This time around, Tim Thomas seems to be a perfect fit
Some great marriages simply don't work out on the first attempt. The Bulls were Chicago's third try at an NBA franchise, for example.
Tim Thomas was sent home and eventually released after playing just three games for the Bulls in 2005-06. Now that he's back for a second try, Thomas is looking like the perfect fit.
The 6-foot-10 forward scored 17 points in 24 minutes, while knocking down 4 of 6 shots from 3-point range in Tuesday night's 120-102 victory over Orlando, Thomas' second game with the Bulls since being traded from New York for Larry Hughes.
"It's a very talented team," Thomas said inside a jovial locker room. "We pretty much have all the pieces. If teams go big, we can match them going big. If they go small, we can match them going small."
Ben Gordon was on the team during Thomas' first stint and still isn't sure where it all went wrong.
"He fit in, there was just some kind of a rift between him and the (coaching) staff, for some reason," Gordon said. "I thought he could have helped us a lot that year with his versatility. But for whatever reason they just didn't get along.
"The way he shoots the ball from the outside and the way he can put it on the floor, just his experience gives us a whole other option on the offensive end. He can really hurt the other team's bigs with his skill level."
Thabo a big hit: In his first practice with Oklahoma City, former Bulls forward Thabo Sefolosha accidentally elbowed teammate Earl Watson above the right eye, resulting in three stitches.
"It was just like a little welcome, like I'm here," Sefolosha joked in The Oklahoman newspaper.
Sefolosha played 18 minutes, didn't score and committed 5 fouls in his Thunder debut, a 133-120 loss at Golden State on Saturday. He started Tuesday night in a loss to the Lakers and had 7 points.
The other former Bulls earned mixed reviews.
Andres Nocioni heated up in his second game with Sacramento, burying 7 of 11 shots for 19 points in Monday's loss to New Orleans. In two games with the Knicks, however, Larry Hughes has hit just 3 of 16 shots.
Van Gundy vents: Orlando coach Stan Van Gundy isn't the type to brush off a loss where the other team shoots 56.5 percent from the field as a little bump in the road.
"I was disappointed and disgusted with what I saw tonight," Van Gundy said after the game. "There is no question who had the energy; there is no doubt who came ready to play tonight.
"I thought there were two minutes in the third quarter when we played better than them. The other 46 minutes, they outplayed us. Our defense was horrible.
Bull horns: The Bulls wore red T-shirts supporting Heart Health Month instead of the usual warmup tops. - The Bulls went 10 minutes without committing a foul Tuesday, a stretch that ended at the 2:39 mark of the second quarter.