for his tenacity on the defensive end. While he is capable of producing on the offensive end as well from time to time, that’s not exactly what he’s known for. Perhaps the latter is something he’s looking to change heading into this season, because the shooting guard has been a standout on offense during the preseason. In five games so far, he has averaged 18.6 points on a whopping 60.4 percent shooting from
For the first time in years, the Chicago Bulls entered the offseason with salary cap flexibility and great expectations in the free agent market. But they finished second in the Carmelo Anthony sweepstakes, whiffed on Kevin Love and settled for veteran Pau Gasol as a consolation prize. However, if this team has the look of the same old Bulls, that may not be all bad. Derrick Rose returns from what amounts to a two-year layoff, and if the former MVP can
Training camps are over, exhibition games have begun, and the excitement is palpable as we build towards the 2014-2015 season with players who should have breakout or standout seasons. Here are five players in the Eastern Conference – one at each position, no rookies – who will take the next step towards greatness this upcoming season. Tomorrow, the West. [Read more…]
It’s only the first week of preseason and nothing truly counts for anything just yet, but that didn’t stop the first scuffle of the season between the Chicago Bulls and Washington Wizards on Monday. There was plenty of bad blood between the two teams when they met last season in the first round of the playoffs, particularly when this play happened between Jimmy Butler and Nene Hilario. Butler was in the center of a foul play again when newly-added Paul Pierce fouled
Training camps begin in a little over a week, the start of the regular season is 40 days away, and what awaits us this season is going to be special — a renaissance in Cleveland, Kobe’s return in L.A., a chance for the Spurs to chase that elusive repeat championship. But let’s be realistic here for a second. There are 15 teams in the Eastern Conference, and there is a very slim chance at best that anyone other than the Cleveland Cavaliers
Derrick Rose will be taking the first steps towards returning to competitive basketball when he practices with Team USA tomorrow. The 2011 NBA MVP has struggled with staying on the court since tearing his ACL in 2012. After missing all of the 2012-13 season, Rose finally made his return last year for the start of the ’13-14 season. Unfortunately his return was short-lived as re-injured himself after playing just 10 games. Though some would wonder why Rose would risk further injury playing
Chicago Bulls forward Doug McDermott, coming off a First Team selection at the recently completed Las Vegas Summer League, is among two rookie rookie chosen for the USA Select Team announced Tuesday. McDermott averaged 18.0 points and 4.0 rebounds in four games in Las Vegas. He was joined by Boston Celtics rookie guard Marcus Smart, who averaged 14.8 points, 4.2 rebounds and 4.2 assists over five games in the Orlando Summer League. The Select Team is a group of players younger than
2014 NBA Defensive Player of the Year Joakim Noah led all vote getters for the NBA All-Defensive First Team. The NBA released the 2014 All-Defensive teams Monday afternoon. Leading the charge was the 2014 Kia NBA Defensive Player of the Year and Chicago Bulls center Joakim Noah, who led all vote getters. He was the only player to get triple-digit votes for the First Team, tallying 105 such votes as well as another 13 Second Team votes