I am just trying to distract myself from the current Bulls situation.

There is no question who the best Chicago Bull ever is, we do not need to waste time talking about that. What is a little more interesting is, who is the best Bull, or more specifically, the top 5 Bulls in the Post Jordan era? The only guideline I gave myself is that you can only pick a guy once. For Example, you cannot pick Kirk Hinrich’s 2006–07 season as your 1st pick and his 2005–06 season as your 3rd.

Really thought this duo had a chance of winning the East

It is fairly obvious that 1 and 2 are some combo of Derrick Rose 2010–11 and Jimmy Butler this season. I know it’s only just over half a season of Jimmy, but I’m just going to roll with it. Comparing the numbers fom these seasons was a lot closer then expected. Rose averaged .5 more points. Rose was slightly higher in blocks and Jimmy slightly higher in steals. Rose had 3 more assists per game, and Jimmy had 2.5 more rebounds. It is a bit of comparing apples and oranges since they play different positions, but Jimmy does have a higher PER at 25.4 compared to Derricks 23.5.

With all that said, the D Rose MVP season has to be 1. They were the number 1 seed going into the playoffs, while this current Bulls team may miss the playoffs. Jimmy is definitely a better 2 way player, but Rose had jaw dropping plays seemingly every night, and was doing things on the basketball court that we had never saw before. Also, he won the freaking MVP.

Joakim Noah’s 2013–14 season is my pick at 3. He led them to the 2 seed in the playoffs in a injury ravaged season. He won DPOY in a season where they ran the offense through him for a good amount of the season. Let me say that again, a team ran their offense through Joakim Noah, and won basketball games. Also, he was 4th in MVP voting. If you didn’t love Jo already, you sure as shit did after that season.

Everything gets a little murky after those 3. To me, those were by far the most stand out seasons. Before digging into anything, Deng, Boozer, maybe Ben Gordon or possibly some how Captain Kirk were who popped in my head as candidates at 4 and 5.

Sorry for forgetting about you, big guy.

Not going to lie, some how I had completely blocked out the existence of Pau Gasol as a Bull in my memory. That happened quickly. I have never really been a fan of his, but he does have the 2nd best PER in Bulls history (until Jimmy Butler finishes this season). Gasol’s 2014–15 season is number 3. In a year that Noah played 67 games and Rose played 51 games, he helped lead the Bulls to 50 wins, a 2 seed in the playoffs, along with an emerging Jimmy Butler. Also, according to him, he did not commit 1 foul all season. Impressive.

I am pulling a total bullshit move for the 5th spot. I would be pissed if I spent time reading something and they did this, but it is not for a lack of effort. I spent time trying to figure out who belonged here, and had a thought that maybe it should be Luol Deng, Kirk Hinrich and Ben Gordon because of them combining to lead a Bulls team back to the playoffs that was the laughing stock of the NBA for several years.

Lu celebrating being ranked number 5

Forget all of that, I had a change of heart. As I was typing it I realized how dumb it was. Luol Deng is the guy here at 5. He is a 2x all star and made an all defensive 2nd team. He was extremely close to being traded for Kobe Bryant. That alone speaks to how highly Deng was looked at. The main question here is which season is his best. His all star seasons were 2011–12 and 2012–13. 2011–12 is the year he made the all defensive team, which would give the nod 2011–12 between those two. His best season, statistically speaking was 2006–07. He put up career highs in points, steals, and FG%, as well as being 1 of only 2 times he played all 82 games in a season. That, combined with the Bulls winning their first playoff series since 1998, where Deng averaged over 22 points and over 8 rebounds a game has Deng’s 2006–07 season coming in at the 5 spot.