4 Superstars Bulls Failed To Pair With Derrick Rose When He Was A Star

Derrick Rose was a superstar for his hometown Chicago Bulls in just his third season in the NBA.

The 2008 No. 1 overall pick became the youngest MVP in NBA history during the 2010-11 season. He averaged 25.0 points, 4.1 rebounds and 7.7 assists while leading the Bulls to the best record in the NBA.

However, Rose and the Bulls ran into the Miami Heat in the 2011 Eastern Conference Finals. After winning Game 1 at home in blowout fashion, the Bulls lost four in a row and watched LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh advance to the 2011 NBA Finals.

Rose tore his left ACL in Game 1 of the 2012 playoffs versus the Philadelphia 76ers and was never a superstar for the Bulls again. His body broke down because he had to do so much for Chicago. The Bulls franchise never gave Rose a true second superstar on offense.

The Bulls have a history of striking out in free agency and trades. Chicago missed out on four superstars during the Rose era, which lasted from 2008 to 2016. 

During the summer of 2014, the Bulls were one of the teams talking to the Minnesota Timberwolves about a Kevin Love trade. Rose and Love had known each other for years and were very close friends. It made perfect sense for the Bulls to pair Love with Rose, Jimmy Butler, Mike Dunleavy and Joakim Noah.

Unfortunately, the Bulls watched the Cleveland Cavaliers trade for Love instead. Chicago made the mistake of promising Nikola Mirotic a spot on the team after convincing him to come over from Spain.

The Timberwolves wanted Mirotic and Doug McDermott from the Bulls, but Chicago couldn’t trade Mirotic since they assured him he wouldn’t be moved.

The Bulls went after Carmelo Anthony in 2014 as well. Anthony had a lot of respect for Chicago head coach Tom Thibodeau and he already had a rapport with Rose, Noah and Taj Gibson.

Anthony was close to signing with the Bulls. However, there were people in his camp telling him not to sign with Chicago because they were hearing that someone important in the organization wouldn’t be around in 2015-16.

Whoever told Anthony those rumors turned out to be correct, as Thibodeau was fired after the 2014-15 campaign. Rose was traded to the New York Knicks (where he ironically played with Anthony) following the 2015-16 season.

Wade came close to signing with the Bulls in the summer of 2010. It would have been special to watch two Chicago kids in Rose and Wade play for the Bulls at the same time.

However, Wade wound up re-signing with the Heat. Reports at the time said Wade’s camp was uncertain about Wade playing for the Bulls since the franchise treated Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen and Phil Jackson poorly at the end of the ’90s dynasty.

After the Cavaliers lost to the Boston Celtics in the 2010 playoffs, LeBron called Rose and told him he was a big fan of his game.

LeBron, like Wade, met with the Bulls in free agency and came close to joining Chicago. Some rumors stated both LeBron and Wade came close to signing with the Bulls.

The rest of the NBA is happy that didn’t happen, as Chicago would have been unbeatable with LeBron, Wade and Rose running the show.

LeBron ended up signing with the Heat, creating the “Big 3” of him, Wade and Bosh. The King won two titles, two MVPs and two Finals MVPs in South Beach.

Rose, Wade and LeBron were briefly teammates on the Cavaliers in 2017-18 before Rose and Wade were traded at the 2018 trade deadline.