Rozner: Chicago Bulls' journey takes familiar route

It's a scary moment when you realize all might be lost, that it is nearly hopeless.

Decisions must be made and under duress the correct choice is often the most difficult, and coming to terms with reality is no easy task.

Witness the Chicago Bulls, an ocean liner leaking from 50 holes and needing complete repair. What's required is a long, slow turn and a trip back to the barn with a proper overhaul.

That's the tough choice.

And most teams won't do it. They use a mattress here, some chewing gum there. Plug the holes one at a time, never catching up because there's always new trouble popping up.

The Bulls began to make that long, painful turn a couple of weeks ago, shopping Jimmy Butler and trading Derrick Rose. But they stopped short of pulling the trigger on Butler and instead talked themselves into continuing the journey to nowhere.

It's just who they are. It's just where they are.

It's the path of least resistance.

The Eastern Conference has been dominated by LeBron James for seven years and there appears no end in sight.

That's not the Bulls' fault. It's just the way it is.

So they looked at the reality of it and instead of rebuilding the ship, they said to heck with it.

They know they can't possibly win an NBA title until James takes his leave, so they've decided to take the same route they've been on for years.

They hope to win enough games to make the playoffs and in the process continue to sell tickets.

They didn't expect to get Rajon Rondo, but this was his best option.

They had absolutely no hope of landing Dwyane Wade, but feeling disrespected and wanting to stick it to Miami, he had no place else to go where he could cash these kinds of checks.

It's as if the Bulls threw their hands up and said, "We can't win, but we're not willing to suffer to try to win. So we'll just be content with making the playoffs."

GM Gar Forman said as much last week when he admitted that the Bulls wouldn't tank for fear of how many years it may take to get from bottom to the top.

Of course, now is the perfect time if winning an NBA title were the ultimate goal. With James in the way, they could take this time to get high picks and prepare for life after LBJ.

Instead, a couple of veterans fell into their laps and it gave them the chance to hold news conferences and get fans excited again.

It's rather peaceful, actually, to accept your fate and try nothing to change it.

Naturally, they spin it in ways designed to change the story, even while their own words haunt them.

They said the reason for the Rose trade was to get younger and more athletic. They claim that has happened, even after bringing Rondo and Wade aboard.

All of last season, they denied team it was a team in turmoil. All fiction, according to the Bulls.

Now Forman admits the team was "splintered." So the obvious answer is to bring in a couple of players who are entirely about themselves.

They made it clear they wouldn't be busy in free agency when they were thinking rebuild, but a couple of names fall into their laps and that changes everything.

Now, the plan is to have cap space and payroll flexibility two years from now.

Every day brings a new strategy and a new direction, followed by the claim that it was the plan all along.

If you're keeping score at home, you must have a lot of patience because the basket is constantly moving and the scoreboard shorting out.

So it's easy to fault the Bulls for taking the simple way out, the way that saves jobs and keeps the ship afloat.

And it's a reminder, as always, that fans don't get to pick the journey.

brozner@dailyherald.com

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