Rozner: Another chance for Bulls to tear it down

This just in …

The Bulls are a flippin' disaster.

In other news, winter is cold, traffic is awful and politicians make you want to hurl.

Seriously, what else is new?

The latest Bulls drama is more of the same, with a slightly new twist.

They have found a different way to disgust the fan base.

This time it was the supposed team leaders, Dwyane Wade and Jimmy Butler, torching the entire locker room publicly, an odd teaching style for veterans allegedly trying to get more from their teammates.

The hypocrisy of Wade calling out others for not showing up was striking, considering he takes off games, practices and road trips while his teammates fight on without him. He was called on it in Friday's team meeting, when other players asked more of him.

Of course, they did it in private, rather than humiliate him through the media, and Wade showed up for practice Saturday.

As for Butler, he barely showed up for Friday night's game, going 1-for-13 from the floor, playing lazy at both ends of the court and hardly looking engaged as the Bulls were throttled by Miami.

At one point, Butler committed a foul and walked straight to the bench, taking himself out of the game.

This is the same Butler who said Friday morning that he loved controversy.

The same Butler who said his teammates needed to care more.

So really, what was the point of Wade convincing Butler to join him in the trashing of the team?

Did Wade, the conductor, really think this would motivate his teammates, or was he merely trying to let the rest of the league know that it wasn't his fault the Bulls are so bad?

Was he hoping this would facilitate a trade? Wade came here for the money, and perhaps now he regrets that decision. If he really cares about winning, he'll opt out of that $24 million deal for next season and go play for pennies elsewhere.

We'll see about that.

Regardless, the result is the Bulls are a laughingstock again, and as usual the head coach was left to answer for an entire organization.

GM Gar Forman told the players it was unacceptable and how disappointed he was in their behavior, but there were no repercussions, unless you consider Wade and Butler getting benched for a few minutes Friday a suspension.

Forman took no questions from the media and boss John Paxson - who was in the meeting with the players - did not reveal himself to answer for the ridiculous state of the franchise.

Michael Carter Williams, who was reportedly one of the targets of Wade and Butler, said he confronted both veterans and they claimed to not be talking about him.

Go figure.

Wade contradicted himself several times between Wednesday night and Friday night, and Butler couldn't seem to keep his story straight from minute to minute.

Butler first said he didn't regret anything he said and that he shouldn't have to apologize, and then said he shouldn't have done it to his teammates.

Generally speaking, bad players don't tend to get better when you embarrass them in front of the world. It does not usually make them try harder or care more.

It just embarrasses them.

At least Rajon Rondo stuck up for the young guys, understanding his role as someone who has to stick up for those who can't stick up for themselves.

That's genuine leadership.

And in the last day or two, Fred Hoiberg seems to have figured out that letting selfish players run the team is no way to coach a professional squad, and he's allowing for the perception that he will start coaching now.

That also remains to be seen.

As for the future, the trade deadline is less than a month away and maybe this is finally - finally - the wake-up call management needed. They have resisted a rebuild in lieu of selling tickets, but this is a chance for them to tear it apart.

Making the playoffs is not the same as having a chance to win a championship, and to this point they have only paid lip service to getting younger and more athletic.

Now is their chance, a gift from Wade and Butler, as the fan base can no longer stomach this nonsense.

After playing Philadelphia Sunday, they have a six-game road trip and then Toronto and Boston heading into the break, which takes them up to the deadline.

Even a bad playoff spot might feel out of reach by then.

It could be just the excuse the Bulls need to blow it up and start over.

brozner@dailyherald.com

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