Bulls can bounce back from more bad luck

For Thanksgiving 2013, what exactly did the Bulls have to be thankful for?

Well, at least Derrick Rose didn’t tear the ACL in his right knee. Torn meniscus cartilage is a much less serious injury, and Rose should be at full strength 10 months from now for the start of training camp.

Otherwise, these Bulls will go down in history as one of the unluckiest squads in the NBA. Rose will play in just 49 games in the ensuing three seasons after winning MVP. The nucleus of his team, expected to challenge for a championship, is expected to scatter by next summer.

Plenty of NBA teams have endured rotten luck. Some bounced back and fared well, others didn’t.

We’re talking injury luck here, not teams creating their own bad luck through terrible decisions. Portland has taken plenty of heat over the years for choosing injury-prone center Sam Bowie instead of Michael Jordan in the 1984 draft.

But how did the Trail Blazers get the No. 2 pick in the first place? In a trade with Indiana for Tom Owens. Who? Exactly. Owens played one season with the Pacers and averaged 10.5 points. And there was no Clyde Drexler on the Pacers’ roster to dissuade them from drafting Jordan.

So, actually, Indiana made the worst decision in NBA history before Portland got the chance. But that’s not bad luck, that’s being stupid.

For true rotten luck, it’s difficult to top Portland over the last five years. The Blazers lost two rising stars — Brandon Roy and Greg Oden — to chronic knee injuries. Sure, the injury reports could have raised the proper red flags before the draft and Portland should have taken Kevin Durant instead of Oden. Still, that’s tough luck for a team, much like the Bulls, expecting to be an annual contender.

The Blazers have bounced back nicely, though, with a 13-3 record through Wednesday. How did they do it? Nothing drastic. A healthier star, LaMarcus Aldridge, is playing well. Portland snagged Wesley Matthews from Utah as a restricted free agent, made a smart draft pick with Damien Lillard at No. 6 overall, and improved its depth during the off-season.

So right there is reason to feel better about the Bulls’ future. One of the biggest red flags for any NBA player is missing cartilage in the knee. That’s usually the reason players have microfracture surgery, because it tries to generate more cartilage by drilling small holes in the knee. It’s not a great situation, as Amare Stoudemire and others have learned.

Surgeons were able to repair Rose’s cartilage and — in theory — he should have every chance to have a long and productive career.

Luol Deng and Carlos Boozer probably will depart, but the Bulls still have some good young players in Joakim Noah, Jimmy Butler and Taj Gibson who might stick around. Rookie Tony Snell is getting a nice opportunity with Butler and Rose injured, plus the Bulls are hoping to sign rising European star Nikola Mirotic next summer.

There aren’t many examples of MVP-caliber players missing the majority of consecutive seasons like Rose will. But that’s probably just nature’s way of telling Rose he can’t continue his daredevil style of driving the lane, and telling the Bulls not to count on Rose to be their lone go-to scorer.

It’s also appropriate to point out things could be much, much worse. The NBA’s bad-luck scale has turned tragic at times. Boston endured the deaths of Len Bias and Reggie Lewis in a span of seven years. The Nets lost Drazen Petrovic at 28 in a 1993 car accident after he averaged 22.3 points. Going back to 1958, Cincinnati Royals star Maurice Stokes suffered a disabling head injury during a game at 24 after averaging 16.4 points and 17.3 rebounds in his first three seasons.

Sometimes injuries lead to good luck. When David Robinson missed most of a season, San Antonio landed Tim Duncan in the draft. Miami picked Dwyane Wade after Alonzo Mourning missed a full season with a kidney ailment.

The wretched disaster that is the Eastern Conference might keep the Bulls in the playoffs and out of the lottery. Detroit’s effort in a 20-point loss to the Bulls on Wednesday was ridiculous.

But go ahead and give some thanks, Bulls fans. Rose should be back, and a little payroll flexibility might be exactly what the Bulls need to take another step forward.

ŸFollow Mike’s Bulls reports on Twitter @McGrawDHBulls.