A Spanish Consolation Prize

Being a Bulls fan has been trying over the last five years. Not trying in the sense of what someone who likes Sacramento or some other shitty team that hasn't made the playoffs in years, but trying because I thought there would have been at least one championship by now. While Chicago has been a gritty, tough-minded team that has been easy to cheer for, ultimately they've failed to deliver what they were assembled to do. It seemed as though as little as a week ago the team was poised to add a proven veteran scorer that they sorely needed, someone who can create his own shot and generate offense without any help. But Carmelo Anthony decided to choose money over rings, which led to the team signing Pau Gasol away from Los Angeles. Much like in the summer of 2010 when the team signed Carlos Boozer after missing out on the free agent prizes of Lebron James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh, this feels like settling for a secondary option. Gasol brings a good number of positives to the Windy City however, and the Bulls can still win the East with him on board.

When you look at the landscape of the East, you see a bad conference that just became infinitely more wide open with Lebron going back to Cleveland. Now Miami a fringe 7-8 seed, Indiana might not be the same if they lose Lance Stephenson, and Brooklyn is still old and over-hyped. The Cavs have to be considered the early favorites, but the Bulls are right there in the mix. Gasol is not as good of an offensive player as Anthony, but he should mesh really well with Joakim Noah, as both players are superior passers out of the post. Everything pretty much begins and ends with the health of Derrick Rose going forward. If he is a shell of his former self, then the Gasol signing won't matter. But if he returns and can be 80-85% the same, the additions of Gasol, first-round pick Doug McDermott, and Nikola Mirotic will push this team to a new level offensively. It's a given that any Chicago team with Thibs at the helm will defend, but their offense was broken for most of the 2013-14 campaign. When D.J. Augustin is your best option offensively when playing in the postseason, you're essentially fucked. Now with Rose, Gasol, and McDermott, this hopefully won't be an issue anymore.

I'm definitely not promising championships here, and honestly not signing Melo still stings a bit. But the future of the Bulls right now looks rosier than it did after losing to the Wiz Kids. I'm comfortable with a nucleus of Rose, Gasol, Noah, Jimmy Buckets, Taj Gibson, and Mirotic. I'm hyped about the white-wash possibilities with some combo of Kirk Hinrich, Mike Dunleavy Jr, Mirotic, Pau, McBuckets, and Jimmer. This could be a fun team to cheer for. And even if it ends in disaster, the Lebron signing has shaken things up to the point where I literally can't wait for the NBA to start. And this is coming from a diehard college basketball fan who casually watches the NBA until the Final Four is over. Any sport is more fun when your team is in the mix for a title, and Gasol brings with him a championship pedigree that could lead to a similar end for the Bulls.