The experience of the Bulls over the last few years is scary. Only a blink of an eye ago, they were on the verge of being a true contender. They had a league MVP (Rose) and a terrific energy player (Noah) along with growing complementary players. With the emergence of Jimmy Butler, this is a team that could have had home-grown talent producing 2 big-time stars and a very strong 3rd wheel. In addition, they go out and get Pau Gasol to add to a good supporting cast (Gibson, Hinrich, McDermott, Mirotic). A team predominently built from the draft (own picks and draft night trades).
I may be missing the boat on my Bulls assessment, but they seem to have peaked without really getting close. Rose may never return to form and Noah (now injured and expiring contract) seems to have lost a step. Butler may be the best dollar for dollar player in the league, but he isn't Michael Jordan. Butler needs to be a #2 rather than a #1 guy
The Warriors have developed their talent, but that's largely because Curry is proving to be a true Top 5 superstar (if not #1 in the league). The C's have no one who projects even close to top 10. Other than Smart, who would you see as a future top 20 player?
I love the C's team this year, but I think the future is best gambled on one of these Nets picks coming through and a blockbuster trade that gets a superstar here. Of course getting a superstar in free agency would be great, but seems so doubtful to me (at least not until/unless we have another star).
Developing our own talent is nice, but I think we are just ripening our fruit to bring it to market.
Your last sentence is spot-on. That's exactly what Danny has been doing.
We have no idea if, who and when this team might acquire the "superstar" that pretty much any team needs to win deep in the playoffs. Once you have that superstar you build around that person. The Cs can't build around someone who isn't here yet.
If you go and get someone who is established - let's just say it was Jimmy Butler - you have to surround that player with teammates who can win now. So you might trade for older, established players in order to create that win-now supporting cast. This is exactly what Danny did with the Big Three.
If it's a guy out of college, you surround that player with younger pieces who have high character. You're not going to win now, so you lay the groundwork to win when that player can carry the team. You grow that team together.
So they're developing complimentary players and pieces who are easily tradable and wanted by other GMs. That's why there's no one here with a big, long term contract. Everyone is disposable. Guys like IT, Crowder, Smart, Olynyk and Bradley can all be traded overnight for other pieces who may better fit around that superstar.
Now what has been masterful on Danny's part is that many of this existing group of players can really go either way. If they get a draftee, we have the young guys to grow up with because no one is over 27. If we get an established star, the guys have enough experience to contribute now. So if you nab Cousins, we may be looking for more of a pass-first PG. But guys like Olynyk, Crowder and Bradley may very well work around him. If you get Simmons out of college, guys like Smart, RJ, Crowder, Amir and IT may fit in with him quite well to help him learn the pro game.
----
As far as the Bulls go, I'm think they're a really bad example. The Bulls were a contender with a healthy Rose. But he went down, has played 146 games in 4 1/2 years and has never returned to form. There's simply no way to anticipate or prepare for something like that. It happens and when it does it's pretty much game over. Penny Hardaway. Grant Hill. Bill Walton. Brandon Roy. Len Bias. There's no insurance policy you can take out to mitigate it, no moves you can make to avoid it. It's just horrible luck when it happens but it's entirely unpreventable and not worth worrying about. Hence I don't see the Bulls as any kind of comparison because what happened to them is nothing anyone could have foreseen.
