Normally I don’t openly root for other teams to get worse in order to help the Pacers. I’d much prefer the Pacers rise up to meet the challenge of any team currently ahead of them (there are a few).
But I’m faltering on this stance with regard to the Chicago Bulls now that they’ve officially joined the Pacers in the NBA offseason. If I may make a request or two of the Bulls, please, please, please keep doing what you’re doing and more importantly, don’t bring in Dwyane Wade. I guess the latter decision is up to D-Wade since the Bulls have all of the appropriate cap space available. And while Wade staying in Miami keeps both the Heat and Bulls solidly ahead of the Pacers, I’m willing to take that risk to keep the Bulls from the elite stratosphere they may still eventually reach even without Wade.
The Bulls are good right now with all of the key, young talent that makes them good (namely, Derrick Rose, Joakim Noah, Luol Deng) locked up and ready to be really good in the next year or two. Adding D-Wade? That makes them lethal and guarantees the Fieldhouse will be UC-South when the Bulls are in Indy for years to come. No, there must be a better way, so let's just hope Chris Sheridan's instincts are correct.
My plan for the Bulls is to continue developing that young talent without making any drastic changes. Vinny Del Negro, aka “Chachi”, aka “The Equalizer” needs another year or three to grow along with his young talent. With all of that cap space there’s plenty options for the team to add supporting talent around Rose and Noah.
Seriously, we already survived one Bulls dynasty, I don’t think it’s too much to ask to wait another generation for the next one.