Free agent market holds hope for Bulls

As the Bulls season winds on and we all hope for the best, the day we are really waiting for, the day free agents can begin negotiations with teams, July 1. We are all extremely familiar with what happened 10 years ago when the 2000 free agent sweepstakes resulted in the profound, remarkable acquisition of Ron Mercer. This made the Bulls an immediate championship contender as Mercer was surrounded by unbelievable talent such as Khalid El-Amin, Dragan Tarlac, Dalibor Bagaric, and Steve Goodrich. Unfortunately, these high expectations fell remarkably short as the Bulls won a disappointing 15 games.

Sarcasm aside, the 2000 fiasco is not going to repeat itself for two important reasons:

1) Jerry Krause is history. With Jerry Krause on board, free agents knew to stay away from the Chicago Bulls. He treated Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen, the greatest players Chicago has ever seen, with total disrespect and gave himself credit for the championships that the players achieved. Pippen even went so far as to demand a trade numerous times and state that Chicago was the worst team in the league to play for. Personally, I don't fault Tim Duncan or Tracy McGrady whatsoever for not wanting to come play for the Bulls. He probably would've treated them the same way.

2) I know it's hard to fathom, but playing next to Derrick Rose is a more attractive prospect than playing next to Fred Hoiberg. Derrick Rose has shown that rare combination of strength, speed, and explosiveness that only LeBron James possesses. He has shown the ability to completely take over games by scoring at will and in bunches. More importantly, he can flourish in crunchtime better than Ben Gordon ever could. The kid's got ice in his veins. He earned his first all star appearance this year and is only going to get better. I see MVP's in his future.

Corey Hickman

Long Grove